Amtrak (i.e. the Federal gov't) needs to make this line viable by double-tracking it and upgrading it to facilitate high speeds. The views are gorgeous and it would greatly facilitate tourism in this region. I'm in SoCal and frankly driving can get exhausting and it would be nice to just kick back and enjoy the view out my window.
While Amtrak operates the line, they do so under contract to a Joint Power Authority (LOSSAN), formed by the counties served by the line. LOSSAN owns the tracks, OCTA does the day to day management, and Amtrak operates the trains. There are plans to double track a lot of the line where it’s not, mostly in San Diego county…but funding is, as always for non-car projects, lacking.
I mean it's double-tracked more so than some of the other lines out there but yeah it would be nice to have more frequency for sure. They're having enough problems with the ocean water getting too close to the current tracks.
oh yeah! I'd love to see here Maglev or at least highspeed Monorail to cover DTLA DTSD space in around 60 mins! That'd be a game changer not only for touring but for business trips logistics. That'd boost the economic interconnection of the region for sure.
Not speed, but more frequent trains for sure. That there's barely 4 a day is criminal misuse of public transit. They should be every 5 minutes 24/7 like other developed nations rail services. This is barely being used as a tourist trap.
Honestly, I would watch this from beginning to end in normal speed. No timelapse needed. When I was younger, I never knew that trains could be so fast. Then I saw the Pacific Surfliner along the I-5. Now I ride the Surfliner along the I-5.
Hello, were their any homeless on board? 😬 I’m asking because I’m hoping this could be my sons transport from school to home? I hear there are a lot of mentally Ill homeless around the train station and I’m afraid of allowing my son to take the train if that is true. 😬
I have done this trip several times and never tire of it. I hope to come back in a few months. The service is always friendly and the snacks are to die for! Thank you for your wonderful service. Greetings from Australia.
Given that the LA-San Diego passenger rail corridor is one of the busiest in the country, 2nd only to the Northeast Corridor, it is in desperate need of electrification in order to increase train speed and frequency as well as reduce noise and pollution. The train should already be faster than driving, even without traffic, but currently isn't. Double tracking definitely helps, and electrification should be the next logical step.
@@haydentravis3348 that’s a bit overkill, but there should minimum be trains every hour running between 6am and midnight, and every 15-30 minutes during peak hours.
"The train should already be faster than driving, even without traffic, but currently isn't" It's the same speed as driving already. SD to LA on this train is three hours, that's roughly the same as driving. With traffic, it is significantly faster than driving. 🙂 They may or may not electrify it via overhead lines. They do plan to move some of it underground to bypass the Del Mar area, at some point. 🙂
@@ChrisJones-gx7fc " but there should minimum be trains every hour running between 6am and midnight, and every 15-30 minutes during peak hours." There are ten Surfiner trains a day between SD and LA. Four per day go all the way to San Luis Obispo. Plus the Coaster and Metrolink provide more frequency in the LA area and the SD area. Coaster has iirc 15 trains daily between San Diego and Oceanside. Metrolink has five per day LA to Oceanside. btw don't confuse Surfliner with a "metro". That is not its intended purpose. Surfliner is an intercity service. LA has a metro system that's separate, it has buses and light rail.
Chow Chow me too, I live along the one track area between Oceanside and Dana Point, one train every 30 minutes to an hour, and no BNSF, except for ONE at 9:30 and another at 11:30 (both at PM), I have to take an our train ride to Fullerton just to see BNSF all day and have really nice Railfanning videos
Same here. It’s just increasing risk of delays and/or collision. They should try and build second tracks. Maybe even convert it into a high speed rail line
indeed! The views are amazing and it's as fast as driving, 3 hours SD to LA. Unfortunately they do have to move some of it inland due to global warming eroding the cliffs at Del Mar, but we should still have plenty of ocean views, and they said it should make the trip a little faster. 🙂 California is the best state to visit....in the major cities, we agree with the EU on pretty much everything, so you will very rarely run into a trumptard, and we have pretty great infrastructure and institutions in the state. Glad that Trump's followers are priced out of this state. It enables us to keep our amazing quality of life.🙂 I'm from the other side of the state, San Francisco Bay Area, and I don't even know how to drive. You don't really NEED to drive up here, unless you have a job that requires you to go from site to site, or you work odd hours or in a remote area, or maybe if you have kids, though I do see families riding transit together sometimes. 🙂 Australia is a long flight! I want to go down there at some point though. 🙂
0:09 - San Diego - SF Depot 0:15 - San Diego - Old Town 1:02 - Solana Beach 1:31 - Oceanside 2:08 - San Clemente Pier 2:32 - San Juan Capistrano 2:51 - Irvine 3:04 - Santa Ana 3:15 - Anaheim 3:26 - Fullerton 4:09 - LA - Union Station *Other trains/trams at each station* San Diego - SF Depot: Coaster, MTS San Diego - Old Town: Coaster, MTS Solana Beach: Coaster Oceanside: Coaster, Sprinter, Metrolink (Orange County, IEOC) San Clemente Pier - Santa Ana: Metrolink (Orange County, IEOC) Anaheim: Metrolink (Orange County) Fullerton: Metrolink (Orange County, Perris Valley), Amtrak (Southwest Chief) LA - Union Station: Metrolink (Orange County, Perris Valley, Riverside Line, San Bernardino Line, Ventura County, Antelope Valley), Amtrak (Southwest Chief, Sunset Limited/Texas Eagle, Coast Starlight), Metro
I also travel the Pacific Surfliner route between San Diego, Los Angeles & Oxnard when I’m home in the San Diego area for visits up to a week. I alternate my visits between Los Angeles & Oxnard every other visit home to the San Diego area. The Pacific Surfliner/Coast Starlight/Capital Corridor route between San Diego & Sacramento is my most favorite Amtrak route.
