COASTER commuter rail will shut down Saturday, Sept. 12, and Sunday, Sept. 13, halting trains at the Encinitas station and all stops along the 41-mile coastal corridor.

North County Transit District (NCTD) announced on X that all coastal rail service between Oceanside Transit Center and Santa Fe Depot in downtown San Diego will be suspended for routine maintenance and rail infrastructure projects. Normal service is scheduled to resume Monday, Sept. 14.

The shutdown eliminates 20 COASTER trips each day of the weekend, according to NCTD's website.

No bus bridge has been announced.

NCTD has not specified which infrastructure projects will be advanced during the Sept. 12–13 window. The agency also has not said whether Amtrak Pacific Surfliner service will be affected or whether replacement bus service will connect riders between stations.

These full-corridor shutdowns are not new. In January, NCTD suspended all coastal rail service for two weekends to advance the Del Mar Bluffs Stabilization project and the Batiquitos Lagoon Double Track project in Carlsbad, as the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. During those January closures, Amtrak offered bus connections from Irvine to stations in Oceanside, Solana Beach and San Diego.

NCTD calls the shutdowns absolute work windows, scheduled throughout the year to give construction crews safe access to the tracks. In a January news release, the agency said closures happen periodically on a set schedule so crews can complete preventive maintenance and advance major railroad construction projects.

Encinitas riders who use the station at 25 East "D" St. can reach BREEZE bus routes 101, 304 and 309 at the same transit center. Whether those bus routes will offer expanded service during the rail shutdown has not been announced.

Riders can check GoNCTD.com/Alerts for updates or call NCTD customer service at (760) 966-6500.