The Amtrak Pacific Surfliner resumed limited passenger service through San Clemente, Calif., on March 6, as work continues to build a catchment wall at Mariposa Point to protect the rail right of way.
The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA), Metrolink and LOSSAN, who have been leading construction of a catchment wall at Mariposa Point in San Clemente that will protect the track from soil and debris from a privately owned slope that slid into the rail right of way in late January, agreed service on the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner can resume after 33 steel beams for the foundation of the containment wall were installed in place and after Amtrack conducted its own risk analysis.
Southbound Amtrak Pacific Surfliner trains 562 (morning) and 784 (evening), as well as northbound Amtrak Pacific Surfliner trains 765 (morning) and 587 (evening), will be fully reinstated without bus connections. The morning trains will pass through San Clemente between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m., with the evening trains scheduled through the area between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m.
OCTA notes mid-day service will not resume yet so construction of the catchment wall can continue. Bus connections between Irvine and Oceanside, Calif., will continue to be available for trains 769, 770, 774, 777, 785 and 790 to provide passengers with connections around the closure.
While the resumption of this morning and evening service will reduce the daily work window for construction, the team still anticipates being able to complete the catchment wall later this month. Once the wall construction is complete, full passenger service is expected to resume. The wall is expected to stand between 10 and 15 feet above ground, about 200 feet in length and supported by steel beams placed 30 feet below ground.
On Feb. 20, The California Transportation Commission awarded $7.2 million to OCTA for the construction of the catchment wall. The $7.2 million is in addition to a $2 million previous award from the state of California for cleanup and pre-construction activities at the site. That money was made available when Caltrans declared an official emergency.
With Pacific Surfliner providing passenger rail service to and from Oceanside, and to limit the number of trains affecting construction daily, Metrolink will not resume service through the area right now. Metrolink will continue to only operate weekday service as far south as the Laguna Niguel/Mission Viejo Station, while weekend Orange County Line and Inland Empire-Orange County Line trains will only operate as far south as San Juan Capistrano.
Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner provides important connectivity to San Diego, Calif., and other rail destinations nationwide.
