SAN CLEMENTE — Passenger trains resumed full service between San Diego and Orange counties on Monday, two months after a landslide that brought debris down onto the tracks in San Clemente.
The Orange County Transportation Authority said they were able to restore service sooner than previously planned due to “expedited work” on a 200-foot retaining wall along the tracks at Mariposa Point. OCTA collaborated with other agencies, including Metrolink and the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA), to open the tracks again.
Following the Jan. 24 landslide, all passenger service was stopped for six weeks, and only limited freight service was permitted at night. The Amtrak Pacific Surfliner was allowed to resume limited service in early March with morning and night trains, with riders otherwise required to use buses to reach their destinations.
Now, the midday Surfliner train has resumed for a total of ten daily round trips between Los Angeles and San Diego, along with all Metrolink service through San Clemente. Weekend Orange County Line service will also resume this week.
State Sen. Catherine Blakespear (D-Encinitas), who introduced legislation last month for a more coordinated revitalization of the 351-mile LOSSAN (Los Angeles-San Luis Obispo-San Diego) Rail Corridor, celebrated the reopening but emphasized the need for proactive planning regarding the corridor.
“Today marks the first day of full train service along the coastal corridor since January 24. Thank you to the many partners that made it possible. The best day to plan was yesterday, the second-best time is now. We must remain focused on coastal and transportation planning that protects the coastline and preserves essential transit services,” Blakespear said Monday on X (formerly known as Twitter).
This was the fifth closure in the past three years in San Clemente along the corridor. Work on emergency repairs and debris cleanup at Mariposa Point cost around $10 million, and millions more have been spent in previous years to repair other portions of the corridor.
With these repairs complete, local and state transit leaders are now seeking long-term solutions for the resiliency of the rail through San Clemente. Earlier this month, OCTA officials estimated that around $200 million in emergency repairs are needed over the next year to protect other vulnerable rail portions.
These repairs could include additional retaining walls on the east side of the tracks to fortify the bluff slopes and boulder riprap and revetment walls west of the tracks to protect from ocean waves.
Transit leaders look to long-term solutions“For the longer term, OCTA and its rail partners will continue to work with local, state and federal stakeholders on both near-term and long-term solutions for protecting rail movement along this critical corridor,” OCTA said in a statement last week.
