LOS ANGELES – Amtrak is planning to detour its southbound Coast Starlight between Oakland and Los Angeles in March and April due to track work. Instead of its normal route along the California Coast, train No. 11 will travel Union Pacific’s ex-Southern Pacific route via the San Joaquin Valley and Tehachapi Loop. The detours are planned for March 13-15, March 24-30, and April 8-10.
Seattle departures of the train are one day earlier. Amtrak says that the track work may end early, so detours may not last all the way into April.
Passenger movements over the famed Tehachapi Loop are rare. The line over the loop saw its last regularly scheduled passenger service when the Oakland-Los Angeles San Joaquin Daylight made its last run on April 30, 1971, just prior to Amtrak’s start-up.
