Rail Strike Knocks San Diegan Riders Off Track : Transportation: San Diego-Los Angeles passengers are left to fend for themselves as nationwide walkout gets under way.

San Diego County commuters who travel along the nation’s second-most popular rail corridor were thrown abruptly off the track today, forced by the probable onset of a national railroad strike to make their own travel accommodations.

Amtrak officials warned Tuesday that would-be passengers should not expect to see buses lined up at train stations to whisk them to their destinations.

“We’re not aware of any provisions to accommodate Amtrak passengers in the event of a strike,” said Russ Hall, an associate transportation representative from the state Public Utilities Commission, which regulates local transportation companies.

“The people left high and dry off the trains are basically going to have to make their own way.”

Added Cindy McKim, chief of Caltrans’ rail division, which partially funds half of Amtrak’s 16 daily trains along the Los Angeles-San Diego rail corridor: “Unfortunately, if a strike comes down, commuters and other train travelers are going to be on their own.”

About 2,500 rail passengers ride Amtrak’s San Diegan daily. In addition to the Santa Fe Depot downtown, the train makes San Diego County stops at stations in Del Mar and Oceanside.

Train commuters were likely to turn to the freeways and buses as alternative transportation. Local transportation officials suggested that commuters traveling north from San Diego could opt for public buses without losing much time.

Greyhound said it expected to do a brisk business during a strike and was prepared to add extra buses to its established routes.

Passengers on the southbound San Diegan that departed Union Station in Los Angeles at 6:20 p.m. Tuesday were resigned to--but unhappy with--the probable shutdown of the line. “It’s going to be a tremendous inconvenience. I don’t drive, and I have no idea how I am going to get where I need to go other than hiring a cab,” said Henry Stotsenerg, a certified public accountant who lives in San Diego but is based in Los Angeles. “I had heard rumors that this might happen, but now that it has, we as riders pay the price.”

Said fellow rider David Kobrinetz: “It will take me about two hours to three hours to get (to downtown Los Angeles), but what choice do I have? I have to go to work. I knew this was coming so I filled the car up, but I was hoping I wouldn’t have to use it.”

G.B. Doane said Amtrak agents failed to inform him about the possibility of a strike when he purchased a couple of round-trip tickets between San Diego and Los Angeles.

“Do you think I would have bought round-trip tickets if I had known,” said a visibly upset Doane, who owns a mangement company in Los Angeles but lives in San Diego. “I was going to spend the night in L.A., but now I guess I am just going to have to rent a car or fly back.” The Amtrak shutdown came as the nation’s 235,000 freight-line workers walked off their jobs at 7:01 a.m. local time today. The strike would affect tens of thousands of commuters nationwide because many rail lines run on tracks owned by freight railroads, or with crews provided by the freight lines.

Amtrak trains between San Diego and Los Angeles operate on tracks owned by the Santa Fe Railway, whose workers provide dispatching and track-switching services for the rail line, said Ron Scolaro, chief administrative officer for Amtrak government affairs in Los Angeles.

“Having the railroads go on strike from under us is like having the air-traffic controllers go out on strike and expecting United Airlines to do their thing unaffected--it just doesn’t happen,” he said.

“Preparing a contingency plan is difficult because we don’t know yet what time the strike could come about or what freight lines will be affected,” he said. “The timing and scope to this thing are going to be a surprise to us.”

The best rule of thumb for local commuters, Scolaro said, is to make their own alternate travel accommodations instead of counting on Amtrak buses.

“To say Amtrak will definitely provide buses for its displaced passengers would be lying,” he said. “Logistically, we simply could not do that. We won’t have buses waiting at the train stations for people.

“But we will let people know what is going on by announcements at the stations or over Amtrak’s 800-USA-Rail telephone number.”

Mike Martin, a spokesman for the Santa Fe in San Bernardino, said railroad and Amtrak officials were meeting continually to discuss strike strategies.

“They know they can’t operate trains if we close down the railroad,” he said. “And it’s up to them to provide for their own passengers. That’s not our responsibility.”

For local commuters between San Diego and the North County, there is another solution to squeezing another rider into the neighborhood car pool, said Judy Leitner, public communications manager for the Metro Transit Development Board in San Diego.

Southbound commuters can catch one of several express buses that start at the Oceanside transportation depot, making stops in Encinitas and Carmel Valley. The buses take about an hour to make the 38-mile trip, Leitner said.

Northbound commuters can take a bus or trolley to downtown San Diego and then connect on the Nos. 150, 30 or 34 buses to the University Towne Centre shopping mall in the Golden Triangle.

From there, they can transfer to either the No. 301 or 310 buses to the Oceanside transportation center. The whole trip from San Diego takes about 90 minutes and costs $1.25--compared to the train, which takes 44 minutes and costs about $7, Leitner said.

“It looks like local commuters will be faced with spending a little more time getting there if the strike happens,” she said. “But it’s not going to cost them as much.”

Times staff writer Allison Samuels in Orange County contributed to this story.