Surfliner service suspended Oceanside-Irvine due to emergency track work

[thully]

Looks like no Surfliner service between Oceanside and Irvine until further notice due to emergency track work:

Travel Advisories | Pacific Surfliner

Learn about ongoing construction projects that contribute to improvements in rail travel in Southern California, and stay ahead of planned service disruptions.

www.pacificsurfliner.com

This is because of safety concerns along the right of way. Wonder how long this is going to last - sounds like it may be a while (almost certainly not in time for the Gathering, so we'll need another schedule change there).

 

[GDRRiley]

not really a surprise, they need to move the alignment sooner rather than later.
Hopefully the state will finally spend the money on PAX rail they need to and have studied for decades. 15-20B towards existing and expanding amtrak california services is badly needed.

 

[zephyr17]

Looks like no Surfliner service between Oceanside and Irvine until further notice due to emergency track work:

Travel Advisories | Pacific Surfliner

Learn about ongoing construction projects that contribute to improvements in rail travel in Southern California, and stay ahead of planned service disruptions.

www.pacificsurfliner.com

This is because of safety concerns along the right of way. Wonder how long this is going to last - sounds like it may be a while (almost certainly not in time for the Gathering, so we'll need another schedule change there).

Unstable cliffs in San Clemente? That is what I infer.

That could be awhile...

 

[thully]

Sounds like this happened in the same area last year and the shutdown lasted 3 weeks:

Movement on Railroad Track in San Clemente Shuts Down Train Services from South OC to Oceanside

By Shawn Raymundo Train operations between much of South Orange County and Oceanside have been suspended until early October as crews work to stabilize a p

www.sanclementetimes.com

 

[thully]

not really a surprise, they need to move the alignment sooner rather than later.
Hopefully the state will finally spend the money on PAX rail they need to and have studied for decades. 15-20B towards existing and expanding amtrak california services is badly needed.

Del Mar is another area where they have this issue - the tracks there run on top of cliffs and they've been talking about moving them for years (and have had to shut them down there due to safety concerns before). Will definitely miss the views there, but safety is obviously more important.

 

[GDRRiley]

Del Mar is another area where they have this issue - the tracks there run on top of cliffs and they've been talking about moving them for years (and have had to shut them down there due to safety concerns before). Will definitely miss the views there, but safety is obviously more important.

SANDAG at least has a plan for that area, double track tunnel as part of a large realignment, speed upgrade and electrification program. not sure any have been made for this area.

 

[TinCan782]

This also affects Metrolink service down to Oceanside.

Alerts, Service Advisories and Planned Advisories | Metrolink

Get real-time updates from Metrolink about service interruptions or track changes & more.

metrolinktrains.com

 

[Bob Dylan]

Looks like no Surfliner service between Oceanside and Irvine until further notice due to emergency track work:

Travel Advisories | Pacific Surfliner

Learn about ongoing construction projects that contribute to improvements in rail travel in Southern California, and stay ahead of planned service disruptions.

www.pacificsurfliner.com

This is because of safety concerns along the right of way. Wonder how long this is going to last - sounds like it may be a while (almost certainly not in time for the Gathering, so we'll need another schedule change there).

Those of us riding Surfliners from SAN to LAX to catch Trains on Sunday will be Bustituted between SAN and Irvine, then take a Surfliner into LAX.

And as was said, another change to Friday's Schedule will be necessary since No Trains will be running North of San Diego!

 

[jebr]

And as was said, another change to Friday's Schedule will be necessary since No Trains will be running North of San Diego!

Right now closures for this particular issue have just been announced for 9/30 - nothing yet for next week. The Saturday/Sunday work is a separate issue.

That said, the Committee is aware and considering backup plans (plan C at this point?) in case of extended closures.

 

[thully]

Right now closures for this particular issue have just been announced for 9/30 - nothing yet for next week. The Saturday/Sunday work is a separate issue.

That said, the Committee is aware and considering backup plans (plan C at this point?) in case of extended closures.

The last time something similar happened, it lasted 3 weeks. Obviously this could be faster, but I wouldn’t expect it to be done by next week (though it could be if it ends up being less serious than last time).

