How Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner Can be Improved
The Pacific Surfliner runs 351 miles from San Luis Obispo to San Diego. Its southern section, from Los Angeles to San Diego (the LOSSAN Corridor) is very important, being the 3rd busiest Amtrak route. The route currently has 13 round trips between San Diego and Los Angeles with 5 of them continuing to Santa Barbara and 2 of them running all the way to San Luis Obispo.
Despite its successes, the route contains problems which pose unique challenges. These include long headways, equipment shortages, full track capacity, coastal erosion, and land use issues around some stations.
Problems
While the trains between Los Angeles and San Diego run every 1 or 2 hours throughout most of the day, there is a long gap of 3 hours between trains 774 (12:10pm LA departure) and 580 (3:10pm LA departure) which can be a deal-breaker for would-be travelers, and equipment shortages pose a challenge to filling this gap.
While more than half of the tracks along the corridor are double tracked, the current layout poses a challenge to increasing service. The 10 miles of single track between Control Point Serra at Dana Point and Control Point Songs at San Onofre backs up when trains are thrown off their schedule, and there is local opposition to proposals to extend double tracking in this area.
In addition, San Clemente has been challenged with serious coastal erosion, which has caused various shutdowns of rail service through the area between 2022 and 2025. Certain measures have been taken to improve the line, but in the long term a new alignment of the tracks will be needed.
A final issue concerns what riders experience after getting off. A few stations, e.g. San Juan Capistrano, Santa Barbara, downtown San Diego, are already walkable destinations. Others drop you in parking lots, industrial zones, or on the wrong side of a highway. These stations include Anaheim-ARCTIC, Irvine, and Old Town. North of LA the list is longer, including Burbank Downtown (being next to a highway), Burbank Airport, Van Nuys, Northridge, Chatsworth, Simi Valley, Moorpark, Camarillo, Oxnard, Ventura Beach, Goleta, Surf, Guadalupe, and Grover Beach.
Improvements
To increase frequency, double tracking more areas can help relieve the already congested areas. The most notable area that must be addressed is San Clemente. Trains often have to stop at either Control Point Songs or Control Point Serra if a train runs behind, which can create delays. There are projects and studies underway to improve the double tracking to be able to run more trains such as the Ponto extension and the Miramar Hill tunneling proposal.
Erosion control measures have been put in place in San Clemente and Del Mar. These include anchors and seawalls. In the long term, the tracks should be moved inland to safeguard the route.
More equipment would greatly improve the frequency of the Surfliner. There are plans for the Surfliner to get hydrogen multiple units (ZEMUs), to fill the gaps between services. Unfortunately, ZEMUs are less efficient and have reliability issues. A better way to address the issue is electrification. While electrification has hurdles, it is a better investment in the long run, as demonstrated by CalTrain in the Bay Area. After CalTrain went electric, travel times decreased as much as 20 minutes due to faster acceleration with the KISS EMU sets. This also caused a spike in ridership as taking the train is now more time competitive compared to driving.
The immediate areas of some stations have are essentially stroads and parking lots. This makes taking the train unpleasant without a car. Stations such as Anaheim-ARCTIC or Irvine are surrounded by car centric development. While Anaheim-ARCTIC is next to Angel’s Stadium, passengers must cross under a highway and a sea of parking lots to get there. Irvine is known to be the development model for the typical American suburb. It is not a surprise that its station sits in a car centric development area. In the immediate area, all that is available to walk to are business parks. With the cooperation of Amtrak, the local authorities and private enterprise, there are many possible ways to improve these stations; in many cases involving devoting space to denser development with retail and homes adjoining the stations.
Conclusion
While the Surfliner has been successful, it could be so much better. Addressing the problems of frequency, speed and schedule, and improving the stations and the areas immediately around them would lead to more, and more satisfied riders. A proposed 6th around trip north of LA has been added to the schedule and will be effective starting early May of 2026. This is a good sign that improvements are being made.