SAN DIEGO — Most of the 60 miles of rail between Orange County and downtown San Diego is a single strand, forcing some trains to wait on sidings while other trains pass, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
State and local transportation officials say they need to lay a second set of tracks so they can add trains and speed them up.
“If you could imagine a road being one lane . . . so a car would have to completely clear that section before another could come the opposite way, it obviously doesn’t work very well,” said Peter Aadland, spokesman for the North County Transit District, which operates the track from the Orange County line to the Santa Fe Depot.
To help solve the problem, the California Department of Transportation intends to build a second track along 16.8 miles of rail and improve a 1.7-mile siding in the next few years. That would nearly double the 21.8 miles of double track.
NCTD also plans to add a 1.7-mile passing track in Encinitas, a proposal that has drawn opposition from some residents and a lawsuit by the city.
NCTD and Caltrans plan ultimately to double-track the entire line, and not everyone likes that idea, either.
Meetings planned
To prepare for double-tracking projects in Southern California, Caltrans’ Rail Division will conduct a series of meetings in Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties – including one Wednesday at 6 p.m. at the Carlsbad Senior Center, 799 Pine St., Carlsbad.
The purpose of the session, officially called a “scoping meeting,” is to explain the double-tracking project in broad terms and solicit ideas from the public.
“We don’t have a monopoly on the good ideas,” said Patrick Merrill, manager of capital projects for Caltrans’ Rail Division.
Merrill said Caltrans doesn’t have the money to double-track the entire line, so it is concentrating on segments that it can build quickly.
“There are too many segments that are single track,” he said. “Trains can’t run on time because they don’t have the ability to pass.”
With 22 Amtrak and Coaster passenger trains a day in each direction, the rail line is at capacity. The region’s transportation blueprint for the year 2020 envisions 48 round-trip Coasters on weekdays, with trains departing every 20 minutes in each direction during peak travel times.
Some skeptical
Hershell Price, chairman of the Del Mar Railroad Advisory Committee and a longtime critic of rail planning, doubts the need for the project.
“There’s no reason to double-track,” Price said. “When Amtrak goes by the cars are empty. There is very little passenger traffic on there.
“If it (double-tracking) is just for passenger rail between Los Angeles and San Diego, I don’t see it,” Price said.
He said the purpose of the scoping meetings was to test the waters to see “what the public pressure is going to be to do this thing right.”
In Encinitas, some residents complained during meetings held by their city about a year ago on the proposed 1.7-mile passing track through town that double-tracking would create noise and bottle up auto traffic along the coast.
The Encinitas City Council wants any new rail project to be trenched and covered to reduce those impacts. It sued, saying the transit district failed to conduct the proper environmental reviews on the passing track. The city lost but has appealed that decision.
Environmental challenge
Merrill said the environmental challenges are formidable but also provide opportunities to rebuild old trestles and other structures so they’re more environmentally friendly. The rail line crosses a string of lagoons along its coastal run.
“We’re looking at potential bridge designs that would open the flow in lagoons,” Merrill said.
He added that Caltrans is consulting with cities and environmental agencies to get their ideas.
He also noted that the Del Mar bluffs are unstable and do not provide enough room to lay a second set of tracks. The proposed solution is to tunnel under a city street in Del Mar.
He said that in the long term, each project will have its own environmental-impact report, but Caltrans wants to hear from the public on the big picture.
“What are the kinds of things we should be looking at in the next few years, and next 20 years?” Merrill asked. “We will be looking at it from a corridor-wide perspective.”
He said the Rail Division is likely to host workshops in various cities, to give people an opportunity to offer ideas.
Addressing concerns
North County residents, particularly those in Encinitas, have criticized NCTD for lacking a comprehensive plan for double-tracking the entire line and for failing to undertake environmental studies on the concept.
Merrill said the scoping meetings and future environmental-impact studies will address those concerns.
Caltrans plans to hold public hearings during the official environmental-impact review process, which starts this year and which Merrill expects to take 12 to 18 months and cost $2.5 million to examine the entire Los Angeles-to-San Diego corridor.
Caltrans will get the necessary permits from environmental agencies – such as the state Coastal Commission and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – as it undertakes specific projects, he said.
Cities do not have veto power over the rail projects but can raise issues during the environmental-study process.
Alternative to cars
Caltrans plays a role in rail improvements because trains provide a transportation link between cities, Merrill said, and the state transportation department must make sure the railroad is kept up, as it does freeways.
Freight trains work around the passenger train schedule, and move during off-peak travel times.
Transportation officials acknowledge they may never be able to build enough freeway lanes to make traffic flow smoothly for the 400,000 cars flooding Interstate 5 every day during the morning and evening rush. They expect that as the freeways become more congested, people will turn to rail as an alternative.
They want to be ready when that happens.
“This is now the busiest single-track railroad in the nation,” said Aadland. He said double-tracking the line is critical to offering reliable service for people who want to get off the freeways or simply use public transportation.