As of Sunday, Sept. 3, multiple delays of the Pacific Surfliner and Metrolink trains were reported by Amtrak and transit officials over the Labor Day weekend. A variety of causes were to blame including “unforeseen track closures,” signal issues, and police activity due to the death of a man struck by a northbound Coaster train at 3:25 p.m. near the intersection of Pacific Highway and West Washington Street, according to Times of San Diego.
Just before 4 p.m., the Pacific Surfliner’s social media platform “X, formerly known as Twitter” account announced lengthy delays were to be expected. Amtrak was already experiencing delays due to signal issues between Oceanside and the San Clemente Pier as of 1 p.m. All of this on top of an already busy Labor Day weekend.
Following the incident, San Diego police notified the Sheriff’s Transit Enforcement Unit to conduct an investigation. The unit is responsible for looking into incidents that happen along North County Transit District routes.
Surfliner services were disrupted throughout the day with adjustments to train schedules made as necessary. Orange County Metrolink also noted delays for both north and southbound trains beginning at 12:25 p.m.
This is the latest in a series of incidents that has delays and cancellations of the Surfliners dating to early 2023. A series of landslides along the route and subsequent repairs played havoc with the schedule through the spring and summer [see “Pacific Surfliner sets new timetable to deal with San Clemente landslide,” Trains News Wire, May 2, 2023]. Most recently Tropical Storm Hilary created additional problems for the trains [see “Additional Surfliner, Coaster trains cancelled because of tropical storm,” Trains News Wire, Aug. 2, 2023].
