On Tuesday, March 24, Amtrak's Pacific Surfliners began operating on a reduced service schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Under this new schedule, Pacific Surfliner service has been reduced from 13 trains each way per weekday to just six, and no trains operate north of Goleta (to San Luis Obispo). On the first day of this new schedule, the fifth of the six southbound trains for the day, train 584, passes the old Santa Fe depot – now the Metrolink station and a Ruby's Diner - as it makes its way from Los Angeles to San Diego behind CDTX SC-44 "Charger" 2111. (Orange, California – March 24, 2020)
Stretching from San Luis Obispo to San Diego, the Surf Line has become Amtrak's second busiest route. See the Pacific Surfliner and San Diegan in action along with trains from predecessors Santa Fe and Southern Pacific.