Status of Surfliner Service between Oceanside and Irvine

[Bob Dylan]

Two questions regarding the bus bridge:

Are there buses that are specifically designated for Pacific Surfliner Business Class passengers?

Is checked luggage service available between San Diego and Los Angeles while the bus bridge is in effect?

Based on my Bus/Train Trip last October between San Diego and LAX, No to Both Questions.

 

[TinCan782]

https://www.trains.com/trn/news-rev...er-ridership-california-senate-group-is-told/

 

[GDRRiley]

https://www.trains.com/trn/news-rev...er-ridership-california-senate-group-is-told/

its bad, the bus bridge cuts ridership basically in half from ~80% down to 40-50%

They are trying to have the rail line back open by late may.

 

[hmy1]

That should not be a surprise. They've cut their train schedule almost in half. Not only that, there are only 3 buses that service the bus bridge. Why not more? Those who are willing to deal with the bus bridge may find the buses sold out, frequently for 777 and 785.

Anyway, the week of 5/22 has been updated with the bus bridge in the Amtrak reservation system. It reflects what should have been a new train schedule with an additional round-trip to GTA. The temporary schedule has the new 769 replacing 567 north-bound, and 790 replacing 588 south-bound.

Also, they are proceeding with the pre-planned trackwork in Burbank this weekend, with a bus bridge between LAX and VNC. Double bus bridge for those going from San Diego up to Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.

 

[Eric in East County]

That should not be a surprise. They've cut their train schedule almost in half. Not only that, there are only 3 buses that service the bus bridge. Why not more? Those who are willing to deal with the bus bridge may find the buses sold out, frequently for 777 and 785.

Anyway, the week of 5/22 has been updated with the bus bridge in the Amtrak reservation system. It reflects what should have been a new train schedule with an additional round-trip to GTA. The temporary schedule has the new 769 replacing 567 north-bound, and 790 replacing 588 south-bound.

Also, they are proceeding with the pre-planned trackwork in Burbank this weekend, with a bus bridge between LAX and VNC. Double bus bridge for those going from San Diego up to Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.

In all the years we’ve taken the Pacific Surfliner from San Diego to Los Angeles, we’ve never had to use a bus bridge. We’ve been following this thread closely since we’ll be taking the Pacific Surfliner next month to catch the SWC in LA. We were under the impression that there were enough buses to accommodate all the people on the train. Apparently, this is not the case. Does Amtrak operate these buses? Is the bus ride included in our San Diego-LA fare? Will the number of buses be increased after Memorial Day and the start of the summer travel season? Is any priority given to who gets seats on the available buses? (We have a guaranteed connection between our Pacific Surfliner and the SWC.)

What other surprises can we expect if the bus bridge is still in effect in late June?

 

[TinCan782]

In all the years we’ve taken to Pacific Surfliner from San Diego to Los Angeles, we’ve never had to use a bus bridge. We’ve been following this thread closely since we’ll be taking the Pacific Surfliner next month to catch the SWC in LA. We were under the impression that there were enough buses to accommodate all the people on the train. Apparently, this is not the case. Does Amtrak operate these buses? Is the bus ride included in our San Diego-LA fare? Will the number of buses be increased after Memorial Day and the start of the summer travel season? Is any priority given to who gets seats on the bus? (We have a guaranteed connection between our Pacific Surfliner and the SWC.)

What other surprises can we expect if the bus bridge is still in effect in late June?

As the buses are chartered by Amtrak specifically for the Pacific Surfliner bus bridge, I would expect they would arrange for sufficient capacity (maybe?).

 

[TinCan782]

"Railroads, state and local agencies and others have been dealing with this for months, and it seems when remedial action is completed in one area, another area of trouble crops up."
https://www.rtands.com/passenger/the-rail-corridor-has-never-been-in-more-jeopardy/

 

[Bob Dylan]

In all the years we’ve taken the Pacific Surfliner from San Diego to Los Angeles, we’ve never had to use a bus bridge. We’ve been following this thread closely since we’ll be taking the Pacific Surfliner next month to catch the SWC in LA. We were under the impression that there were enough buses to accommodate all the people on the train. Apparently, this is not the case. Does Amtrak operate these buses? Is the bus ride included in our San Diego-LA fare? Will the number of buses be increased after Memorial Day and the start of the summer travel season? Is any priority given to who gets seats on the available buses? (We have a guaranteed connection between our Pacific Surfliner and the SWC.)

