As a part of Coastal Rail Resiliency Study, OCTA completed an Initial Assessment that identified four areas requiring immediate action to ensure safe and uninterrupted rail operations through San Clemente.
ORANGE – Passenger rail service through San Clemente will be suspended beginning Monday, April 28, to allow for crews to safely conduct emergency construction aimed at stabilizing sections of track at immediate risk from landslides and coastal erosion.
Since 2021, rail closures due to bluff failures in San Clemente have severed Southern California’s only coastal rail connection between San Diego and Orange counties more than once, disrupting passenger service, delaying freight shipments, and threatening more than $1 billion in annual economic activity.
OCTA has updated its potential solutions to address immediate threats to rail service through San Clemente, and sand nourishment – always under consideration – is a key piece in the coastal rail protection puzzle.
Passenger rail service through San Clemente was suspended beginning April 28 to allow for crews to safely conduct emergency work to reinforce sections of track at immediate risk from landslides and coastal erosion.
On March 31, OCTA submitted an Emergency Coastal Development Permit to the California Coastal Commission to expedite work to stabilize four areas most vulnerable to failure above the railroad track through San Clemente.
At the southern end of the project, near San Clemente State Beach, 1,400 cubic yards of riprap repair, 22,000 cubic yards of engineered revetment, seawall or functionally equivalent structure, and 300,000 cubic yards of sand have been identified as necessary to protect the track.
Passenger rail service through San Clemente has been suspended temporarily to allow crews to safely conduct emergency construction aimed at stabilizing sections of track at immediate risk from landslides and coastal erosion.
OCTA is working with Metrolink to develop and implement protective measures along the rail line, below Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens just north of the San Clemente Pier, to allow the rail line to be reopened for safe passenger rail service as soon as possible.
ORANGE – OCTA has updated its potential solutions to address immediate threats to rail service through San Clemente, and sand nourishment – always under consideration – is a key piece in the coastal rail protection puzzle.