Efforts to revitalize San Diego County’s tenuous railroad connection to the rest of the United States received a boost from state legislation signed into law last week. Senate Bill 1098 boosts the priority of maintenance and improvement projects needed by the 351-mile rail corridor, also known as the LOSSAN corridor. The 140-year-old route, threatened in places by landslides and coastal erosion, goes from downtown San Diego through Los Angeles to San Luis Obispo on the Central Coast. “I thank Gov. Newsom for signing this much-needed legislation to improve the management and planning of the LOSSAN rail line,” said Sen. Catherine Blakespear, D-Encinitas, in a recent news release. “SB 1098 sets the foundation for optimizing rail operations and boosting ridership so we can meet our region’s mobility, air quality and climate goals.” The bill calls for the creation of a working group representing railroad track owners, train operators, managing agencies, transit districts, joint power authorities, counties, planning agencies, environmental, business and civic organizations connected to the route. The working group will create a report to the Legislature by Feb. 1, 2026, recommending strategies to increase rail service and reduce disruptions and delays. The bill also requires regular updates to the Legislature on rail transportation performance. The legislation is the product of a series of meetings by the Senate Transportation Subcommittee on LOSSAN Rail Corridor Resiliency, which Blakespear led over the past year. Sections of the rail corridor along the coastline are threated by erosion and crumbling seaside bluffs. Two areas in particular — Del Mar in San Diego County and San Clemente in Orange County — have seen increasing problems in recent years. Repairs required by landslides in San Clemente forced lengthy suspensions of passenger service five times in the last three years, most recently from late January through late March of this year. “It’s clear at this point there must be a more active effort at the state level,” said state Sen. Josh Newman, D-Fullerton, in February. “We need to build a faster, more frequent and more reliable rail corridor.” Last year, Blakespear authored Senate Bill 677, which also was signed into law to address the issue. That legislation directed the LOSSAN Rail Corridor Agency to include an assessment of the effects of climate change in its annual business plan and to identify projects and funding options to increase the railroad’s climate resiliency. Ridership on the corridor reached 8 million people a year in 2019 before the pandemic began. In early 2020, it fell as much as 90 percent when health concerns kept people at home and train service was reduced. Since then, some riders have slowly returned, but the total was only about 4 million in 2023. Transit officials say faster, more frequent and dependable rail service would encourage more people to ride, taking cars off the freeways and reducing the greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change.