With Bridge Work Complete, Full Train Service Resumes on the Central Coast
John Palminteri
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Train passengers on the Central Coast will not have to get off and use a bus for part of their trip anymore.
That’s been the requirement for the past two weeks while the La Canada Honda bridge was replaced on the Vandenberg Space Force base property in Northern Santa Barbara County.
The bridge was more than 120 years old and unreliable.
The work began August 1 and was finished over the weekend.
While the repairs took place, the train passengers were rerouted with bus service going north from Santa Barbara and south from San Luis Obispo.
A passenger on the Coast Starlight Monday, Karen Tosoe, loaded up her baggage in Santa Barbara on a mid-day train stop and said she was aware of the bridge outage. “Yes, we didn’t want to be the first ones over it. We wanted to be the second!”
She enjoys riding the train and taking the coastal route. “We’re visiting our daughter and her husband in Washington so it is the way to go.”
The repaired track will now see service again from the daily Pacific Surfliner, the Coast Starlight and all the freight trains going through the area.
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