Surfliner, Metrolink service may not be restored until mid-January

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. — It could still be as long as mid-January before passenger rail service resumes through the section of South Orange County where traffic has been stopped by an unstable slope next to the railroad tracks, the Times of San Diego reports.

The news site reports the Orange County Transportation Authority has finalized a contract with Condon-Johnson & Associates to perform the emergency stabilization work needed along the section of coast in San Clemente, and that restoration could occur as soon as in 60 days, or in mid-December, or not until mid-January, when construction work is finished.

““We’re in uncharted territory with this emergency stabilization work and, as we’ve said all along, passenger safety is what guides all of our actions,” OCTA Chairman Mark A. Murphy told the Times. “We want this work to get done as soon as possible, but we first need to make sure it’s done right and the slope is secure.”

Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner and LA-area commuter rail operator Metrolink halted operations through the affected stretch of track on Sept. 30. Metrolink is not offering any service south of its Laguna Niguel/Mission Viejo station, while the Surfliner is offering an abbreviated schedule with a bus bridge around the area in question [see “Pacific Surfliner, Metrolink halt operations …,” Trains News Wire, Sept. 30, 2022].

The repair work, which will cost as much as $12 million, involves placing steel anchors about 100 feet long into the bedrock of the adjacent slope to prevent it from continuing to slide toward the ocean. The track has been moved as much as 28 inches over the last 13 months, the Times reports.