Train services through San Clemente suspended temporarily with emergency track repairs underway
SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. (KABC) -- A critical railroad track used to get trains between Los Angeles and San Diego is shutting down for several weeks so crews can address coastal erosion and landslides.
Travel plans on train going through San Clemente are now taking a detour with the start of the emergency repairs.
The train stop in Irvine to get on a bus caught some passengers like Sasha Osorio by surprise on Monday.
"I completely forgot that there was gonna be some maintenance done over there," Osorio said.
That's down in the area of Mariposa Point.
The Orange County Transportation Authority, or OCTA, announced in a press release the start of emergency repairs on the track Monday. The goal is to stabilize sections of track at immediate risk because of landslides and erosion.
AIR7 caught the start of the work Monday, including removal of a pedestrian bridge damaged by a landslide last year. Riprap repair, sand placement, a 1,400-foot catchment wall and restoration of pedestrian access is just part of the planned work.
"I'm just excited for when it reopens, eventually," Annie Von Heydenreich told Eyewitness News.
According to the OCTA, the service suspension and changes are expected to last six weeks.
This means passengers taking trains through here can only go as far south as the Laguna Niguel/Mission Viejo station on Metrolink. The Amtrak Pacific Surfliner will continue operations with changes, including a bus connection between Irvine and Oceanside.
That's where we caught up with passengers trying to figure it all out.
"It's a little inconvenience, but not as much as I'd expected. An hour and 30 minute-delay, but not a big deal," Osorio said.
"There is so much to be upset about these days. This is nothing," passenger Amy Stein said.
Services through the area are expected to restart in mid-June.
