Sacramento Report: How My Train Ride Got Off Track

Landslides and bluff erosion are often the top news items on Southern California’s beleaguered coastal rail line. On a hectic morning this week I discovered that ticket sales and other operational issues can also send riders’ experiences off the rails. 

I’ve written about state and federal investments to the San Diego, Los Angeles, San Luis Obispo railway, known as the LOSSAN corridor. Crumbling bluffs have shut parts of the line five times over three years, causing more than a year of total closures, state Sen. Catherine Blakespear, D-Encinitas, said at a rail corridor hearing this week.

A $3 to $4 billion realignment project to stabilize the rail line is planned for Del Mar. And Blakespear’s bill to improve rail service passed the Assembly Appropriations Committee Thursday.

With billions of dollars on the line to upgrade the coastal railway, I wanted to see how well it works now. On Wednesday I got up early to take the train from Oceanside to Santa Fe Depot in San Diego, to attend a Voice of San Diego staff meeting downtown.

There are two train systems on the San Diego coast: the Coaster, with numerous local stops, and the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner, a regional line from here to San Luis Obispo. 

I arrived at the station half an hour before the 8:04 a.m. Pacific Surfliner train. That seemed like plenty of time to park and get a ticket: except I couldn’t buy a ticket in person.

I checked the kiosques, but the Surfliner schedule wasn’t listed. The Amtrak office was locked and empty. A Metrolink ticket agent explained that you can only order a Surfliner ticket by phone or online. As I opened the app to purchase the $18 ticket, I watched my train arrive and depart.

The next one was due at 9:04 a.m. That would get me to work a little late, but I could catch the end of the staff meeting. I was waiting on the main platform when I heard an announcement that my train would board on Platform 2.

Where was that? I scrambled to find the platform and discovered it was on the other side of the tracks. There’s no bridge, and crossing the rails is a big no-no. Another passenger pointed to a tunnel under the tracks so I ran through it… just in time to see the train pull away. 

I thought of giving up and driving to San Diego, but decided to take the 9:36 a.m. Coaster, although I would miss my meeting entirely.

I made a $6.50 contactless payment, boarded the carriage and found a seat. Oh, maybe not that seat; it was coated in something sticky. I took the one next to it instead.

The ride itself was fun, with stunning views of lagoons and beaches. People decked in Padres gear were headed to Petco Park, and a few sipped pre-game cocktails in pink plastic cups. Passengers boarded the train with bikes, strollers and a comically large duffel bag.

I wondered if I was the only one who found the ticket system confusing. Turns out I wasn’t. A Canadian family visiting with their two little boys had similar glitches with the Coaster as I had with the Surfliner. They bought three sets of tickets – two on the app and one from a kiosque – before getting tickets that worked. 

I arrived at Santa Fe Depot at 10:37 a.m. and walked the last half-mile to the Voice office. It was easy enough, but could be trickier for someone with mobility issues, or parents with young kids. 

That’s why transit officials talk about the “last-mile problem.” People are less likely to use transit if they can’t easily get from the bus or train stop to home, school and work. That’s even more complicated in North County, where I drove 20 miles to the transit center from home.

I spoke with James Campbell, operations officer for the LOSSAN Rail Corridor Agency, and he acknowledged the snafus I experienced aren’t unique.

“I’m sorry you had a disappointing trip,” he told me. “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have my own from time to time.”

Part of the challenge is having multiple rail systems share the same lines, he said. Along with the Coaster and Surfliner, the Oceanside station serves the Sprinter and Metrolink, so coordinating all those systems can lead to confusion.

Officials hope to get funding to reopen the Oceanside Amtrak office soon, he said. (By the way, there is a kiosque where you can buy Surfliner tickets, but it’s inside the locked office.) They also aim to improve signage, so passengers can clearly see where their train will board and how to get there. 

On the trip home that afternoon I swapped the unused Surfliner ticket for northbound fare to Oceanside, courtesy of a ticket agent in San Diego. Having a live human to help out made all the difference. 

“Nothing substitutes for a person who can help and direct, and make your experience as good as it can be,” Campbell said.

School Gender Politics Heat Up in El Cajon

In the wake of a new California law that bans school districts from requiring staff to share students’ sexual or gender identity with parents without students’ permission, the Cajon Valley Union School District did just that. 

The school board passed a policy this week requiring schools to inform parents if children under 12 years old change their name or gender pronouns. 

Our Jakob McWhinney covered the Cajon Valley policy, exploring how teachers view it and why it may set the stage for yet another legal showdown over school district LGTBQ policies. You can learn what the new school gender identity law does and doesn’t do in my story from earlier this month.

Border Pollution Solutions Are Behind Schedule

Despite “Herculean efforts” to improve wastewater treatment at the border, regulators blew a deadline to meet federal water quality standards, the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board said Thursday, Tammy Murga with the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

You can read more about what the U.S. official in charge has been doing to clean up border sludge in earlier stories by our MacKenzie Elmer. 

The Sacramento Report runs every Friday and is part of a partnership with CalMatters. Do you have tips, ideas or questions? Send them to me at deborah@voiceofsandiego.org.