For the last two weeks passenger rail service between San Diego and Orange County has been suspended due to a landslide.
But there’s a plan to get the trains running again — a temporary wall will likely be built to protect the railroad tracks from the unstable cliffs in San Clemente.
“Within the next couple of weeks Metrolink will solidify a construction firm to move forward with the construction of a wall that would keep a barrier between the tracks and the right of way and the hillside,” said Metrolink’s Scott Johnson.
The recent landslide isn't an isolated incident.
It's the third time train service between San Diego and Orange County has been disrupted since last fall.
It's also the second time a landslide occurred at San Clemente’s Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens over the last few months.
Amtrak is running a bus bridge between Irvine and Oceanside, but San Clemente Mayor Chris Duncan said, "It's just not optimal. It takes a lot of extra time — you've got to get off the train, get back on the bus, then go up there."
He said he decided against taking the bus bridge as part of a trip to San Diego on Wednesday. "We just decided to drive down to Carlsbad,” he said.
Metrolink is expected to hire a contractor to design and build the wall on an emergency basis to speed up construction.
Its purpose would be to keep any additional debris from the landslide from interfering with traveling passenger trains.
“The details of the size, width, length, height and really even cost are yet to be determined. There are a number of timelines and numbers that have been discussed, but really nothing definitive,” Johnson said.
While periodic freight trains continue through the San Clemente area at low speeds, passenger service could still be a ways off.
“We are doing our very best to ensure the safety of the right of way, first by getting that construction consultant on board within the next one to two weeks,” Johnson said. “Then the eventual building of the wall and resumption of service that likely would occur later this summer.”
The Los Angeles–San Diego-San Luis Obispo Rail Corridor Agency (LOSSAN), which manages the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner said in a statement that they are “implementing cost-saving measures to preserve as much service as possible” but will maintain their shuttle bus connections between Irvine and Oceanside.
The coastal line is San Diego County’s only rail connection to Los Angeles and other points across the United States.
