REGION — New legislation signed by the governor’s office last week seeks to enhance the ridership and resiliency of the LOSSAN rail corridor through more coordinated management between state and regional leaders.
Authored by state Sen. Catherine Blakespear (D-Encinitas), Senate Bill 1098, also known as the Southern California Rail Revitalization Act, calls for a more streamlined approach to managing the 351-mile rail corridor between San Diego and San Luis Obispo, which is currently overseen by several different agencies.
The bill tasks the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA) and the state Secretary of Transportation with leading and managing stakeholders to support the corridor and requires CalSTA to create a clear list of prioritized projects along the corridor and recommendations for needed policy changes.
“I thank Gov. Newsom for signing this much-needed legislation to improve the management and planning of the LOSSAN rail line,” Blakespear said. “SB 1098 sets the foundation for optimizing rail operations and boosting ridership so we can meet our region’s mobility, air quality and climate goals.”
The legislation comes forward as two key sections of the rail in Del Mar and San Clemente face increasing environmental vulnerabilities. LOSSAN service between San Diego and Orange counties has been stopped five times over the past two and a half years due to landslides, with the most recent instance halting service for two months at the beginning of this year.
Blakespear introduced the bill during this most recent closure in February, following a year and a half of work by the Senate Transportation Subcommittee on LOSSAN Rail Corridor Resiliency, which she also chairs.
The bill requires the Secretary of Transportation to convene a working group to complete a report to the legislature by February 2026. This report should contain recommendations for increasing rail service coordination, reducing disruptions, and needed policy and legislation changes to improve service.
This working group will involve SANDAG and other metropolitan planning organizations along the corridor, county-level transportation commissions, rail corridor owners, passenger and freight operators, and civic and community organizations. It will also include representatives from the California Coastal Commission and Caltrans’ Division of Rail and Mass Transportation.
By gathering feedback from all of the above stakeholders, Blakespear hopes the state can be better aware of local needs for the rail and be more proactive about moving improvements forward.
“If we want a functioning rail corridor and we want trains to be part of our future in a bigger way than it is in our present, it’s a series of very complex organizational efforts that need to happen, and this is the beginning of that,” Blakespear said.
Within the next two years, CalSTA and the State Secretary of Transportation will also be required to submit a report to the legislature outlining priority improvement projects to ensure resiliency along the corridor, strategies for improving existing rail service, and a description of necessary funding, among other topics.
General update reports regarding the rail will be required no later than three years after the bill’s passage and every two years after that.
Blakespear said the legislation would also be crucial in helping to secure funds for the massive LOSSAN Rail Realignment project, which plans to relocate a 1.7-mile section of the tracks off the Del Mar Bluffs and into underground tunnels further inland.
SANDAG is leading the project and is currently seeking federal funding to make it a reality. Depending on the chosen realignment route, costs are estimated at as much as $4 billion.
Outside of Blakespear’s bill, elected leaders are also working to garner more federal support for the LOSSAN rail corridor. Earlier this year, Congressman Mike Levin announced that the LOSSAN rail corridor had been added to the federal Corridor Identification and Development (ID) program, which identifies projects for strategically important rail corridors across the country.
