Things Finally Back on Track : Amtrak Commuters, Freight Rolling After Storm Debris Cleared

Train conductor Dennis Lennon’s booming welcome of “Good morning, boys and girls!” never sounded better as rail commuters early Tuesday stepped on board a waiting train at the San Juan Depot.

For the first time in about two weeks, since a massive San Clemente landslide and a swollen stretch of Oso Creek north of San Juan Capistrano closed two crucial sections of railroad track, regularly scheduled Amtrak commuter trains started running again between San Diego and Los Angeles.

And hours earlier, shortly after midnight, freight trains again started delivering materials to San Diego County and Tijuana.

Although one morning Amtrak train from San Diego was delayed 90 minutes when a freight train broke down on the single track, commuters in San Diego and south Orange counties whose travel was disrupted by the closure rejoiced that the tracks were clear again.

“It was like a celebration at the station when the train came in,” said Ken Larson, a Laguna Niguel human resources director who commutes to Los Angeles by train three to five days a week. “It’s definitely the way to go.”

Lennon was only too happy to once again collect tickets and greet the passengers.

“These guys are my regulars,” he said. “We’re like a family here.”

Like many other commuters whose lives were derailed when storms blocked the main Los Angeles to San Diego line, Larson had to rely on shuttle buses and his own car to get to work while Amtrak service was interrupted. The shuttles bypassed the closed sections of track.

“It’s been a real major inconvenience,” said Larson, who often takes his laptop computer with him to get some work done during his commute.

For Susan Guzzetta and Howard Morris, both employees of the city of Orange, catching a 6 a.m. shuttle bus from San Juan Capistrano to the Santa Ana train station wasn’t a problem the past two weeks. But getting home after work was another story.

While commuters were able to ride the train back from work as far as Irvine, they had to then catch a shuttle bus and sit through the traffic jams at the El Toro “Y” before finally reaching the San Juan Depot.

“On the freeway, there’s just too many rats in the maze,” Guzzetta said. “They did the best they could. You just got home later.” Using the shuttle, it took her at least 30 minutes longer to get home.

Since the Feb. 22 landslide destroyed five ocean-bluff homes in San Clemente and sent tons of debris onto Pacific Coast Highway and the tracks below, southbound freight shipments had been unable to get through to San Diego County.

Further complicating matters, the rain-swollen Oso Creek eroded within 30 feet of the rail line just north of San Juan Capistrano, causing a closure on Feb. 26 that blocked rail traffic between San Diego and Irvine.

But officials said the tracks are out of danger and crews continued working Tuesday to rebuild the creek’s bank and prevent further erosion.

Meanwhile, critical freight shipments of liquefied natural gas for residents in Tijuana and feed for poultry and livestock ranchers in San Diego County headed south by rail from Barstow shortly after the tracks reopened at midnight.

“We’re just happy the lines are open and the trains are moving,” said Mike Martin, spokesman for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Co., which owns the tracks.

Throughout Tuesday, eight freight trains traveled through the slide area, including one northbound train with 104 boxcars--more than a mile long--that had been sitting in San Diego.

As the trains began moving through the slide area, railroad and city engineers closely watched the bluffs and the debris still piled high on Pacific Coast Highway for any signs of further movement.

“Everything so far is status quo,” said Gary Griffin, a civil engineering assistant with the city of Dana Point.

As a precaution, all trains moving past the slide area and Oso Creek will temporarily slow down to 20 m.p.h., officials said. Normally, trains run 90 m.p.h. near the creek and 40 to 60 m.p.h. at the slide area.

Starting this morning, city-hired geologists will begin drilling testing holes into the slide debris on the highway, Griffin said.

The test borings, which will be about 32 inches in diameter and large enough for a person to climb inside, will help geologists determine if the slide has stabilized and when work might begin to clear the highway. Test results are not expected for another four to six weeks, officials said.

The much-welcomed opening of the tracks comes less than a week after work crews began clearing tons of landslide debris from the line.

Most of the work has involved building a 300-foot-long retaining wall between the tracks and highway to prevent more debris from sliding onto the track.

Officials said it’s still too early to estimate the loss in freight shipment revenue because of the closure. Amtrak, which had lower ridership while the track was blocked, didn’t immediately know how many commuters rode the trains Tuesday.

Before the storm damage, Amtrak provided service for more than 5,000 riders on 18 daily runs between San Diego and Los Angeles, the second-busiest rail corridor in the nation. With the closure, ridership dropped between 50% and 75%.

Although ridership was lighter than normal Tuesday, most predicted commuters would soon be coming back to the trains.

“The Amtrak is a great little train,” said Victor Marrero, a doctor who usually commutes from San Juan Capistrano to Fullerton each day. “Tomorrow, I’ll be on it again.”