(The following article by Larissa Van Beurden-Doust was posted on the San Luis Obispo Tribune website on March 20.)
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Passengers on Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner train were unable to board and instead took buses Monday to Southern California because of the derailment of nearby freight cars at the San Luis Obispo station.
Three freight cars derailed at the station early Monday, forcing people booked on the separate Amtrak train to alter travel plans.
Amtrak and Union Pacific freight trains often share the same tracks on the Central Coast, but in this case the trains were on separate tracks.
The derailed cars were on a side track, but one was close enough to a main line that it needed to be shut down, Union Pacific spokesman Mark Davis said. The other main line remained open to train traffic.
The series of events started when a Union Pacific freight train traveling from Los Angeles to Portland, Ore., stopped at the station to drop off some of its freight cars, Davis said.
At 2:55 a.m., three freight cars derailed, he said.
Davis said he did not know if the cars — two were carrying automobiles, one was filled with beer — were the ones being unloaded in San Luis Obispo.
The cars did not tip over, Davis said. They appeared to barely come off their rails and were still standing upright later in the morning.
The cause of the derailment is under investigation, Davis said. About 250 feet of track was damaged and will have to be repaired.
All other Amtrak trains operated as scheduled Monday, rail agency spokesman Vernae Graham said.
The Pacific Surfliner was expected to depart as scheduled this morning.
The derailment canceled Monday’s 6:45 a.m. departure of the Surfliner, which travels daily from San Luis Obispo to San Diego.
Travelers were taken by bus to Los Angeles, where they could board a train to San Diego, Graham said.