State of California Awards More than $189 Million to Los Angeles - San Diego - San Luis Obispo Rail Corridor Agencies

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Oct 28, 2024, 18:34 ET

Funding furthers five projects to strengthen rail resiliency, improve infrastructure, and add capacity for more passenger and freight movement

ORANGE, Calif., Oct. 28, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA) has awarded more than $189 million in funding to support projects that strengthen infrastructure resiliency and increase passenger and freight capacity along the Los Angeles – San Diego – San Luis Obispo (LOSSAN) rail corridor. The grant awards, which were part of the overall $1.3 billion in funding announced by CalSTA last week through the Cycle 7 of the Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program (TIRCP), support critical infrastructure projects by member agencies along the LOSSAN Rail Corridor, which is the second busiest intercity passenger rail corridor in the United States and the busiest state-supported Amtrak route.

"Collectively, these projects will significantly enhance the resiliency of the LOSSAN corridor and create capacity to move more passengers and more goods throughout the corridor," said the LOSSAN Rail Corridor Agency (Agency) Chair and Oxnard City Council Member Bryan MacDonald. "These grant awards re-affirm the vital importance of our rail infrastructure. We greatly appreciate the state's strong support for the LOSSAN rail corridor through TIRCP and congratulate our member and partner agencies for their successful grant proposals."

The projects awarded funding through Cycle 7 of TIRCP that directly benefit the LOSSAN rail corridor include:

Coastal Rail Infrastructure Resiliency Project, Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) ($125,000,000): This project will implement improvements at four locations within a 7-mile coastal section within the OCTA-owned Orange Subdivision of the 351-LOSSAN rail corridor. OCTA has identified four areas along the coastal area in the city of San Clemente that pose an imminent threat to rail operations due to coastal storm surges, combined with failing slopes and other environmental factors resulting in extended freight and passenger rail disruptions. The project includes specific work in the four areas to install rock gradation, replenish beach sand to bolster the shorelines, and maintain and restore trails.
Eastbrook to Shell Double-Tracking, San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG)/North County Transit District (NCTD) ($26,835,696): The Eastbrook to Shell Double Track project includes the replacement of a 0.6-mile segment of single track with a double track segment, among other improvements. The Oceanside Transit Center, just south of the project location, is a critical hub for connections between Metrolink, Pacific Surfliner, COASTER, SPRINTER, and local transit services. Timely and reliable service made possible by alleviating this bottleneck is critical to ridership and frequency growth.
Ortega Siding, Coast Rail Coordinating Council (CRCC) ($22,000,000): The Ortega Siding, which is component of a larger grant award for CRCC, builds a siding in the Ortega/Summerland area of the coastline between the Santa Barbara and Carpinteria stations. This will directly enable the LOSSAN Agency to operate a seventh Pacific Surfliner round trip between Goleta and San Diego. It will also add overall corridor operational flexibility, support the planned third roundtrip to San Luis Obispo, and reduce delays for freight and passenger rail. The LOSSAN Agency will lead the implementation of this project.
Del Mar Bluffs Stabilization Phase 5 Continuation, SANDAG/NCTD ($11,632,304): The Del Mar Bluffs Stabilization Phase 5 Continuation project includes the installation of up to 128 new soldier piles, to stabilize the bluff area in Del Mar. This method reduces the risk of deep-seated slope failure beneath the tracks along the Del Mar Bluffs and avoids the associated shut down in rail service between San Diego and the rest of the LOSSAN rail corridor. The project increases safety and service reliability to passengers and freight by minimizing the chances of track damage caused by slope failure. Public safety will also be increased by lowering the chances of landslides onto the beach and conveying stormwater more effectively. It is a critical scope addition to efforts underway to strengthen the corridor for the next 30 years while efforts to relocate the railway away from the bluffs continue to advance.
Orcutt Road Left-Hand Crossover, CRCC, ($4,161,000): The Orcutt Road Left-Hand Crossover, which is also a component of the larger CRCC grant award, creates a universal crossover near the San Luis Obispo station in the City of San Luis Obispo. This provides the operational flexibility to run additional trains and introduce a more regular passenger rail service along the Central Coast. The LOSSAN Agency will lead the implementation of this project.

The 351-mile LOSSAN rail corridor travels through a six-county coastal region in Southern California and is the second busiest intercity passenger rail corridor in the United States and the busiest state-supported Amtrak route. Passenger rail along the LOSSAN rail corridor serves 41 stations and typically hosts more than 150 daily passenger trains, with an annual ridership of nearly 3 million on Amtrak^® Pacific Surfliner^® intercity trains and 5 million on Metrolink and COASTER commuter trains prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. The LOSSAN Agency-managed Pacific Surfliner^® currently serves 29 stations and currently operates 20 daily one-way trains.

About the LOSSAN Rail Corridor Agency

The Los Angeles – San Diego – San Luis Obispo (LOSSAN) Rail Corridor Agency is a joint powers authority composed of rail owners, operators and planning agencies along the entire LOSSAN rail corridor. In addition to working to improve passenger rail ridership, revenue, on- time performance, operational flexibility, and safety, the LOSSAN Agency assumed management responsibility for the Pacific Surfliner service in July 2015, following the execution of an interagency transfer agreement with the state of California. The Orange County Transportation Authority provides all necessary administrative support for the LOSSAN Agency and its Board. For more information, visit LOSSAN.org

SOURCE LOSSAN Rail Corridor Agency