Why Climate Change Is Keeping an Amtrak Train from Running On Time

[marmar]

Oct. 7—Two or three times a week for the last decade or so, Susan Forsburg, a molecular biologist at the University of Southern California, has taken the train from her home in San Diego to her lab in Los Angeles and back again. The line she rides is Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner. It's about a two-and-a-quarter-hour trip one way; it's comfortable; it has Wi-Fi so she can get work done during the commute; and "Oh my god, yes, it's better than driving," Forsburg says.

A self-professed nerd, she's spent so much time walking through Union Station, where she catches the train in L.A., that she can tell what model of locomotive is idling on the rails just by listening to it hum.

So it was stress-inducing but not entirely unexpected when Amtrak announced late last month that it was suspending service indefinitely on a portion of the Surfliner between San Diego and Irvine, Calif., because of some dangerous conditions on the tracks near San Clemente.

The issue isn't new. At several points along the Surfliner's route, the tracks run right up to the edge of the coastal cliffs, giving riders dramatic views of the Pacific Ocean, but leaving the tracks vulnerable to instability and slippage as the cliffs slowly erode. Service was disrupted for three weeks last September while the tracks were stabilized after heavy storms.

More intense storms are contributing to faster erosion at the cliffs' edges, and bigger waves on the rising seas are chipping away at them from below. Over the years, local authorities and rail-service operators have completed a series of projects meant to keep passenger and freight trains from slipping into the sea. ................(more)

https://www.masstransitmag.com/rail/news/21283236/ca-why-climate-change-is-keeping-an-amtrak-train-from-running-on-time