SOLANA BEACH, Calif. (KGTV) - Those who rely on the trains that travel from the Los Angeles area to San Diego County are pleading for any and all types of solutions to issues plaguing the rail lines along the county's bluffs.
The call for action came after Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg traveled to North County to get a first-hand look at the issue.
David Grone’s been commuting between Los Angeles and in Solana Beach for two years for work.
“I was up on a Monday morning. I get up at around 5:30. I catch a 7 o’clock Amtrack at Union Station. I get to the office at around 10 after 9; working on the train for two hours. It’s great. Stay overnight Monday, Tuesday go home Wednesday night,” Grone said.
The long-standing issues of closures on rail line are starting take its toll for him and is hoping for a solution both short and long term, especially with the latest closure from between Orange County to North San Diego County.
“I can’t leave until 10:10 in the morning from Union Station and I don’t get here until 3 o’clock. So it basically takes a day out,” Grone said.
Now, it’s changing from train to bus back to train for Grone to get to work or getting behind the wheel.
“I have been driving occasionally back and forth. It’s not manageable on an ongoing basis,” Grone said.
Outside of the recent rail line closures and the impacts being felt here, the bluffs in North County — particular in Del Mar — are a decades' long issue.
As ABC 10News previously reported, the state kicked in $300 million for a project to begin moving the tracks off the bluffs in Del Mar.
Buttigieg visited the county to see the issues on the bluffs for himself with local leaders.
Erosion has continued to raise concerns about the stability of the train tracks on the bluffs and as where to put them. Buttigieg acknowledges it is an issue, it’ll take time and there’s an emphasis on the funding resources to get the job done.
“The main message is that this has our full attention. We recognize the urgency to both restore existing capacity and to improve it for the future,” Buttigieg said.
“And I guess I say to him, you’ve known about this for a long time, why hasn't there been a hard-core plan?” Grone said. “I may go into early retirement because it’s just not manageable.”
When asked about a timeline for the project moving rail line off the bluff, Buttigieg said he can’t speak about that yet as there’s an exception of more applications to be submitted to do the project.
