The Mariposa Trail Bridge landslide in San Clemente fully halted passenger train service between San Diego and Orange County on Jan. 24.
Now, a few Amtrak Pacific Surfliner passenger trains have started running through the area once again.
“We had double the ridership on our first train in the morning than we were seeing with the bus bridges in place,” said LOSSAN Rail Corridor Agency marketing and communications manager Puja Thomas-Patel.
Construction has been underway on a barrier wall at the site of the landslide for the past few weeks.
Thomas-Patel explained the current limited schedule for Pacific Surfliner.
“We have started two trains in the morning and two trains in the evening. We are still paused during the midday to allow them to complete construction of the wall,” she said.
In addition to the partial resumption of Amtrak Pacific Surfliner, late-night BNSF freight trains restarted service through the area.
Metrolink still has not restarted any of their trains through San Clemente. The organization’s Scott Johnson said that’s due to limited space during construction.
“Typically on a weekday there's 14 Metrolink trains that come through that area,” Johnson said. “Four on our Inland Empire-Orange County line and then an additional 10 on the Orange County line, in addition to a full complement of Pacific Surfliner trains."
This current landslide is one of many track issues in San Clemente that have stopped train service in recent years.
The tracks belong to OCTA – the Orange County Transit Authority. That agency is now proposing a $200 million solution to prevent future rail closures in sensitive areas around the beachside city.
“It's a real critical priority for us right now, because we have the landslides happening, but we also have the coastal erosion. So we're getting hit on both sides,” said Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley.
She’s on the OCTA board and said the emergency repair proposal needs to factor in the problem of sand retention.
“(We need) solutions that will protect the track from debris falling and closing the trains, but also keep the beaches as a buffer,” Foley said.
In the long term, the supervisor said tracks will likely need to move away from the coast.
Metrolink and LOSSAN expect full passenger service between San Diego and Orange County to resume in early April, barring any project issues.
