All railroad traffic connecting San Diego County with the rest of the nation was suspended again last week. This time it wasn’t Del Mar. It was San Clemente, where high tides and coastal erosion are steadily eroding the tracks.
Waves overtopped the tracks and caused further deterioration along the adjacent slope, including damage to some previously placed protective rock, according to the Orange County Transportation Authority. Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner, Metrolink, and BNSF freight trains all stopped running through the area.
This is the reality of San Diego’s only rail connection to the rest of the country. It depends entirely on the stability of an eroding coastline.
The Del Mar bluffs face the same threat. The bluffs are receding up to six inches annually in some areas, leaving the train tracks only feet from the edge in places. For more than 20 years, SANDAG has worked to stabilize the fragile bluffs with emergency repairs and multiple stabilization projects costing millions. But the sea level is rising, and the tracks need to be moved inland…