Amtrak Service Between L.A., Santa Barbara Partially Reopened

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Amtrak re-opened service on three of its five trains running daily between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara on Monday, one day earlier than planned, allowing thousands of passengers a return to their normal commute and giving the Santa Barbara hospitality industry a much-awaited boost.


The trains are on the Pacific Surfliner route that runs between San Diego and Paso Robles. The other two Pacific Surfliner trains running between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara will re-open on Tuesday, Amtrak officials said. About 5,000 passengers use the service daily.


For the time being, passengers will only be taken as far as Santa Barbara, where they can transfer to chartered bus service arranged by Amtrak. Service between Santa Barbara and Paso Robles might not be available until the end of the month.


Coast Starlight service between Los Angeles and Seattle, which carries about 1,000 passengers per day, won’t resume until at least Feb. 28, when repairs and upgrades by Union Pacific are complete.


Union Pacific Corp., which owns the tracks, cut off service on the Pacific Surfliner line from Los Angeles to points north Jan. 9 after weather-related mudslides damaged the tracks in the Santa Barbara area. Amtrak was not allowed to use the tracks because the railroad company was fixing them by day and moving freight on them at night.


“Tomorrow it will be fully restored between San Diego and Santa Barbara,” said Sarah Swain, a spokeswoman for Amtrak. “We’re certainly happy to restore the service and we apologize for any inconvenience that it has caused passengers.”

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