The Race to save the Surfliner Route from the Pacific

[GariYaMoshi]

Yes, hoping! NY Times is a pay to read site! Frustrating!

Rats, I swore I did the gift link.

The WSJ link sent me to a pay wall.

 

[joelkfla]

Yes, hoping! NY Times is a pay to read site! Frustrating!

Did you try the link in the previous post? It appears to be a free shared link.

 

[George Harris]

From the Wall Street Journal, 4/6/2024

A (hopefully) free link to the article:

Wall Street Journal

The WSJ was also pay to read. Just to save going back up the chain, here is what PRR 60 quoted from it:

The Pacific Surfliner train runs along some of the most spectacular coastline in America, traversing Southern California bluffs and beaches while ocean waves crash on the golden sand nearby. Soon, some fear it might fall into the ocean.

Rising sea levels and powerful storms are eating away at the ground holding up the tracks on the second most popular Amtrak rail corridor in the U.S. The route runs 351 miles from San Diego through Los Angeles to California’s Central Coast and is also used by freight and commuter trains. The erosion has caused landslides that shut down the Surfliner at least a dozen times in the past six years.

(For their 351 miles they must be going well north of LA. Per old ATSF timetables, Los Angeles to San Diego was 127.9 miles.)

 

[TinCan782]

(For their 351 miles they must be going well north of LA. Per old ATSF timetables, Los Angeles to San Diego was 127.9 miles.)

The entire Pacific Surfliner route is San Diego via Los Angeles to San Luis Obispo north of Santa Barbara.
The portion north of LA is on Metrolink and Union Pacific track.

 

[Harmon Shay]

Anybody know how ridership is holding up on the Pacific Surfliners? I would think that with that much disruption, you couldn't possibly fill the usual six cars per train anymore, at least south of LA.

 

[Cal]

Anybody know how ridership is holding up on the Pacific Surfliners? I would think that with that much disruption, you couldn't possibly fill the usual six cars per train anymore, at least south of LA.

What disruption? There hasn't been a major disruption since like 2023. Ridership is fine. It's still lower than Pre-pandemic, but it saw a 30% increase between FY23 and FY24 (1,984,069). There are also still less RT's between LA and SAN, which surely help account for the lower ridership. I have been on multiple trains that were standing room only, and most trains are pretty full.

 

[Harmon Shay]

What disruption? There hasn't been a major disruption since like 2023. Ridership is fine. It's still lower than Pre-pandemic, but it saw a 30% increase between FY23 and FY24 (1,984,069). There are also still less RT's between LA and SAN, which surely help account for the lower ridership. I have been on multiple trains that were standing room only, and most trains are pretty full.

 

[Harmon Shay]

Glad to hear this. I'd also forgotten that the Surfliners aren't going to be up to their pre-pandemic level of frequencies until later this year.

 

[Aristotle]

Anybody know how ridership is holding up on the Pacific Surfliners? I would think that with that much disruption, you couldn't possibly fill the usual six cars per train anymore, at least south of LA.

I've been on it a few times in the last few months. B.-class was mostly full or near-full. If you are alone you may need to sit with a stranger and if you are with another person you two may need to split up.