Freight trains travel again past San Clemente slide
Passenger rail service remains suspended between San Diego and Orange counties.
SAN DIEGO — Freight trains have resumed their routes between San Diego and Orange counties, although passenger rail service remains suspended because of a landslide that threatens the tracks below a historic property in San Clemente.
BNSF Railway on April 30 began running two to four trains a day through the area, slowed to speeds of 10 to 15 mph for safety, San Clemente Public Works Director Kiel Koger told the City Council.
“The area that failed [on April 27] is still showing some signs of creep and movement,” Koger said. “We’re hoping that the major movement has already occurred and that it’s just going to be minor from here on out.”
All Amtrak and Metrolink traffic through the area is suspended until further notice.
In the meantime, Amtrak is providing a bus link between the stations at Oceanside and Irvine for some daily trains. Passenger service, including the Coaster commuter, continues between San Diego and Oceanside.
About 14 Metrolink and 22 Amtrak Pacific Surfliner trains pass through San Clemente daily, a city official said. Oceanside is the southernmost stop for Metrolink, which has routes through six Southern California counties.
A bowl-shaped chunk of the hilltop slipped away last month at the western edge of the 2½-acre Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens, built in the 1920s by San Clemente’s founder and acquired by the city in the 1980s. The slide took out part of an ocean-view patio and left a 15- to 20-foot sheer face of soil at the edge of the buildings.
“It’s causing concern that the material could erode or slough further and damage the foundation,” Koger said.
A firm hired by the city is conducting a geotechnical evaluation that will help determine the next steps. Soil throughout the region is sandy and remains saturated from winter rains, which have caused other landslides in San Clemente.
Casa Romantica is a venue for weddings and other events. The buildings are undamaged, but all events are on hold while the situation is evaluated.
The structures are about 70 feet above the beach and the railroad tracks. Dirt and debris have fallen near the tracks, which remain undamaged. Part of a pedestrian trail along the tracks has been closed.
A hillside condominium complex has been evacuated because of soil from the slide pushing against one wall. Most of the units are vacation rentals; about eight have full-time residents.
The city may need to spend $7 million to $8 million to stabilize the slope, Koger said. Some of the money may be available from FEMA or other federal and state agencies.
City officials are working with the Orange County Transportation Authority, Metrolink and other agencies to restore train service and return people to their homes quickly and safely, Councilmember Victor Cabral said.
“Until that area is stabilized, we can’t do anything to protect Casa Romantica and the neighbors,” Cabral said. “We want to make sure we don’t have a crisis with the train with some kind of chemicals [traveling] through there or something that would affect the community.” The landslide occurred less than two weeks after weekday passenger service resumed following a nearly six-month suspension caused by an earlier, slowmoving slide. That slide occurred below the Cyprus Shore community, nearly two miles south of the one currently causing problems in San Clemente.
Contractors hired by OCTA added boulders to the revetment on the beach below the tracks and installed steel anchors reaching more than 100 feet into the bedrock above the tracks to secure the hillside.
The coastal route is the only passenger and freight link between San Diego and Los Angeles, as well as other U.S. destinations.