As most of you are aware, there was a devastating mudslide
in Santa Barbara County earlier this week due to heavy rains that fell in the
areas burned last month by the Thomas Fire. The mudslide sadly resulted in at
least 17 deaths, many more injuries, and has isolated communities between Santa
Barbara and Ventura because of the closure of US Highway 101.
Our “sister” service in this area, the Pacific Surfliner route (San
Diego-LA-Santa Barbara-San Luis Obispo) resumed service last week. With the
closure of Highway 101 in the Montecito area, the Pacific Surfliner is the only surface transportation option connecting the Santa Barbara region
with the Los Angeles Basin. As a result, the Pacific Surfliner trains are
experiencing severe over-crowding (standee conditions) and in some cases,
hundreds of passengers have been left stranded on the platforms as trains
cannot accommodate these people.
On Friday evening, I was contacted by the California State
Transportation Agency (CalSTA) requesting the CCJPA’s assistance to temporarily
transfer some intercity passenger rail (IPR) vehicles from the Northern
California fleet for use on an emergency basis for the Pacific Surfliner
service. As the CCJPA is the agency responsible for the use and assignment of IPR
vehicles in the Northern California fleet, I agreed to the request and
immediately began to coordinate with the CCJPA, San Joaquin JPA, and Amtrak transportation and mechanical staff to
determine which vehicles could be temporarily made available for the Pacific
Surfliner service.
Within a few hours, I authorized the temporary transfer of three
locomotives and eight cars from the Northern California IPR fleet to Southern
California. These vehicles will be removed from the Capitol Corridor and San
Joaquin services starting today, Saturday, January 13, and will be used on
Surfliner trains to help accommodate passengers needing to travel through the
Santa Barbara area while Highway 101 is closed. We expect the Northern
California IPR vehicles will be returned to Northern California on Saturday,
January 20.
The assistance we are providing to our colleagues and friends
in Southern California will result in one less car on two trainsets assigned to
the Capitol Corridor’s weekday rotation. As a result, you may notice that some Capitol
Corridor trains are more crowded, with fewer empty seats. We are managing the
rotation and assignment of these shorter trainsets so we can minimize the
impact to our more crowded peak travel trains. Please note that it will be
especially important for everyone to be patient and courteous and observe our
“One Ticket, One Seat” policy. Do not hesitate to ask one of the conductors for
assistance if you need help finding an empty seat or a place to store your bags
or bicycle.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. As I mentioned above, the
CCJPA and our service partners in Northern California did not hesitate to authorize
this humanitarian assistance. We are confident that each and every Capitol
Corridor passenger would agree with our decision. It is in times like this when
communities must come together and help each other out. I am proud that the
CCJPA is able to put our mission into action and help bridge the transportation
need in Southern California during this challenging time.
We are grateful for your support and patience, and as always,
thank you for riding the Capitol Corridor.
Sincerely,
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