What other surprises can we expect if the bus bridge is still in effect in late June?

I suggest that yall don't hesitate to head for the bus as early as possible ( your Luggage will go under the Bus in the Luggage bins) and snag a couple of good seats ( stay out of the Suicide Seats in the first Row)after boarding.

Last fall after the San Diego Gathering we had to do a Bus to Train transfer, so we got to the Santa Fe Station early( the Buses load on the Street outside the Station)and lined up by the bus.

By the time the Driver started boarding us, there were more people than seats available, so the folks in the back of the Line had to wait on a Second Bus to arrive.( the Bus was fairly New and comfortable)

The trip up 101 went smoothly, and we arrived into Irvine right on time,( the Station was very crowded with all Inside seating full) claimed our bags, and headed to the Platform, which was across a Bridge over the Tracks, ( there is an Elevator if you can't do the Stairs) and waited about 20 minutes for our Train to arrive, jumped onto the Train and rolled into LAX right on time.

 

[Eric in East County]

I suggest that yall don't hesitate to head for the bus as early as possible ( your Luggage will go under the Bus in the Luggage bins) and snag a couple of good seats ( stay out of the Suicide Seats in the first Row)after boarding.

Last fall after the San Diego Gathering we had to do a Bus to Train transfer, so we got to the Santa Fe Station early( the Buses load on the Street outside the Station)and lined up by the bus.

By the time the Driver started boarding us, there were more people than seats available, so the folks in the back of the Line had to wait on a Second Bus to arrive.( the Bus was fairly New and comfortable)

The trip up 101 went smoothly, and we arrived into Irvine right on time,( the Station was very crowded with all Inside seating full) claimed our bags, and headed to the Platform, which was across a Bridge over the Tracks, ( there is an Elevator if you can't do the Stairs) and waited about 20 minutes for our Train to arrive, jumped onto the Train and rolled into LAX right on time.

Thank you for this first-hand information. (We were under the impression that we’d take the Surfliner from San Diego to Oceanside and transfer to the bus there. Arriving in Irvine, we’d get on another Surfliner for the trip to LA. Since this is all new to us, we need as much information as possible.) Hopefully, direct service will be back in place by late June.

 

[GDRRiley]

Thank you for this first-hand information. (We were under the impression that we’d take the Surfliner from San Diego to Oceanside and transfer to the bus there. Arriving in Irvine, we’d get on another Surfliner for the trip to LA. Since this is all new to us, we need as much information as possible.) Hopefully, direct service will be back in place by late June.

The goal is by the end of may, we will see how that timeline does, Not sure as we've not gotten an update form the city in a week

 

[TinCan782]

Thank you for this first-hand information. (We were under the impression that we’d take the Surfliner from San Diego to Oceanside and transfer to the bus there. Arriving in Irvine, we’d get on another Surfliner for the trip to LA. Since this is all new to us, we need as much information as possible.) Hopefully, direct service will be back in place by late June.

If you purchase a ticket for the entire SAN to LAX route, it will include the bus between Oceanside and Irvine if that is still in effect.

 

[hmy1]

Every time I've ridden the bus bridge, regardless of whether it's a weekday or weekend, morning, afternoon, or evening, it's always been three buses. That's why the popular trains such as 774/777 and 784/785 frequently have a sold out bus bridge. I did not ride the weeks of Thanksgiving or Christmas, so I do not know if they added capacity for the holidays.

The bus bridge is a reserved service, so they do not oversell it. They do check each person's ticket before boarding the bus.

If you have a train-only ticket for a date that's been converted to a bus bridge, call Amtrak immediately to have your ticket reissued. It is not automatic. Do not wait until the day of travel because you want to make sure you get on the bus before it sells out.

One of the few pluses of the bus bridge is that the trains won't be standing-room only, and north-bound passengers getting on in Orange County can actually find empty seats.

 

[Eric in East County]

The bus bridge is a reserved service, so they do not oversell it. They do check each person's ticket before boarding the bus.

If you have a train-only ticket for a date that's been converted to a bus bridge, call Amtrak immediately to have your ticket reissued. It is not automatic. Do not wait until the day of travel because you want to make sure you get on the bus before it sells out.

This is the most valuable piece of information about the bus bridge that we've received yet. (Our e-ticket is "train only" and Amtrak has yet to contact us and give us a "heads up" on what to do if the bus bridge is still in effect.) Thank you so much for posting it!

