Passenger rail service through San Clemente will resume Saturday morning, nearly six weeks after it was halted due to threats from landslides and coastal erosion.
The Orange County Transportation Authority announced that Metrolink and Amtrak Pacific Surfliner trains will once again operate through southern Orange County beginning Saturday.
Emergency construction began April 28 to stabilize the track near Mariposa Point. Since then, crews have placed approximately 5,900 tons of boulders, known as riprap, along the bluffs in high-risk areas to shield the track from additional damage.
The effort also included the resurfacing of more than 3,600 feet of track and the installation of 400 feet of concrete barriers on the inland side of the rail corridor.
While that work is now wrapping up, OCTA says more is still planned.
The agency received approval last month to construct a 1,400-foot-long wall behind those barriers, which will be built over the coming months to help prevent future landslide debris from reaching the tracks.
Construction of the wall is not expected to disrupt passenger service.
The full emergency effort included the addition of sand to beaches between North Beach and Mariposa Point. In total, about 240,000 cubic yards of sand are expected to be placed in the area as part of the reinforcement project.
The San Clemente rail corridor serves as the only coastal rail connection between Orange and San Diego counties. Since 2021, repeated bluff failures have forced several closures.
OCTA and its partners say this phase of the project marks significant progress toward stabilizing the corridor while allowing future service to continue uninterrupted.
Pedestrians are urged to stay off the tracks and cross only at marked crossings. Trains will resume running at full schedules beginning Saturday morning.
Riders are advised to check updated schedules at pacificsurfliner.com/alerts and metrolinktrains.com/service-updates.