Amtrak Pacific Surfliner No. 572 passes the site of a landslide as it arrives at the San Clemente Pier station on Jan. 18, 2024. The route through San Clemente is once again closed because of erosion along the coast. David Lassen
SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. — The often-problematic stretch of rail line along the Pacific Coast in San Clemente is once again closed because of erosion and slope damage caused by high tides and strong waves.
The Orange County Transportation Authority says there is no timeline for reopening the route used by Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner, Metrolink, and BNSF Railway. The OCTA notes that severe high tides are expected to continue through at least Thursday, Sept. 10; the route was already scheduled to be closed Sept. 12-13 for maintenance and stabilization work.
“Crews are continuing repairs and will remain on site to monitor the coastline as elevated tides continue,” the OCTA said in a press release.
Surfliner trains from Los Angeles and points north are currently operating as far south as San Juan Capistrano, with those continuing to points farther south using a bus bridge between Irvine and Oceanside. Northbound travelers will also bus between Oceanside and Irvine. Additional information and updates will be available at the Surfliner website.
Metrolink service that normally runs as far south as Oceanside will terminate and originate at the Laguna Niguel/Mission Viejo station.
The stretch of the former Santa Fe Surf Line through San Clemente has seen several prolonged closures in recent years because of landslide activity. The most recent such outage ended in June 2025 [see “Amtrak, Metrolink service through San Clemente …,” Trains.com, May 29, 2025]. The OCTA has undertaken several projects to protect the route from erosion, as well as a study of long-term solutions [see “Meetings set on study …,” Trains.com, Aug. 5, 2026].
— To report news or errors, contact trainsnewswire@firecrown.com.
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