SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. — Resumption of Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner and Metrolink commuter rail service along an unstable section of track near San Clemente is now not expected to resume until February, the Orange County Transportation Authority said last week.
Passenger service through the section of south Orange County was halted Sept. 30 because of movement of a hillside along the Surf Line route. Amtrak has been operating with a modified schedule with a bus bridge around the problem area, while Metrolink has not been operating the southernmost portion of its routes to Oceanside [see “Metrolink, Pacific Surfliner adjust schedules …,” Trains News Wire, Oct. 27, 2022].
Previously, a resumption of service had been projected for January.
“We are attempting to get this emergency work done as quickly as possible with safety continuing to guide all of our actions,” OCTA Chairman Mark A. Murphy told the Times of San Diego. “Like everyone, we want to see Metrolink and Amtrak Pacific Surfliner safely running again through this area. At the same time, we need first to ensure the track is no longer moving.”
The track had moved as much as 28 inches over the year prior to the interruption in service. Large steel anchors are being drilled into the bedrock of the slope along 700 feet of the rail line to prevent further movement toward the ocean.
