Crews begin removing additional soil that fell into rail line allowing freight train movement overnight; OCTA finalizing funding with California Transportation Commission to build barrier wall
ORANGE – The OCTA and Metrolink project team on Thursday started the process of removing some additional soil and debris from the bottom of the privately owned slope above the rail line at Mariposa Point (Milepost 204.2) in San Clemente.
With that work, the team expected to establish sufficient clearance that would allow BNSF to resume running freight trains overnight at reduced speeds of no more than 10 mph.
Because the weather forecast calls for heavy rain beginning again as soon as this weekend, the OCTA and Metrolink project team are replacing the plastic tarps to protect the slope as much as possible from further saturation. A contractor for the private property owner is doing the same on the hillside farther up.
The slope remains saturated and continues slowly moving toward the track.
Potholing for utilities and other pre-construction activities also continued in preparation for construction of the barrier wall.
OCTA also continued to work with the California Transportation Commission (CTC) on Thursday to secure additional funds to pay for the construction of a barrier wall to protect the rail line. The allocation would be in addition to a previous $2 million awarded by the CTC for cleanup of the track and other pre-construction activities.
Metrolink continues to work toward awarding a contract to build a barrier wall at the site. As part of that planning, the project team hopes to safely resume limited passenger rail service as soon as possible. That timeline has not yet been determined.
For the latest updates and background, visit www.octa.net/railupdates.
For Updates on Rail Service: Passengers are asked to check MetrolinkTrains.com and PacificSurfliner.com/Alerts for real-time updates.
Background: The rail line was closed through San Clemente the evening of Wednesday, Jan. 24, when a landslide on private property above the city-owned Mariposa Trail Pedestrian Bridge caused major damage to the bridge and scattered debris onto the track.
OCTA, which owns the track, worked with partners at Metrolink and contractors to quickly mobilize emergency crews, who used heavy machinery on the rails to remove debris and haul away two large spans of the bridge, each weighing 24,000 pounds. The OCTA and Metrolink team continues to work to resume safe passenger rail service as soon as possible.
Over the past three years, San Clemente’s eroding bluffs – on both city and private property – have repeatedly forced the closure of the rail line which has operated largely uninterrupted for more than 125 years.
