Amtrak expands Pacific Surfliner service

Rail News Home Amtrak 10/14/2019 Rail News: Amtrak
The addition of a new train on Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner marks the service’s first expansion in three years.Photo – Amtrak Facebook

Amtrak today added an additional train on the Pacific Surfliner service to provide a 13th round-trip between Los Angeles and San Diego.

The new train will depart from Los Angeles at 1:15 p.m., arriving in San Diego at 4:12 p.m, while an existing train will depart San Diego at 5:25 p.m. and arrive in Los Angeles at 8:34 p.m.

"[The new train] will fill a nearly three-hour gap in our existing schedule, providing expanded possibilities for business and leisure travel between Los Angeles and San Diego," said Al Murray, chairman of the Los Angeles–San Diego–San Luis Obispo (LOSSAN) Rail Corridor Agency, in a press release. The LOSSAN Rail Corridor Agency oversees the Pacific Surfliner service. 

The new schedule marks the first expansion of the service in three years, Amtrak officials said in a press release.

With almost 3 million riders in 2018, the 351-mile Pacific Surfliner route is the busiest state-supported intercity passenger-rail route in the United States, Amtrak officials said.

The route travels through San Diego, Orange, Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo counties, and runs on track owned by Union Pacific Railroad, BNSF Railway Co., the Southern California Regional Rail Authority and the North County Transit District.