Coastal rail shut down for repairs this weekend

By: PAUL SISSON - Staff Writer | Friday, January 26, 2007 11:09 PM PST ∞

NORTH COAST --- North County's coastal rails will be silent this weekend as workers replace two miles of track damaged in a derailment two years ago.

Normally, the North County Transit District, which owns the 45-mile railway between Oceanside and San Diego, does track repairs at night, completing work in time to reopen for the first southbound train of the day. But Sarah Benson, a spokesperson for the district, said Friday that the track replacement work scheduled for this weekend is simply too extensive to complete in a few hours.

"The section that they're going to replace is near Miramar Hill in San Diego, and we will not be able to get it finished in a matter of hours, so we will have to shut the line down this weekend," Benson said. "We will have it back up and running Monday morning."

The Coaster commuter train usually makes eight trips up and down the coast every Saturday. For those customers who wanted to take the Coaster this weekend, Benson said the transit district will run special buses between its train stations.

"We will honor our Coaster passes, and for those who just wanted to pay a one-time fare, they will be able to buy a cheaper bus ticket instead," Benson said.

Riders who use Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner service between Los Angeles and San Diego will experience the most inconvenience during the weekend shut down. Amtrak runs 13 trains per day on the route.

Benson said that Amtrak also intends to bus its customers to their destinations.

On Dec. 16, 2004, the last six cars of a 34-car northbound freight train derailed just south of Miramar Road at the northern boundary of the Miramar Marine Corps Air Station. Although no one was injured, the derailment damaged the rail. It took two weeks for repair crews to temporarily fix the rail section, delaying the arrival of Coaster and Amtrak trains that traversed the railway every day.

Although repairs made in late 2004 have held for two years, Benson said the district has always intended to return and install permanent, continuously welded rail to replace the hasty patch job.

"We've been waiting for an opportunity, and the schedule finally worked out," Benson said.

With the Buick Invitational golf tournament under way at the Torrey Pines Golf Course this weekend, the timing might seem less than ideal. However, shuttle service provided by the event carries riders from the Polo Grounds in Del Mar, which is far from the nearest train station in Solana Beach.

"We normally don't have an increase in ridership because of the Buick Invitational," Benson said.

Contact staff writer Paul Sisson at (760) 901-4087 or psisson@nctimes.com.