The Coaster commuter rail service between Oceanside and San Diego was suspended yesterday and will remain suspended through at least Monday. Recent rainfall in the area caused soil erosion beneath a mile stretch of track according to Coaster’s operator, North County Transit District.
In place of the Coaster train, North County Transit District is running a limited schedule of shuttle buses – just four round trips in the morning and evening, with the last San Diego departure happening at about 5:30 p.m.
Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner route, which uses the same stretch of track as it winds down the coast from San Luis Obispo to San Diego, will also be suspended until at least Monday. Amtrak will not provide alternative transportation.
Obviously this is an unfortunate occurrence that resulted from the weather. But for commuters who rely on the Coaster or Surfliner, this is a big inconvenience. And it’s just another example of why we need to modernize and invest in our transportation infrastructure if we want to see transit reduce congestion – to commuters who might have been considering switching to the train, this tells them loud and clear that if it rains then you can’t count on getting to work.
Trains on the LOSSAN corridor generally run *better* than car travel in the rain, since they avoids freeway traffic. How, exactly, would you “modernize” the corridor to deal with a once-a-decade storm? In fact, major freeways all over Southern California were flooded, as well. Does that “tell [commuters] loud and clear that if it rains then you can’t count on [freeways when] getting to work”? I’ll bet that the reason NCTD and Amtrak aren’t running adequate replacement bus service is because they can’t afford it, due to these same commuters’ choices at the polls.
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