SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. — A series of storms that have brought significant rain to California have slowed efforts to repair an unstable slope along the Surf Line in Orange County, pushing back efforts to restore through rail passenger service between Los Angeles and San Diego while also raising the cost of the repair effort.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reports installation and testing of ground anchors, intended to stabilize a slow-moving landslide, will now not be complete until March, according to Jim Beil, executive director of the Orange County Transportation Authority, which is overseeing the repairs. Earlier estimates had placed the completion of the work in January, then in February [see “Surfliner, Metrolink service not likely to be fully restored …,” Trains News Wire, Nov. 20, 2022].
“We are losing some time right now due to equipment getting stuck in the mud,” Beil told an agency meeting on Monday, Jan. 9. “With more significant rain predicted, it may require some dry-out time.”
So far, the work has cost $11.5 million, just under the overall estimate of $12 million. A revised estimate will be presented at the board’s next meeting.
Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner service has been running a reduced schedule, with a bus bridge around the slide area, since September, while LA-area commuter operator Metrolink has not served its southern terminus of Oceanside since the problem developed [see “Pacific Surfliner, Metrolink halt operations …,” News Wire, Sept. 30, 2022]. BNSF freight service continues at night, but trains move through the slide area at 10 mph only after a flagger and engineer walk the tracks in the area under repair.