I take the surfliner more times than the Coast Starlight to Seattle washington and honestly the Surfliner rly is a beautiful train and a good view alongside the pacific coast
I ran over the route to Oceanside in Roblox surfliner project by surfliner studios in Amtrak and NCTD trains I like the stretches of Encinitas and Carlsbad village. Also does the surfliner have any f59phis left or are they all been replaced with sc-44s?
3:55 is the now gone Hobart tower right at bottom of Los Angeles..I many times hopped across the 4 tracks here at night right next to the diamonds and climbed up to the balcony of it ! We're looking north and single track crossing is the LAJunction RR coming in off Downey Rd. at bottom of huge BNSF Inter-modal yard..They've since changed everything down there. Tower is gone and little place left to park now to watch the action..RR cops come by quickly now and tell you to move on..My hang there is now finito (+-) !! But I got a bunch others anyway... 3:57 is the 'flyover' they installed to make passenger travel faster in/out L.A. 4:06 is LA Union Sta. tower at throat of terminal.. MDem
The engine will lead the train going southbound from Los Angeles, so sit on the right side of the train while facing the direction of the engine for the ocean views!
If like ocean views allows sit on the west side of the train...right side going south,left side going north...if you really like the ocean air try the coaster train
It normally takes 8.5 to 9 hours to travel the full 351 miles between San Diego and San Luis Obispo. For the portion highlighted in the video, San Diego to Los Angeles, it normally takes around 3 hours. Let us know if you have any other questions!
They don’t always travel on the left. Bnsf and Union Pacific own the tracks and their freight trains have priority. When there is too much traffic with between passengers Amtrak trains and Freight trains that particular day, they are instructed by PTC( positive train control) to use another track to maneuver around.
@@deerene Actually, the left-hand running portions shown in this video are owned by North County Transit District. Union Pacific doesn't own any of the line shown here, and the portion owned by BNSF (Fullerton to Los Angeles) shows only right-hand running.
My mistake on who owns what portion of what track 😅. Overall like I previously stated, it is determined on the Railroad traffic control which tracks the passenger trains and freight trains must travel on . I don’t think there is a set track that they travel on.
Huh? But The Amtrak Coast Starlight , San Joaquins , Southwest Chief, Sunset Limited, California Zephyr , Capital Corridor, and Pacific Surfliner all cross through the state of California . 🤨
You can take ( according to Amtrak’s website) The San Joaquins Amtrak and the connection bus to San Francisco The Pacific Sufliner up to Santa Barbara and a connection bus to San Francisco The ride ranges between 9 1/2 - 12 hours from Los Angeles
Generally, the stations are either to the left and/or right of the platforms, out of camera view. As an example, San Juan Capistrano has a Spanish-style station that was built in 1894. No tunnels on this route.
Not if it operated on that infrastructure with single track (mostly), grade crossings (a lot) and most of all tight curves and a few long stretches of straight track. High speed rail requires dedicated routes with mostly straight long sections with only gentle curves, only a few crossings, little to no freight trains and commuter rail usually segregated to the outside track of quad or triple track. You'd need a major rebuild of that route inland away from the beach.
I rode the Pacific Surfliners many times. The damned Federal Railroad Administration has a rule that 5he very most Amtrak trains and all trains can only go up to 79 miles an hour. The roadbed is in top notch condition between San Diego & Los Angeles, many segments are being double tracked & many more segments have been double tracked. The Damned Federal Railroad Administration can if they truly & really wanted to let the Pacific Surfliners make the run in 90 minutes between San Diego & Los Angeles with the stops it makes. The state of Michigan spent millions of dollars making the majority of the Chicago-Detroit-Pontiac line they own not only on grade crossing elimination, but rebuilding the entire line, having positive train control and the damned F.R.A. Told Michigan you are only allowed to run the trains at a maximum speed of 79 miles per hour. Pennsylvania which owns with Amtrak the Keystone Service line between Philadelphia & Harrisburg where there are no grade crossing, has positive train control and has many portions of they line quad & triple tracked and can run the trains up to 125 MPH, but no, the damned F.R.A. Wants slow speed trains. Those in the offices of the damned Federal Railroad administration need to take train rides on the Pacific Surfliner, the Cascades, Wolverine, Keyston & Empire corridors & see for hemselves that the trains need to run faster and let Amtrak, the freight railroads & even state owned railroads run the trains faster.
