California Line to Possibly Relocate After Landslides

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. – Track relocation is a possibility after historic rainfall, eroding bluffs, and landslides have posed a danger to the existing line.

The Los Angeles Times continues to report on the eroding bluffs that threaten the integrity and safety of the nearby line in Del Mar and San Clemente. In a video interview with Gabriel San Román, an LA Times Metro Reporter, discussions of moving the track further inland are brought up. 

With the “historic rainfall” that the city of Los Angeles and surrounding areas experienced this past winter, the “bluffs have become a problem.” Because of this and the landslides in San Clemente earlier this year, both elected and transportation officials do not want to “risk passenger transit with an active landslide that wasn’t finished moving.”

With the line that runs in Del Mar, the issue is that the track runs on top of the bluffs for about two miles. With eroding bluffs causing instability, it underscores the officials’ worry. According to Román, “San Diego is a little more motivated to move the track inland. . . with underground tunnels.” At present, OCTA is searching for solutions to the problem, chief among them is track relocation. However, the preliminary estimated cost of doing so would cost around $3 billion “and would be ready for passengers and freight by 2035.”

Currently, the track sees a large amount of freight and passenger traffic with “a billion dollars’ worth of freight and goods here that are transported by freight every year.”