Coastal Rail Service Between San Diego County and Orange County Suspended This Weekend for Corridor Work

Rail passengers face a weekend gap on Southern California’s coastal corridor

Passenger rail service along the coastal rail corridor linking San Diego County and Orange County will be suspended during a planned weekend closure, interrupting multiple rail operators that share the same tracks. The shutdown is scheduled to allow crews to perform intensive infrastructure work and routine maintenance on a section of the Los Angeles–San Diego–San Luis Obispo rail corridor.

Such closures are periodically scheduled to create work windows when trains are not running, reducing risk to construction and maintenance crews working on or near active tracks. During the closure, no passenger or freight trains are planned to operate, though testing and construction activity may still occur within the right-of-way.

What service is affected

• COASTER commuter rail service between Downtown San Diego and Oceanside will not operate during the closure window.
• Amtrak Pacific Surfliner service that normally uses the same coastal route may operate with modified plans that can include bus substitutions for certain segments during corridor closures.
• Metrolink service that connects into Oceanside can be affected when track access is restricted through the shared coastal corridor.

Work locations and why they matter

Work planned for the weekend spans both ongoing capital projects and standard maintenance. Planned activities include continued stabilization work in the Del Mar bluffs area, track maintenance in the vicinity of Santa Fe Depot and along segments between Sorrento Valley and Rose Canyon, signal optimization work in the Carlsbad area, and activity tied to rail realignment efforts near Los Peñasquitos Lagoon.

These work areas sit on some of the corridor’s most operationally sensitive segments: the Del Mar bluffs are an established focus of multi-phase stabilization, and the lagoon and bluff environments require projects that balance safety, reliability, and environmental constraints. Together, they represent a portion of the infrastructure investments underway to keep the coastal line functional as a major passenger and freight route.

How agencies have handled disruptions on the corridor

Weekend maintenance shutdowns differ from emergency closures that have periodically affected the Orange County side of the corridor. In 2025, passenger rail service through San Clemente was suspended for several weeks to complete emergency work intended to address track segments considered at immediate risk from landslides and coastal erosion. That action affected both commuter and intercity services using the coastal route and relied on modified operations and bus connections to maintain continuity for riders.

During planned shutdowns, rail agencies typically urge riders to make alternate travel arrangements and to use only designated crossings near the rail right-of-way while construction equipment may be operating.

Regular scheduled service is expected to resume after the weekend closure ends.