Carlsbad Double Track Project

Among intercity and commuter rail corridors in the United States, the Los Angeles–San Diego–San Luis Obispo (LOSSAN) corridor has experienced the most significant growth in ridership and service density since 1990. The corridor carries Amtrak Pacific Surfliner intercity service along with Metrolink and Coaster commuter operations. Over several decades, Caltrans, the LOSSAN Rail Corridor Agency, and local transportation authorities have invested in capacity improvements—primarily double-tracking—to support higher service levels and reliability.

In 2010, Amtrak advanced the Carlsbad Double Track Project, the first Amtrak-funded corridor capacity improvement in the western United States. The $17.1 million project constructed 1.9 miles of new main track to create a continuous 5.1-mile double-track segment, installed a new control point, built a 213-foot concrete bridge, and modified an existing control point with two No. 24 turnouts to enable higher-speed universal crossover operations. The project was completed ahead of schedule and under budget in February 2012.

Thomas C. Cornillie served as project manager for Amtrak, with responsibility for planning coordination, contract administration, budgeting, scheduling, environmental compliance, and interagency agreements. The work required close coordination among Amtrak engineering, procurement, and operating staff; host railroad partners; state and local agencies; and environmental regulators. Key challenges included aligning construction activities with available funding milestones, minimizing disruption to existing passenger and freight service, and performing work safely adjacent to an active main line in environmentally sensitive areas.

The project illustrated several principles that remain central to effective capital program delivery:

• Translating regional capacity and service objectives into a clearly scoped, fundable project
• Managing multi-source funding requirements and schedule constraints
• Coordinating multidisciplinary and multi-agency teams without formal line authority over all participants
• Maintaining rigorous project controls while adapting to changing conditions
• Delivering infrastructure improvements that support both immediate operational needs and longer-term corridor performance

Project Photos

Long precast girders were transported to a staging area and unloaded by two 275-ton truck cranes onto a high-capacity railroad flat car. A North County Transit District commuter locomotive moved the materials outside revenue-service hours, avoiding the need to lease a dedicated locomotive for the project.

The same two cranes loaded the girders onto a work-train flat car for transport to the bridge site, then relocated to the new bridge location to unload and set the girders onto the piles.

Foundation piles for the abutment and pier were installed under traffic using an oscillator to prevent ground settlement and liquefaction that could have affected the adjacent timber trestle. Continuous monitoring confirmed no settlement or disruption to the existing bridge.

New No. 24 tangential turnouts provided access to the double-track section and allow passenger trains to make diverging movements at up to 60 mph, reducing time lost when transitioning between single and double track. Subsequent double-track projects on the corridor have continued to use these turnouts for operational flexibility. Tight work windows and limited absolute track outages required careful on-site assessment and precise planning of major operations.

Cornillie has presented on the Carlsbad Double Track Project and related LOSSAN corridor work to share practical approaches for building cohesive planning-and-engineering teams, navigating public-private and interagency partnerships, and managing the critical-path issues that commonly arise on active passenger rail corridors.

Planning, Developing, and Completing the Carlsbad Double Track Project – Presented at the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance of Way Association (AREMA) Annual Conference, September 2012, in Chicago, IL

Successfully Planning and Implementing Railroad Infrastructure Projects That Require Major Service Disruptions – A Case Study Examination (co-authored with John P. Eschenbach) – Presented at the Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting, January 2013, in Washington, DC, and at the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance of Way Association (AREMA) Annual Conference, October 2013, in Indianapolis, IN

The Santa Margarita River Bridge Replacement Project: Overcoming Construction Challenges in Rebuilding Railway Infrastructure – A Case Study Examination (co-authored with Michael J. Albanese) – Presented at American Railway Engineering and Maintenance of Way Association (AREMA) Annual Conference, September 2014, in Chicago, IL

The project remains a useful case study in disciplined capital project delivery under real-world funding, operational, and environmental constraints—experience directly relevant to the complex transit capital programming and funding environments faced by regional agencies and operators today.