Limited passenger service through San Clemente resumed on Wednesday, March 6, as Amtrak Pacific Surfliner announced multiple morning and evening trains would be available following the completion of a safety assessment.
Metrolink, however, will not resume its service through the area to limit the number of trains affecting construction to build a roughly 200-foot-long catchment wall at the base of the hillside at the Mariposa Bridge site, according to the Orange County Transportation Authority.
“While the resumption of this morning and evening service will reduce the daily work window for construction, the team still anticipates being able to complete the catchment wall later this month,” OCTA stated in an update on Tuesday, March 5. “Once the wall construction is complete, full passenger service is expected to resume.”
Since construction began on Feb. 27, all 33 steel beams necessary for the wall’s foundation have been installed.
Pacific Surfliner’s southbound 562 (morning) and 784 (evening) trains, as well as the northbound 765 (morning) and 587 (evening) trains, were fully reinstated without bus connections. Daytime travel continues to be suspended to accommodate construction.
OCTA reported that the work has been divided among the organization, Metrolink and design-build contractor Condon-Johnson & Associates. The plan was to construct a wall between 10 and 15 feet tall supported by steel beams drilled into the ground, in a style similar to the 12-foot-tall wall constructed at the base of Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens in summer 2023.
According to an OCTA update on Monday, March 4, the construction team “worked through the weekend, contending with additional rain, and continued efforts to construct the catchment wall to protect OCTA’s right of way.
“...Additional drainage and grading and the installation of the wooden panels are set to take place next,” the OCTA reported.
Freight train service, which had been suspended through the area due to continued slope movement, resumed running during overnight hours late last week, and that schedule is expected to continue, according to OCTA.
OCTA also stated on Tuesday, March 5, that construction will continue through the rest of the week despite expected additional rain.