Photo courtesy of LOSSAN Rail Corridor Agency.

By SDCN Editor

Orange, CA–Amtrak Pacific Surfliner is scheduled to resume limited passenger service through San Clemente beginning Wednesday morning, as work continues to build a catchment wall at Mariposa Point to protect the rail right of way. 

With all 33 steel beams for the foundation of the wall in place and Amtrak conducting its risk analysis, the OCTA, Metrolink, and LOSSAN team have agreed that limited Pacific Surfliner service can safely resume to and from San Diego through San Clemente.  

Southbound Pacific Surfliner trains 562 (morning) and 784 (evening), as well as northbound 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 and 8 a.m., with the evening trains scheduled through the area between 6 and 7 p.m. 

Mid-day service will not resume yet so that construction of the catchment wall can continue. Bus connections between Irvine and Oceanside 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. 

With Pacific Surfliner providing passenger rail service to and from Oceanside and limiting 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. 

Passengers are being directed to www.pacificsurfliner.com/alerts and www.metrolinktrains.com for the latest rail service updates.

Pacific Surfliner provides important connectivity to San Diego and other rail destinations nationwide. BNSF has been operating freight trains through the area overnight intermittently since Jan. 30. 

The construction team, led by OCTA and Metrolink, continues to make progress on the catchment wall. Even with additional rain expected later this week, the team plans to continue to work on drainage, excavation, and installing the wooden panels between the steel beams that will create the catchment wall.

The construction schedule is subject to change. For the latest updates and background, visit www.octa.net/railupdates.