All railroad traffic connecting San Diego County with the rest of the nation was suspended again Tuesday as high tides and coastal erosion continued to chew away at the tracks in San Clemente in southern Orange County.
“Waves overtopped the tracks in the affected area and caused further deterioration (Monday night) along the adjacent slope, including damage to some previously placed protective rock,” Orange County Transit Authority officials said in a news release Tuesday.
“The rail line (is) closed so crews could safely assess conditions and perform additional emergency stabilization,” the release states.
“Crews are continuing repairs and will remain on site to monitor the coastline as elevated tides continue,” it states. “Severe high tides are expected through at least Thursday, and additional protective work will be performed as conditions allow.”
A peak high tide of 7.5 feet was expected at 7:51 p.m. Tuesday and again Wednesday evening, according to tide-forcast.com. Tides that high generally bring flooding in low-lying areas. After Wednesday, the peak is expected to gradually recede through next week.
Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner, Metrolink and BNSF freight trains will not travel through the area that is closed for repairs. No timeline was set for reopening.
Amtrak is providing a bus connection between Oceanside and Irvine on Tuesday and Wednesday, officials said Tuesday.
Surfliner trains will be available as far south as San Juan Capistrano and between San Diego and Oceanside. Anyone planning to travel south from San Juan Capistrano will need to get off the train at Irvine to use the bus bridge.
All regular rail traffic on the corridor including North County Transit District’s Coaster commuter trains will be suspended Saturday and Sunday for a previously planned “all work window.” The regular work windows allow routine maintenance and other projects along the right-of-way to be completed.
Large boulders were placed along the seaside tracks south of the San Clemente Pier over the weekend and on Labor Day, but more work may be needed, officials said.
The coastal rail route is part of the 351-mile corridor from downtown San Diego to San Luis Obispo. It is San Diego’s only railroad connection to Orange County, Los Angeles and the rest of the United States.
San Clemente is one of the few areas on the corridor where the tracks are at the edge of an eroding beach.
“OCTA and its rail partners have been closely monitoring this section of the LOSSAN Rail Corridor as repeated high tides and wave activity have affected the coastline in recent days,” states the news release.
“Crews have performed emergency stabilization work, including placement of additional riprap, to help protect the track and adjacent slope,” it states.
High surf in July shorted out railroad communications systems and eroded some of the gravel ballast beneath the track south of the San Clemente Pier, delaying several Metrolink and Amtrak trains on runs between San Diego, Orange County and Los Angeles. Two Surfliner runs between Los Angeles and San Diego were cancelled during those repairs.
Another threatened piece of the corridor is about 1.7 miles along the high coastal bluffs at Del Mar. A series of projects has been underway for decades to prevent landslides and control erosion that threaten the tracks there.
NCTD and OCTA are working with local, regional and state officials on long-term plans to relocate the endangered sections of track to new inland routes.
In Del Mar, an effort is underway to move the tracks off the bluff and into a tunnel bored beneath the rolling hills of the small community. That tunnel could be completed by 2035 if a final design is approved and funding becomes available.
A San Clemente solution is much further in the future. One possibility there is to move as much as 7 miles of track away from the coast to a new route along Interstate 5.
State Sen. Catherine Blakespear, D-Encinitas, who represents the region, has introduced several pieces of legislation to improve rail service and make it more reliable.
Senate Bill 1098, or the Southern California Rail Revitalization Act, was signed into law in 2024. It directs the California State Transportation Agency to create a prioritized list of the rail corridor’s capacity and climate resiliency projects.
It also directs the four regional planning agencies along the corridor — the San Luis Obispo Council of Governments, Santa Barbara County Association of Governments, Southern California Association of Governments and San Diego Association of Governments — to create local plans for improved rail services.