The state has awarded $82 million dollars in grant funds to beef up Pacific Surfliner and commuter rail services in six California counties, including Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo Counties.
The grants include $66 million dollars to add sections of double track, and to replace five bridges on the San Diego to San Luis Obispo rail corridor. There’s $15 million dollars in funding to replace aging rail cars, as well as money to improve coordination to streamline rail traffic on the rail lines which are shared with freight trains. 150 passenger trains and 70 freight trains use the rail lines daily.
7.8 million people ride Amtrak, Metrolink, and San Diego County’s COASTER commuter trains on sections of the rail line. The funding comes from the California State Transportation Agency.
