SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. — The latest landslide interrupting rail service between Los Angeles and San Diego continued on Friday, increasing chances that Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner service between the two cities, and Metrolink service to Oceanside, could face another extended interruption.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that the hill continued to slide behind the Casa Romantica Cultural Center, a 1920s-era facility owned by the city of San Clemente used for special events.
A section of hillside about 20 feet wide fell away Wednesday night, taking with it part of the center’s patio. The slide continued to move slowly on Thursday and Friday. The bottom of the slide is about 30 feet above the Surf Line, used by the passenger services, as well as BNSF freight traffic. Some debris reached the track Thursday. While the track was not damage, the debris prompted a halt to Metrolink and Surfliner service, just two weeks after it had resumed once a slide at another location was stabilized [see “Landslide again halts Metrolink, Surfliner service …,” Trains News Wire, April 27, 2023].
Jewel Edson, a Solana Beach councilwoman, is chair of the Los Angeles-San Diego-San Luis Obispo (LOSSAN) Rail Corridor Agency board, which oversees Surfliner operations. She told the Union-Tribune the agency is “working with our partners to resume safe service as quickly as possible.” She also pointed out that the California State Transportation Transportation Agency awarded $5 million in funding earlier this week to the Orange County Transportation Authority to study long-term solutions to issues along the rail corridor between San Clemente and Dana Point.
In the short term, some Surfliner trains have been cancelled this weekend or are operating on only a portion of their usual routes, while others are offering a bus bridge between Irvine and Oceanside. Details are available here.
Metrolink will not be serving Oceanside for the duration of the closure. Its current advisory indicates weekday trains will terminate at Laguna Niguel-Mission Viejo, with weekend trains operating to San Juan Capistrano.
Are freights still running?