San Clemente Track Closure
Metrolink and Amtrak Pacific Surfliner passenger rail service will safely resume through South Orange County on Saturday, June 7. The restoration of service will follow the completion of construction of the initial phase of emergency efforts to reinforce the most vulnerable areas along the rail line in San Clemente.
Metrolink service south of the Laguna Niguel/Mission Viejo Station has been suspended since Monday, April 28, to allow crews to safely conduct emergency construction aimed at stabilizing sections of track at immediate risk from landslides and coastal erosion.
The project team has strategically placed approximately 5,900 tons of large boulders, also known as riprap, throughout the project areas to protect the rail right of way.
Crews continue to prepare the track for the safe resumption of passenger service, demobilizing equipment, cleaning up construction staging areas, performing rail signal testing, and resurfacing and inspecting the track.
The project team is also finishing the placement of large temporary concrete barriers between the track and the inland bluff to create a safe workspace for crews to build an approximately 1,400-foot-long catchment wall in the coming months. The wall construction schedule is still being determined but is anticipated to occur mostly behind those barriers to limit further disruption to passenger rail service.
For details regarding the OCTA Coastal Rail Emergency Projects, please click here.
