Pacific Surfliner

The 350-mile (563 km) San Luis Obispo-San Diego trip takes approximately 8½ hours with an average speed of 41.2 miles per hour (66 km/h); maximum track speed is 79 to 90 miles per hour (127 to 145 km/h). Much of the Pacific Surfliner's scenic route follows the Pacific coast, with the tracks being less than 100 feet from the ocean in some locations. However, trains travel inland through expansive farmlands in Ventura County and industrial backlots in the Los Angeles Basin, San Fernando Valley, and parts of Orange County.

The Pacific Surfliner operates thirteen daily round trips between Los Angeles and San Diego. Five round trips run north of Los Angeles: two to San Luis Obispo, and three to Goleta with Thruway Motorcoach connections to San Luis Obispo. Thruway Motorcoach connections are also available to San Pedro; to Palm Springs and Indio; and to San Jose or Oakland (with connections to Capitol Corridor trains) via Paso Robles.

Because the San Luis Obispo and Goleta stations are not designed to turn equipment, and the San Diego Santa Fe Depot requires a time-consuming deadhead movement into a wye located about 16 miles to the north in Miramar, trains are operated in push-pull mode. The locomotive is at the rear of the train, pushing the train from Goleta, San Luis Obispo or San Diego to Los Angeles. At Los Angeles, the train reverses at the station, and the locomotive pulls the train to San Diego or Goleta/San Luis Obispo, respectively. Run-through tracks are proposed at Union Station in Los Angeles to ease congestion and reduce time spent waiting to enter or depart the station.[3]

Stops at Orange and Laguna Niguel/Mission Viejo were added in 2007 but dropped in 2012. On October 7, 2013, stops were added at Coaster stations at Carlsbad Village, Carlsbad Poinsettia, Encinitas and Sorrento Valley.[4] The Carlsbad Poinsettia and Encinitas stops were dropped on October 9, 2017 due to low ridership.[5] The Carlsbad Village and Sorrento Valley stops were dropped on October 8, 2018 due to changes with the cross-ticketing arrangement with Coaster.[6]

A 13th daily round trip was added on October 14, 2019.[7]

LOSSAN

A Pacific Surfliner entering San Clemente

Local agencies along with the host railroads formed the Los Angeles–San Diego-San Luis Obispo Rail Corridor Agency (LOSSAN) in 1989.[8] The Pacific Surfliner is operated by Amtrak under the Amtrak California brand with funding provided by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans). Serious discussions were held in 2009 regarding the local agencies administering the service rather than Caltrans.[9] California Senate Bill No. 1225, passed in 2014, allowed LOSSAN to amend the joint powers agreement and become the sponsor of state-supported intercity passenger rail service in the corridor.[10] In mid-2015, LOSSAN assumed oversight for the Surfliner.[11] They are also working with Caltrans to assess rail operations from Los Angeles to San Diego to develop better connections, close gaps in the schedule, and optimize the assets of the railroad.[12] The ongoing North Coast Corridor project plans to increase rail capacity on the route of the Surfliner in North San Diego County.

Amtrak Pacific Surfliner (interactive map)

The Pacific Surfliner runs on track owned by several private railroads and public agencies:

• Union Pacific Railroad: San Luis Obispo – Moorpark (Coast Line)
• Southern California Regional Rail Authority: Moorpark – Los Angeles
• BNSF Railway: Los Angeles – Fullerton
• Southern California Regional Rail Authority: Fullerton – Orange County/San Diego County line
• North County Transit District: Orange County/San Diego County line – San Diego

Coach/baggage/cab car #6908 on the Pacific Surfliner in Santa Barbara in 2018

The Pacific Surfliner uses push-pull trainsets with a diesel locomotive at one end and a cab car at the other. Eight of the nine trainsets used for regular service use a fleet of 49 bilevel Surfliner coaches (39 owned by Amtrak and 10 by Caltrans), plus nine leased Amtrak Superliner long-distance coaches modified for push-pull operation. A typical six-car set has a business class car; three coach cars; a coach/café car with food sales on the lower level; and a coach/baggage/cab car equipped with coach seating, a checked baggage space on the lower level, and engineer's operating cab.[14] The ninth trainset consists of leased Amtrak equipment: Horizon or Amfleet passenger cars plus a Non-Powered Control Unit.[14] The Surfliner cars will be supplemented and partially replaced by new Siemens single-level cars beginning in 2020.[14] In 2018, to provide additional capacity before the new cars arrive, LOSSAN began negotiating with the Great Lakes Central Railroad to lease bilevel railcars previously refurbished for a never-opened commuter railroad in Michigan.[14]

The Surfliner cars were introduced in 2000-02, and were designed specifically to handle the demands of the nation's third-busiest rail line.[15] They replaced the California Cars which had been introduced on the then-San Diegan in 1996, and had been fraught with problems in the latter part of the 1990s.[16]

A dedicated fleet of 14 Caltrans-owned Siemens Charger locomotives began pre-revenue testing in October 2018 and entered revenue service later that year.[17][18] The Chargers replaced a fleet of 15 Amtrak-owned EMD F59PHI locomotives (built in 1998), which were sold to Metra in early 2018.[19][20][14][21] Amtrak-owned GE P42DC locomotives (which are also used at other times) were temporarily used as motive power until the Chargers were ready for service. The Surfliner cars and Charger locomotives (and previously the F59PHI locomotives) are painted in a blue and silver livery that is unique to the Pacific Surfliner.[22][23]

Additional Amtrak-owned cars are added (up to 12-car consists) during periods of high demand, including the San Diego Comic-Con, the San Diego County Fair, events at the Del Mar racetrack, and after the 2018 Southern California mudflows closed Highway 101.[24][25] Amtrak Great Dome car Ocean View is occasionally used as an additional business class car.[26]

• 
  A typical bilevel consist with a new Charger locomotive in 2019
• 
  A typical single-level consist in 2010
• 
  Lower-level seating on a "Pacific Business Class" car in 2012
• 
  A Pacific Surfliner train hauled by a P42DC locomotive in 2012
• 
  A Superliner car used in 2016
• 
  Ocean View on the Pacific Surfliner in 2017

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pacific Surfliner.

• Pacific Surfliner – Amtrak
• Official website
• Los Angeles–San Diego-San Luis Obispo Rail Corridor Agency (LOSSAN)
• Amtrak California