Why Are the Railroad Tracks Being Expanded Along Padaro Lane?

A recent meeting regarding the railroad siding (second rail) proposed by the LOSSAN rail corridor agency along Padaro Lane was reportedly heated, with residents in opposition—particularly because the plan will result in the removal of over 100 trees. Can you tell us more about the project? —B.

LOSSAN, shorthand for the Los Angeles–San Diego–San Luis Obispo Rail Corridor Agency, which oversees the rail corridor from San Diego to San Luis Obispo, has long planned on “adding approximately one mile of new siding track alongside the existing rail line [in order to] create a critical ‘passing lane’ for trains, improving reliability and schedule flexibility,” according to LOSSAN’s Ortega Siding project website.

The Ortega Siding Project Study Report (June 2023) has more on the benefits of the “passing lane”: “The 16.7-mile single-track segment between CP CO385 (Seacliff) and CP CO369 (South Santa Barbara) greatly diminishes the railroad’s ability to increase service. Within this segment, trains are unable to operate bidirectionally. Trains must wait in one of the aforementioned sidings [Seacliff and Santa Barbara] until a train traveling in the opposing direction clears the track.”

According to the same report, “the goal for this segment of the corridor is to have a two hourly pattern for Pacific Surfliner service between Los Angeles Union Station and Goleta.”

There was once a siding west of Padaro Lane, south of Summerland, but it was “damaged by erosion, landslides, and sink holes on the ocean front cliffs during heavy rain events in the late 1970s. Most of the siding was taken out of service and removed in the early 1980s. The new proposed siding location is further inland to the east and would be protected against coastal erosion, landslides, and sea level rise that the old historic Ortega siding succumbed to.”

The new track would be constructed within the existing Union Pacific right-of-way, on the south side of the existing tracks roughly from the Loon Point parking lot to 3355 Padaro Lane. LOSSAN says that the total width of the new siding would be 30 to 40 feet, depending on the terrain.

Padaro Lane residents understandably have concerns, including air pollution, noise pollution, fire risk, and derailments. Perhaps most of all, how many trees would be cut down? As you can see in the drone footage below, many trees, or even most of the trees on that side of the street, encroach on the 30-40 feet of clearance. A LOSSAN rep emailed me that “the design phase of the Ortega Siding project is on hold until our capital projects team completes a tree survey. We don’t know if trees, or how many trees, may be impacted as part of this project until that survey is over. We’re anticipating having more information in the fall.” (The Ortega Siding is exempt from California Environmental Quality Act requirements because it “would support mass transit passenger rail operations conducted by the LOSSAN Rail Corridor Agency on a rail line already in use.”)

LOSSAN materials cite “a growing demand for service to Santa Barbara, Goleta, and San Luis Obispo” as the reason for the new siding, but residents have yet to be convinced that it’s necessary, so I asked the rep for numbers to back that assertion up. The response:

Within Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties specifically, ridership increased approximately 1% from FY24 to FY25 and is projected to grow by approximately 20% from FY25 to FY26. Since February 2026, ridership at stations within those two counties has increased by approximately 35%, coinciding with the addition of new service and increased travel options for passengers.

In FY25, approximately 509,500 passengers boarded or deboarded Pacific Surfliner trains at stations in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties. In FY26, that number is projected to increase to approximately 615,000 passengers.

And yet the Times of San Diego reported last November that while Amtrak ridership elsewhere in the nation has rebounded from a Covid-era dip, the Pacific Surfliner has not; it carried 2,776,654 riders in FY2019 (the final year before Covid), and only 2,043,059 in FY2025. And if the 2024 data in a Rail Passengers Association fact sheet is indicative of greater trends, traffic on the line skews highly toward points south of L.A.—which makes sense, given that the area between L.A. and San Diego is substantially more populous.

LOSSAN’s presentation to Padaro Lane residents says that construction would start in mid-2028, pending approvals, and take around two years. You can sign up for LOSSAN email updates about the Ortega Siding project here. And the Padaro Association is working on a petition opposing the plan, which I’ll link to here when it’s ready.

Is there a question you’d like investigated? Email [email protected] or text 917-209-6473.

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