After repairs were required due to recent safety concerns, the Orange County Transit Authority (OCTA) informed the California Coastal Commission Dec. 14 that its rail tracks would be running again through San Clemente in February 2023.
The tracks were shut down in September.
“[The transit system] was halted as a result of unstable land above the train tracks that had posed a risk of causing an alignment problem if not addressed,” San Clemente City Manager Sean Joyce told The Epoch Times.
Jason Lee, a project manager with OCTA, presented the agency’s findings regarding the recent track closure at San Clemente to the commission showing photos of the coastline in question, one taken in 2004 and the other in 2021 depicting beach erosion.
This is the second incident in a year involving shifting ground around the railroad tracks.
In 2021, a small landslide disrupted the tracks along the coastline of Cyprus Shore in San Clemente due to severe beach erosion and heavy rains which halted train services for nearly three weeks.
OCTA repaired that part of the tracks shortly after and the site appeared stable for much of this year, until data from a monitoring system in September showed reinforcements were necessary due to Hurricane Kay, which brought heavy winds and rain to Southern California in early September.
Since then, OCTA has repaired the location at a cost of $12 million, with additional stabilization measures expected to be completed by the end of December.
The agency also said it plans to conduct a study of other vulnerable areas along its transportation lines which could lead to relocating some tracks inland.
