bikeme

If you were planning a one-way ride to O-side, Carlsbad, SD and taking the train or metro link back, there's no Amtrak service until further notice:

Dear Rider,

Unfortunately, continued movement to the right of way in the San Clemente area is forcing Metrolink to suspend Orange County Line and Inland Empire-Orange County Line service south of the Laguna Niguel/Mission Viejo Station until further notice.

The service suspension will take effect tomorrow, Friday, Sept. 30, out of an abundance of caution and to ensure the safety of our passengers and personnel.

Until we have confirmation from the experts the slope movement has stopped, we will not resume Metrolink service.

As a result, Metrolink service will be affected as follows:

• Orange County Line: All Orange County Line trains will operate as scheduled between the Laguna Niguel/Mission Viejo Station and Los Angeles Union Station, with no alternate transportation to or from San Juan Capistrano, San Clemente or Oceanside.
• Inland Empire-Orange County Line: All Inland Empire-Orange County Line trains will operate as scheduled between Laguna Niguel/Mission Viejo and San Bernardino, with no alternate transportation to or from San Juan Capistrano, San Clemente or Oceanside.

We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience.

For all questions, please do not hesitate to call or text us at 800-371-5465 (LINK).

For the latest on this service adjustment, please follow @Metrolink on Twitter or visit metrolinktrains.com/service-update.

SoSmellyAir

Thread title references Amtrak but only likes to Metrolink announcement; corresponding Amtrak information announcement: Travel Advisories | Pacific Surfliner

diphthong

they will need to eventually route the train tracks in san clemente alongside and/or in between northbound and southbound lanes of the 5 freeway. that beach/cliffs/ocean interface ain't getting any better.

SoSmellyAir

Hopefully, when Amtrak or Caltrans does that, it would build a bike path that runs alongside; I have seen roadies cycling on I-5 south, and I don't think that is good idea.

skidder

For anyone who's not familiar with the area its in south San Clemente near the San Clemente State Beach. For those of you old enough to remember ( ) its in the area where Richard Nixon had his estate, the first known 'Western White House.", between the SC State Beach and the City/Camp Pendelton border. For you surf dudes and dudettes its just north of Trestles.

bikeme

Thank you! I forgot to put Metrolink too.

bikeme

I don't have a base pass, so I use the 5. It's not bad at all--the shoulder is pretty wide and the road surface is better than in Pendleton. You don't have to deal with stressed out Marine wives (husbands deployed) or young guys that like to buzz you with their cars either.

SoSmellyAir

Well, that (i.e., the resumption of Amtrak & Metrolink service between south Orange County and San Diego) did not last long.

Landslide halts Metrolink, Pacific Surfliner service in south Orange County (10news.com)

diphthong

grrr...just did an overnight in san clemente two weeks ago in the casa romantica area. it is inevitable. tracks in san clemente must be moved to parallel the 5 fwy
from the supposedly closed/not closed san onofre nuclear power plant northwest to the current, inland turn towards san juan capistrano. the trackside cliffs from
trestles to dana point are not stable enough to support houses, much less trains. we're talking a roughly 6-7 mile stretch. that ain't gonna be cheap.

SoSmellyAir

What!? I thought it was permanently shut down in 2013.

‘A combination of failures:’ why 3.6m pounds of nuclear waste is buried on a popular California beach | Nuclear waste | The Guardian

Yes. I took this photo from the San Clemente Pedestrian Beach Trail near the Metrolink station last month after all the rain earlier in 2023. I hope this is cleaned up by now; if it rains again that slab near the top would slide down toward the trail.

diphthong

^ yeah plenty of cars parked onsite at san onofre power plant behind the barbed wire fences every time i've ridden by the last decade so it would seems they're mostly nuclear waste repository workers?

the soil composing the seaside cliffs in san clemente is softer than the soil composing the seaside cliffs in north county san diego. came across an old north san diego county street map of the encinitas area
approx 30 years ago at the ucsd library killing time between classes. map was dated 1907 iirc...encinitas had lost 4 entire streets paralleling the beach south of moonlight beach in those 87 years. a lot of
san clemente (and san diego coastal) coastal cliffsides got the gunnite walls treatment in the 70's but that's just kicking the can down the road. those cliffs will eventually either collapse outright or develop
sinkholes/liquefy during a decent earthquake.

SoSmellyAir

Travel Advisories | Pacific Surfliner

Service Updates | Metrolink (metrolinktrains.com)

But who knows for how long this time?

skidder

Amtrak was shut down again this morning (June 5 2023) when the slope out back of Casa Romantica slipped again. Same slope, the hillside just north of the San Clemente Pier area. This is getting crazy!

diphthong

grrr.

SoSmellyAir

8 days. Is this a new low? Metrolink is subsidized by tax dollars. Board of Directors Approves Metrolink Funding for 2022-2023 Fiscal Year - SBCTA (gosbcta.com) Seems like they should have spent the money toward fixing the problem instead of McGyvering it for 8 days.

oris

Looks like the Surfliner will be reopening 7/17!

I was trying to book a ticket for a century ride but no bike spaces were available though. Typically riding from Anaheim to Downtown SD and hopping on the Santa Fe station.

https://www.pacificsurfliner.com/pla...#trackclosures

diphthong

seems like it has been on again/off again for the better part of a year re: amtrak. for whatever reason, seems like (anecdotally to me) metrolink has been able to roll through
more consistently through san clemente between o-side and sjc. never have before but if i were booking amtrak heading south or north thru san clemente now, i'd purchase the trip insurance.
it's been that sketchy.

used to do 3-5 los angeles to san diego rides a year utilizing the amtrak train. would train up to dtown la or fullerton or santa ana or anaheim or irvine in the early am and ride back to san diego
or ride around in la county and/or orange/riverside county and take the train back to san diego. between the uncertainty regarding training through san clemente and the recently effective closure to many cyclists
(unable to procure an new/updated pass) rolling through camp pendleton, it's a pita along the 5 freeway corridor. sure, you can ride on the 5 freeway between the "trestles area" and oceanside
(although there are a few freeway onramp signs saying bicycles are illegal on that stretch) but it's far from ideal and obviously beyond the comfort level of the vast majority of recreational cyclists.