Construction of the Surf Line between Los Angeles and San Diego began on October 12, 1880, with the organization of the California Southern Railroad Company. On January 2, 1882, the California Southern commenced passenger and freight service between National City and Fallbrook Junction, just north of Oceanside. From Oceanside the line turned northeast for a winding route through the Temecula Canyon, and was finished on August 21, 1882. The line became part of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad's transcontinental rail line in 1885 via an extension of the California Southern from Colton north over the Cajon Pass to Barstow. From 1886 to 1888, the Riverside, Santa Ana and Los Angeles Railway built a branch from Highgrove southwest via Riverside to Santa Ana and from Orange northwest to Los Angeles. Also in 1888 the San Bernardino and San Diego Railway completed its line from Oceanside north to Santa Ana, completing what was originally called the Los Angeles-San Diego Short Line. The now-downgraded old route was destroyed by floods in 1891 and the new line, later named the Surf Line, was now the only line to San Diego from the north. In 1910, the Fullerton and Richfield Railway built a short cutoff of the San Bernardino-Los Angeles route from Atwood west to Fullerton, giving the Surf Line its northern terminus of Fullerton. For much of the 20th century, the Surf Line was to the Santa Fe what the New York City-Philadelphia corridor was to the Pennsylvania Railroad. Daily traffic could reach a density of ten trains during the summer months. The route hosted AT&SF San Diegan passenger trains, renamed the Pacific Surfliner by Amtrak in 2000. The Santa Fe installed Centralized traffic control in 1943–1944 which increased capacity on the line. In the 1990s the SCRRA and the San Diego Northern Railway bought the sections of the line in Orange and San Diego Counties and began operating commuter trains. About two-thirds of the segment from the Orange County line to the Santa Fe Depot in downtown San Diego has been double-tracked. As one of the nation's busiest corridors, local transportation and planning agencies want to complete the entire section.
Historic station stops
These are not all the stations that currently operate. Many of these stations no longer exist and new ones have opened. For a list of stations that currently operate, see the articles for Metrolink's Orange County Line and the Coaster.
