Serving San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Van Nuys, Los Angeles, Anaheim, Santa Ana, San Diego, and intermediate points
Amtrak train numbers: Various 500s and 700s
Predecessor railroad train numbers: Santa Fe 70 through 81
On March 27, 1938, the Santa Fe Railway debuted new streamlined equipment, providing two round trips daily between Los Angeles and San Diego, with supplemental service provided by older equipment. The trains were renamed to the San Diegans. By the 1950s, streamlined equipment was providing all service on the route.
By the time Amtrak came along in 1971, San Diegan service was down to two trains a day, with the Coast Daylight/Coast Starlight providing additional service. With funding assistance from Caltrans, the California Department of Transportation, the number of San Diegan trains gradually increased. For a brief time, the Metroliner brand was expanded to the West Coast with the brief appearance of the premium limited stop San Diegan Metroliner trains in the mid 1980s.
On June 26, 1988, service was extended north to Santa Barbara, and service was extended further north to San Luis Obispo seven years later.
Due to the extensions and the promise of forthcoming new equipment, Amtrak chose to retire the San Diegans name, with the trains becoming the Pacific Surfliners on May 21, 2000.
Condensed historical timetables (1956):
TRAIN NUMBER (70) (72) (74) (76) (78) (80)
San Luis Obispo Dp ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
Santa Barbara ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
Van Nuys ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
Los Angeles 7:45A 9:00A 12:30P 4:30P 8:00P 11:15P
Anaheim ----- 9:35A ----- 5:04P ----- 11:50P
Santa Ana 8:30A 9:48A 1:17P 5:15P 8:45P 12:04A
San Diego Ar 10:15A 11:45A 3:00P 7:00P 10:30P 2:15A
TRAIN NUMBER (71) (73) (75) (77) (79) (81)
San Diego Dp 5:30A 9:00A 11:15A 4:00P 6:30P 10:00P
Santa Ana 7:02A 10:34A 12:50P 5:42P 8:35P 11:32P
Anaheim 7:14A 10:39A ----- ----- 8:45P -----
Los Angeles 8:00A 11:30A 1:45P 6:35P 9:30P 12:30A
Van Nuys ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
Santa Barbara ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
San Luis Obispo Ar ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
Condensed historical timetables (1972):
TRAIN NUMBER (776) (778)
San Luis Obispo Dp ----- -----
Santa Barbara ----- -----
Van Nuys ----- -----
Los Angeles 8:00A 10:00A
Anaheim ----- -----
Santa Ana 8:58A 10:58A
San Diego Ar 10:55A 12:55P
TRAIN NUMBER (777) (775)
San Diego Dp 4:00P 6:45P
Santa Ana 5:48P 8:33P
Anaheim ----- -----
Los Angeles 6:55P 9:40P
Van Nuys ----- -----
Santa Barbara ----- -----
San Luis Obispo Ar ----- -----
Condensed historical timetables (1979):
TRAIN NUMBER (770) (772) (774) (776) (780) (778)
San Luis Obispo Dp ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
Santa Barbara ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
Van Nuys ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
Los Angeles 8:30A 10:30A 1:30P 4:45P 5:40P 8:00P
Anaheim ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
Santa Ana 9:21A 11:21A 2:21P 5:36P 6:31P 8:51P
San Diego Ar 11:05A 1:05P 4:05P 7:20P 8:20P 10:35P
TRAIN NUMBER (781) (771) (773) (775) (777) (779)
San Diego Dp 5:15A 7:00A 9:30A 1:00P 4:30P 7:30P
Santa Ana 6:55A 8:40A 11:10A 2:40P 6:10P 9:10P
Anaheim ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
Los Angeles 7:50A 9:35A 12:10P 3:35P 7:05P 10:05P
Van Nuys ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
Santa Barbara ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
San Luis Obispo Ar ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
Condensed historical timetables (1989):
TRAIN NUMBER (570) (572) (774) (576) (578) (580) (582) (586)
San Luis Obispo Dp ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
Santa Barbara ----- ----- 7:50A ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
Van Nuys ----- ----- 9:32A ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
Los Angeles 6:20A 8:00A 10:50A 12:45P 2:45P 4:45P 5:50P 8:45P
Anaheim 7:01A 8:44A 11:34A 1:29P 3:29P 5:29P 6:34P 9:29P
Santa Ana 7:13A 8:55A 11:45A 1:40P 3:39P 5:39P 6:45P 9:39P
San Diego Ar 9:10A 10:50A 1:40P 3:35P 5:35P 7:35P 8:40P 11:30P
TRAIN NUMBER (571) (573) (577) (579) (581) (783) (585) (587)
San Diego Dp 5:20A 6:25A 9:50A 11:45A 2:45P 4:45P 6:45P 8:50P
Santa Ana 7:00A 8:05A 11:35A 1:29P 4:33P 6:33P 8:27P 10:32P
Anaheim ----- 8:14A 11:45A 1:39P 4:43P 6:43P 8:37P 10:42P
Los Angeles 7:55A 9:15A 12:40P 2:30P 5:35P 8:00P 9:30P 11:30P
Van Nuys ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- 8:33P ----- -----
Santa Barbara ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- 10:25P ----- -----
San Luis Obispo Ar ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
Condensed historical timetables (1997):
TRAIN NUMBER (570) (572) (774) (776) (578) (580) (782) (784) (511)
San Luis Obispo Dp ----- ----- ----- 7:00A ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
Santa Barbara ----- ----- 7:20A 9:25A ----- ----- 2:05P 4:00P -----
Van Nuys ----- ----- 9:19A 11:25A ----- ----- 4:01P 6:01P -----
Los Angeles 6:20A 8:30A 10:15A 12:30P 2:30P 4:15P 5:10P 7:15P 9:35P
Anaheim 7:08A 9:21A 10:58A 1:13P 3:11P ----- ----- 7:58P 10:17P
Santa Ana 7:18A 9:30A 11:07A 1:23P 3:20P 5:01P 5:56P 8:07P 10:26P
San Diego Ar 9:15A 11:25A 1:05P 3:25P 5:20P 6:45P 7:35P 10:00P 12:15A
TRAIN NUMBER (571) (773) (775) (577) (779) (781) (583) (585)
San Diego Dp 6:15A 7:10A 8:45A 10:20A 12:25P 3:05P 5:30P 7:45P
Santa Ana 7:50A 8:46A 10:34A 12:11P 2:07P 4:52P 7:53P 9:28P
Anaheim ----- ----- 10:43A 12:20P 2:16P 5:01P 8:02P 9:37P
Los Angeles 8:40A 9:55A 11:40A 1:10P 3:20P 6:05P 8:45P 10:35P
Van Nuys ----- 10:28A 12:13P ----- 3:52P 6:38P ----- -----
Santa Barbara ----- 12:30P 2:15P ----- 6:03P 8:50P ----- -----
San Luis Obispo Ar ----- ----- ----- ----- 8:50P ----- ----- -----
The Amtrak Train Names Project | 
