To accommodate the surge of travelers heading to two big San Diego events next weekend, Amtrak will add three trains to the Pacific Surfliner schedule beginning Friday.
The additional train service follows the completion of a railroad protection project near the San Clemente Pier, eliminating the need for shuttle bus connections between Irvine and Oceanside.
The events likely to lead to packed cars on the Pacific Surfliner include San Diego Comic-Con, the Del Mar Opening Day and to the north, X Games California in Ventura County.
The schedule for the additional trains, available through Sunday:
- Train 568 will depart Los Angeles at 9:10 a.m. and arrive in San Diego at 12:07 p.m., making all stops in between.
- Train 799 will depart San Diego at 1:25 p.m. and arrive in Santa Barbara at 7:44 p.m., making all stops in between. It provides an evening return for X Games attendees traveling north, departing Ventura at 7:09 p.m.
- Train 798 will depart Santa Barbara at 8:50 p.m. and arrive in Los Angeles at 11:48 p.m., making all stops in between. It provides a late-night return for X Games attendees traveling south, departing Ventura at 9:43 p.m.
For Comic Con, at the San Diego Convention Center, Santa Fe Depot is an easy walk or trolley ride away from the main events and other downtown activities.
For Del Mar racing, from the Solana Beach Station, a free shuttle is available for passengers to reach the track.
For X Games California, at the Ventura County Fairgrounds, the train station is located next to the venue’s parking lot, within a two-minute walk from the entrance. A 15% discount is available on train travel and event admission.
To see the latest on the Pacific Surfliner schedule, follow @PacSurfliners on Twitter, with real-time alerts regarding which trains are expected to be busy.
In addition, with an unreserved coach ticket, customers can choose to take an earlier or later train at no charge if the one they were planning to take is to set to be crowded.
