The Orange County Transportation Authority introduced Monday that main building to restore tracks sliding from erosion has began, with passenger service anticipated to renew in February.
Clearing of vegetation occurred the primary week of November, preliminary grading started on Nov. 10 and main building is presently underway alongside 700 ft of railway in San Clemente.
“We try to get this emergency work performed as rapidly as potential with security persevering with to information all of our actions,” mentioned OCTA Chairman Mark A. Murphy.
“Like everybody, we need to see Metrolink and Amtrak Pacific Surfliner safely operating once more by means of this space,” he mentioned. “On the similar time, we’d like first to make sure the observe is now not transferring.”
That work will contain drilling massive metal anchors greater than 100 ft lengthy into the bedrock of the slope adjoining to the railroad observe to stop it from pushing the observe additional towards the ocean.
The observe moved as a lot as 28 inches between September 2021 and September 2022 on account of storm surge and sand erosion on the coastal facet and the regularly sliding hillside on the opposite.
Passenger rail service was halted in late September, however freight trains proceed to run on the tracks.
