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8/6/2026
The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) is seeking feedback from residents, businesses and stakeholders on its draft Coastal Rail Resiliency Study (CRRS), which evaluates strategies to help protect rail service along the South Orange County coastline in California.
The completed study will include a detailed analysis of 7 miles of critical coastal track along the Los Angeles-San Diego-San Luis Obispo (LOSSAN) corridor between Dana Point and San Clemente up to the San Diego County line.
The LOSSAN corridor is one of the nation’s busiest passenger and freight rail corridors, serving Metrolink, Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner, freight-rail operations and military transportation.
Increasingly frequent coastal erosion, bluff movement, high tides, storms and ocean swells have caused repeated service disruptions and required ongoing emergency stabilization work. The CRRS is intended to help move toward a more coordinated, proactive approach to maintaining rail service on the existing line over the next 30 years, OCTA officials said in a press release.
The study identifies concepts that could be applied selectively based on conditions at specific locations. Options include rail-foundation improvements, alternative railroad materials, catchment walls, bluff-stabilization measures and a range of beachside protection approaches.
OCTA will host two public meetings during which the public can ask questions and provide feedback before the completed study is presented to the authority's board in fall. An in-person meeting will be held Aug. 10 in San Clemente, and a virtual meeting will be held on Aug. 11.
A separate, state-led effort is studying longer-term solutions for the corridor, including potential rail line relocation to an inland alignment between San Juan Capistrano and San Onofre State Beach.