OCEANSIDE–The North County Transit District (NCTD), along with Amtrak and Metrolink, will undergo a complete coastal rail service closure between Oceanside and San Diego during three weekends in January. Passenger rail service will not be available on January 9 and 10, 16 and 17, and 23 and 24.

Customers are urged to plan ahead to take other forms of transportation during this service interruption. There is no replacement bus service connecting to Coaster station stops. Alternatives for passengers who normally use the Coaster include Breeze bus route 101 or MTS connections. North County Transit bus schedules may be viewed at www.gonctd.com.

The rail will re-open for regularly scheduled Coaster and all other rail service in time for the morning commute each Monday following the weekend closures.

During these service closures, SANDAG will continue construction on the Los Peñasquitos Lagoon Bridges Replacement and Control Point Rose Track Crossovers projects. Construction crews are working to replace aging wooden trestle railway bridges as part of the Los Peñasquitos Lagoon Bridges Replacement Project. During the January closures, workers will continue to install support columns on three of the bridges. Construction on the project began in August 2015 and is expected to last approximately two years.

SANDAG also will continue construction on the CP Rose Track Crossovers Project, an element of the Elvira to Morena Double Track Project. The work will consist of removing and replacing track and installing one new rail crossover. This phase of the project is anticipated to be completed in summer 2016.

The work begins on each Saturday morning at 12:30 a.m. and goes till Monday morning at 3 a.m. During construction, there will be periods of substantial noise in the Los Peñasquitos Lagoon area. The dates for the rail corridor closures were chosen in cooperation with Metrolink, Amtrak and SANDAG to minimize operational and community impacts as much as possible. Working on subsequent weekends reduces the costs of transporting heavy equipment to and from the work site and allows construction crews to work unimpeded.

These improvements to the rail infrastructure are part of a longer term program that will double-track the rail lines and complete on-going maintenance for enhanced service for transit users.

For further information on this NCTD Coaster service interruption, contact the NCTD Customer Service at (760) 966-6500.