They are showing several trains as cancelled for all of next week on Arrow - since this is on weekdays, I’d expect that’s in anticipation of this track work. Still showing full LAX-SAN service on the remaining trains, but I figure that will be updated once they get buses arranged.

 

[TinCan782]

Right now closures for this particular issue have just been announced for 9/30 - nothing yet for next week. The Saturday/Sunday work is a separate issue.

That said, the Committee is aware and considering backup plans (plan C at this point?) in case of extended closures.

The closure time period is open-ended, per www.pacificsurfliner.com

Track Closures​

Rail Closure Due to Emergency Track Work in San Clemente
Effective September 30 until further notice

 

[jebr]

The closure time period is open-ended, per www.pacificsurfliner.com

Track Closures​

Rail Closure Due to Emergency Track Work in San Clemente
Effective September 30 until further notice

Saw that as well. We're definitely going to be building contingency plans, though we're still determining when to switch from holding out hope to switching to those contingency plans.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Right now closures for this particular issue have just been announced for 9/30 - nothing yet for next week. The Saturday/Sunday work is a separate issue.

That said, the Committee is aware and considering backup plans (plan C at this point?) in case of extended closures.

PLAN Z???

 

[jebr]

PLAN Z???

PLAN Z! It can't possibly fail!

 

[TinCan782]

PLAN Z! It can't possibly fail!

Be wary of "Plan 9 from Outer Space"

 

[thully]

An update - currently all Amtrak service south of Irvine is cancelled, but they expect to have San Diego-Oceanside trains and an Oceanside-Irvine bus bridge by 10/3:

 

[GDRRiley]

There is 1-2 5 mile tunnels in San Diego county that need to be built,
then there is this where a 10 mile bypass under I-5 needs to be built.
I'm seeing some people online argue, time to bypass CCC, CEQA, NEPA and get the tunnel rushed into construction

 

[jebr]

Just saw this - nothing official but wouldn't be surprised if this is the case.

 

[thully]

Amtrak’s reservation system is now showing trains San Diego-Oceanside and Irvine-LA plus buses Oceanside-Irvine starting October 3 through October 23rd. Currently it shows 4 round-trips between SAN-OSD (with connecting buses for those), plus 7 IRV-LAX trains, as well as a bus LAX-SAN to substitute for the last southbound Surfliner of the night. Not sure if this is the full schedule or not - haven’t seen an official announcement yet.

 

[Railroad Bill]

Still waiting to hear official change from Amtrak but website does show the schedule mentioned by Thully here

 

[GDRRiley]

Just saw this - nothing official but wouldn't be surprised if this is the case.

crazy they've put 11,500T of rocks with more planned and its not done enough to stabilize it
rerouting needs to happen via a tunnel

 

[zephyr17]

crazy they've put 11,500T of rocks with more planned and its not done enough to stabilize it
rerouting needs to happen via a tunnel

Pretty much all bluffs on the Southern California coast are unstable to one degree or another.

 

[GDRRiley]

Pretty much all bluffs on the Southern California coast are unstable to one degree or another.

they are, from LA to SD they need to move lots of track inland. Del Mar tunnel would be 5 miles while San Clemente looks to be ~10 miles. Getting these tunnels built needs to be a priority.
Venture to SLO is mostly forgotten, I know they've talked a bit about fixing some of the ROW but thats going to take a lot more studying.
For all these projects they need to design where possible the track geometry for 110 if not 125mph along with plate H clearance and electrification

 

[zephyr17]

I know the Del Mar tunnel is being planned and will likely happen sometime.

As to the the rest, I look forward to actionable plans and funding for such by CalTrans, and LOSSAN. I do not know of any, though.

 

[GDRRiley]

I know the Del Mar tunnel is being planned and will likely happen sometime.

As to the the rest, I look forward to actionable plans and funding for such by CalTrans, and LOSSAN. I do not know of any, though.

yeah by 2035... we need it by 2030 at the latest.
LOSSAN doesn't have money they are mostly just there to coordinate

Orange county owns the tracks here. The state just needs to buy more tracks and take over the tracks it gave funding to counties to buy. Then put them all under Caltrans rail and have the state maintain and upgrade them.