SACRAMENTO — A California state senator is introducing a bill to address projects to prevent interruptions to passenger rail service on the LOSSAN Rail Corridor between San Luis Obispo and San Diego, such as the current slide near San Clemente, Calif., that has disrupted Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner and Metrolink commuter rail service.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reports state Sen. Catherine Blakespear (D-Encinitas) is introducing SB 1098, the Southern California Rail Revitalization Act. It directs the California State Transportation Agency to create a prioritized list of the route’s capacity and resiliency projects; directs the four regional planning agencies along the route to create local plans for improved rail service, and calls for the state’s transportation secreity to manage and lead those efforts.
“This is about aligning action for the benefit of passengers,” Blakespear said in a Tuesday press conference. “To have passenger rail service completely shut down in one portion, as it is now in San Clemente due to an unstable hillside, is unacceptable.”
Five other Democratic senators and two Republicans are coauthors. “It’s clear at this point there must be a more active effort at the state level,” said one member of that group, Sen. Josh Newman (D-Fullerton). “We need to build a faster, more frequent and more reliable rail corridor.”
Blakespear is chair of the Senate Transportation Subcommittee on LOSSAN Rail Corridor Resiliency, which has been holding hearings on the route’s vulnerability to changes in sea level and climate.
Passenger service has been disrupted through Orange County since a Jan. 24 slide near the San Clemente Pier, the fifth shutdown of service in that area in three years [see “Officials announce plans to build wall …,” Trains News Wire, Feb. 4, 2024]. There is no estimate when service will be restored. BNSF freight service, which has operated intermittently through the area since the slide, was halted again Monday because of further movement.
Oh sure, the political knuckleheads from the great granola bowl are going to waive their magic wands and stop all those slides that start off the right-of-way.