AN MLG FLT CREW COMES CLOSE TO LNDG ON THE WRONG PARALLEL RWY DUE TO THE RELATIVE PROMINENCE OF THE RWY LIGHTING ON RWY 31R VERSUS RWY 31L AT PSP.

Narrative

FLT FROM ZZZ TO PSP. ON R BASE TO RWY 31L; TEN MILES TO THE ARPT. THE ONLY THING VISIBLE IN THE DARK HOLE WHERE THE ARPT IS WAS A VASI AND ASSOCIATED RWY LIGHTS. WE HAD A RWY WITH EXTENSION AND A GLIDE PATH ON THE DSCNT PAGE. I WAS REFERENCING THE COMPUTER WITH THE VISUAL CUES OF THE ARPT. THE THOUGHT OCCURRED TO ME OF THE POSSIBILITY OF LINING UP ON THE WRONG RWY; AS IT ALWAYS DOES GOING INTO THIS ARPT. REMEMBERING THE STORY IN GND SCHOOL FROM TWO YEARS AGO IS ENOUGH TO MENTALLY ENSURE THIS IS NOT REPEATED. ON FINAL; LINED UP WITH THE RWY; WITH ONLY ONE RWY/VASI VISIBLE; WE CONTINUE TO ABOUT 200 FT AGL. CAPT EXCLAIMS; 'THIS IS RWY 31; RIGHT?' JUST THEN I WAS OBSERVING HOW NARROW THE RWY LOOKED. WE IMMEDIATELY WENT MISSED APCH. TWR SAID NOTHING EXCEPT; 'ENTER R TFC FOR RWY 31L; LIGHTS ARE UP TO STEP 4.' ON DOWNWIND; SUDDENLY A HUGE 10000 FT RWY APPEARS; COMPLETE WITH 3 BAR VASI. AT THE GATE I QUESTIONED GND CTL ABOUT THE LIGHTS. I WAS QUESTIONING WHAT I HAD SEEN. DID I MISS THE RWY? WERE THE LIGHTS EVEN ON? HE REPLIED THAT THE RWY 31L LIGHTS WERE AT STEP 2 AS NORMAL. WE HAVE A BIG PROB HERE FOR THE SAFETY OF OUR OPERATION. 1) IF THE LIGHTS AND VASI FOR RWY 31L WERE NOT ON; BIG PROB. 2) IF THE LIGHTS WERE ON AT STAGE 2; AND TWO EXTREMELY ALERT PLTS; AWARE OF THE MISALIGNMENT DANGER; ALMOST LAND ON RWY 31R; THERE IS A BIG PROB. ISSUES: 1) WHAT IS THE USE OF DIRECTIONAL LIGHTS ON ONE OF THE RWYS? 2) IS STEP 2 LIGHTING APPROPRIATE AT NIGHT ON RWY 31L? 3) SHOULD RWY 31R BE LIGHTED AT NIGHT? PERHAPS GO TO OPS ONLY ON RWY 31L AT NIGHT.