Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed legislation by Sen. Catherine Blakespear to require an assessment of the effects of climate change on regional rail.
SB 677 directs the Los Angeles-San Diego-San Luis Obispo (LOSSAN) Rail Corridor to include the assessment in the annual business plan that outlines the agency’s major goals and objectives.
The study must identify projects to increase climate resiliency for LOSSAN, which oversees the corridor in coordination with rail owners, operators and regional planning agencies. Funding options also must be explored.
“I thank Gov. Newsom for signing SB 677 and ensuring that the LOSSAN Rail Corridor Agency is responding to, and planning for, the challenges created by climate change,” Blakespear, D-Encinitas, said.
Blakespear is chair of the Senate Transportation Subcommittee on LOSSAN Rail Corridor Resiliency. The committee, which has held two hearings, with a third scheduled for November, was established earlier this year to study how to improve infrastructure and service along the 351-mile rail line.
The line serves six counties – including San Diego – in central and Southern California with a total population of approximately 20 million people. It includes Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner service and is crucial to the movement of freight and passengers through the region.
The line also is the second busiest intercity passenger rail corridor in the U.S.
Over the past year, the corridor was closed to passenger service through San Clemente on multiple occasions due to hillside erosion that jeopardized stability and safety on the tracks. Full service resumed in July.