 

[zephyr17]

Thank you for this first-hand information. (We were under the impression that we’d take the Surfliner from San Diego to Oceanside and transfer to the bus there. Arriving in Irvine, we’d get on another Surfliner for the trip to LA. Since this is all new to us, we need as much information as possible.) Hopefully, direct service will be back in place by late June.

Note that there will not be checked baggage out of SAN as long as the bus bridge is in effect, so plan accordingly.

 

[Eric in East County]

Note that there will not be checked baggage out of SAN as long as the bus bridge is in effect, so plan accordingly.

Traveling with checked luggage has become such an inconvenience that we've revised our packing lists so that everything we bring with us is now distributed among our carry on items

 

[west point]

LOSSAN has their hands full. It must be overwhelming that it has 7 potential sites that are designated as possible slide locations. Weather being what it is any of those sites could slide including the 2 that have in the past year. Money needed to fix all? At least 30 - 50 years. So, in the meantime what to do? Keep fingers crossed?

 

[TinCan782]

Good News!
"Daily Pacific Surfliner train service will resume through Orange County starting Saturday, May 27."
https://www.pacificsurfliner.com/plan-your-trip/alerts/travel-advisories/
Also, Metrolink...
https://metrolinktrains.com/rider-info/general-info/service-updates/

 

[GDRRiley]

LOSSAN has their hands full. It must be overwhelming that it has 7 potential sites that are designated as possible slide locations. Weather being what it is any of those sites could slide including the 2 that have in the past year. Money needed to fix all? At least 30 - 50 years. So, in the meantime what to do? Keep fingers crossed?

LOSSAN has quite a bit of capacity and with them not directly responsible for the track they are working with the owners to fix all the locations.
The ones on UP are mostly minor compared to Del Mar and San Clemente
They'll get the UP ones fixed in the next 2-5 years. Del Mar and San Clemente are 15-20 years away because both agencies are crawling when they need to be running.
2028 should be the goal for Del Mar and 2030 for San Clemente

 

[JermyZP]

 

[allanorn]

Made it through on 770 today LAX-SAN, all train and no issues. The Casa Romantica temporary slope fix looks ... temporary. Will be interesting to see how they intend to permanently fix it.

 

[allanorn]

LOSSAN has quite a bit of capacity and with them not directly responsible for the track they are working with the owners to fix all the locations.
The ones on UP are mostly minor compared to Del Mar and San Clemente
They'll get the UP ones fixed in the next 2-5 years. Del Mar and San Clemente are 15-20 years away because both agencies are crawling when they need to be running.
2028 should be the goal for Del Mar and 2030 for San Clemente

SANDAG (SD County's regional government agency) has a bunch of projects slated to keep the bluff stable until 2050 if they need to, and they've just received something like $300 million to do some study work on the alternative route. They're well aware of the situation and have been putting plans together. They just didn't have the money to get the tunnel work started as they needed to get capacity upgrades online in accordance with the state rail plan.

I can't speak to anything regarding OCTA's plans (or lack of) for the San Clemente corridor, but that might be the higher priority problem as they have more miles to relocate and not a lot of good/easy options available to them that I'm aware of.

 

[GDRRiley]

SANDAG (SD County's regional government agency) has a bunch of projects slated to keep the bluff stable until 2050 if they need to, and they've just received something like $300 million to do some study work on the alternative route. They're well aware of the situation and have been putting plans together. They just didn't have the money to get the tunnel work started as they needed to get capacity upgrades online in accordance with the state rail plan.

Yeah SANDAG is pretty well prepared but I doubt it would last till 2050 and it represents a bottleneck we need gone soon not in 15+ years. No reason the project could be accelerated more, they are expecting 8 years for construction after another 3-4 of design

I can't speak to anything regarding OCTA's plans (or lack of) for the San Clemente corridor, but that might be the higher priority problem as they have more miles to relocate and not a lot of good/easy options available to them that I'm aware of.

OCTA only option is to work on a ~10mi bypass route under I-5

 

[TinCan782]

Here we go again!
"Tracks are closed between San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano due to hillside movement in the San Clemente area."
https://metrolinktrains.com/news/alert-details-page/?alertId=1143546

 

[Bob Dylan]

Here we go again!
"Tracks are closed between San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano due to hillside movement in the San Clemente area."
https://metrolinktrains.com/news/alert-details-page/?alertId=1143546

There we go again!

 

[GDRRiley]

time to push OCTA again, CEQA and NEPA exemption time lets get this bypass tunnel rushed