Rail service slowly getting back on track after landslide in San Clemente

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. (KABC) -- Starting Saturday, Metrolink weekend service will extend to San Juan Capistrano as workers continue efforts to shore up a landslide in the San Clemente area.

The San Clemente Pier Station remains closed indefinitely, but Metrolink will run its trains as far south as San Juan Capistrano starting Saturday and Sunday. But weekday service will continue to go only as far south as the Laguna Niguel/Mission Viejo station for the time being, according to Scott Johnson, a Metrolink spokesman.

BNSF freight trains started running through the San Clemente area, but at a speed of just 10 mph, Wednesday night. Officials in the work area are on site to clear the freight trains when it is safe to proceed, Johnson said.

The tracks had been closed for about a month, starting in late April, due to the unstable hillside. But the tracks reopened on May 27, and then another landslide affected service near the Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens.