Officials have marked a key milestone in the effort to protect a coastal rail line that stretches to downtown San Diego.

The line connects Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner – the route begins and ends in San Diego – with Orange and Los Angeles counties, but it has been hampered by closures due to the unstable ground that surrounds it.

Ongoing work to stabilize the line now includes a sand nourishment project that began in San Clemente.

The Orange County Transportation Authority brought in more than 300 truckloads of sand from a quarry in Palm Springs, totaling approximately 3,400 cubic yards, officials said in a news release.

The sand is scheduled to be delivered to the shoreline between the rail and the ocean over the next week along a more than quarter-mile span of beach where it will help

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