SOLANA BEACH, Calif. (KGTV) – Direct train rides from San Diego to Los Angeles and Orange Counties were once again derailed after another landslide puts train travel between Oceanside and Irvine on hold.
It’s another day of travel by train for some.
“I comment to Ventura every day, every week,” said Dennis Diacos, who uses the Amtrak For work.
“Usually couple times a month to LA and back for work,” rider Eric Steinert said. “It’s good when it works but it’s a pain when it doesn’t.”
There’s been a handful of disruptions when it comes to the Pacific Surfliner Amtrak line from San Diego County to Los Angeles.
“It’s difficult because you don’t want to fight the traffic and I can do work on the train,” Diacos said.
Pacific Surfliner announcing on its website Monday tracks were closed due to debris falling from a nearby slope in San Clemente impacting the service between Irvine and Oceanside. These disruptions come with hassles for some commuters.
“You get really short notice of when it’s happening. So today, I’m working right and I’m going up to LA for work. And I think I found out at like 2 o’clock that I was going to be delayed, I’m going to have to take a bus, and I have to go to Irvine. And then my train back tomorrow, they canceled,” Steinert said.
Pacific Surfliner also says this is the same slope that caused disruptions last month.
Following this latest disruption, Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley, who serves as a director of the Orange County Transportation Authority, issued this statement:
“There are more days this year where passenger rail service in San Clemente was suspended than not – As an OCTA Director, I’ve requested that our team work urgently to create a barrier next to the tracks to protect the railroad from falling debris and continue service. “For our local economy and way of life to flourish, we cannot afford for these disruptive service suspensions to continue. I remain dedicated to working with our partners to monitor the situation and seriously consider how we can keep our tracks open for more than one week at a time.”
The closure update on the Pacific Surfliner website shows a bus bridge from Oceanside to Irvine and vice versa is available. The tracks will reopen once the debris is cleared and it’s safe to have the train go through there.
Until then, some are hoping something can be done to get the trains running all the way to Los Angeles.
“It’s one route like get a train to LA. It can’t be that hard,” Steinert said. “Go to Europe, go to Asia, the run trains all over the place. We can’t run one route to LA.”
And some are just going along for the ride with this latest disruption.
“Mother Nature, you know, what are we going to do?” Discos said. “Things can always be worse right?”
The LOSSAN Rail Corridor Agency, who owns and manages the Pacific Surfliner line, told ABC 10News via email there has been some budgetary impacts on service operations that add up to about $13 million to $15 million since October.
This includes the cote of the long-term bus bridges between Oceanside and Irvine as well as revenue impact because of reduced ridership.
