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| April 17, 2010 | ||
| 9:00 am | to | 4:00 pm |
Location: MTA Board Room at Gateway Center, located behind Los Angeles Union Station
Additional details will be available soon – watch this space!
Did you know that you can renew your RailPAC membership by credit card? Yes, it’s true! You can renew (or become a new member) by credit card or PayPal account from the RailPAC website. It’s fast … it’s easy … and you’ll be done in less than 5 minutes!
Today Amtrak released the Fleet Strategy Plan they promised was coming.
You can download the report here: Amtrak Fleet Strategy – Feb 2010
2nd February, 2010
Hon. Curt Pringle and Board Members
CALIFORNIA HIGH SPEED RAIL AUTHORITY
925 L Street Suite 1425
Sacramento, CA 95814
Via fax: 916 322 0827
PROVIDING VALUE FROM THE FIRST INVESTMENTS
Dear Chairman Pringle and Board members:
The Rail Passenger Association of California (RailPAC) has been campaigning for over thirty years for improved passenger rail service in California. Progress has been slow but at least today we have the basic framework of commuter and inter city rail in most of the important corridors. We supported Proposition 1A and welcome the recently announced small down payment for High Speed Rail (“HSR”) from the federal government. We are, however, greatly concerned by the growing clamor of criticism from some key politicians as well as the public and even some rail advocacy groups. Read the rest of this entry »
Part 1 of three parts of edited highlights of a great presentation
Report and PHOTOS by Russ Jackson
Yes, I know those trains don’t go to Sacramento, but on January 13 we boarded Texas Eagle # 21 at Ft. Worth and headed for San Antonio, then on to Los Angeles and drove up the Valley to Sacramento, combining a winter vacation with attending the very successful RailPAC-NARP meeting on the 16th. Departing Ft. Worth was on time, but two minutes later we waited 15 minutes for clearance to cross the infamous “Tower 55″ controlled BNSF-UP junction.
As promised, we are providing the PowerPoint presentations presented on January 16th.
PDF Files of the Presentations: Read the rest of this entry »
Reported by Jarrod DellaChiesa, RailPAC Director
In 2009, 29,976 passengers traveled to and from the Hayward station. It is always surprising how few people even know Hayward has an Amtrak station or that a passenger train passes through our town.
Commentary by Paul Dyson
On top of this the Governor is once again raiding operating funds for transit and intercity putting the whole state rail program in jeopardy. I find it hard to imagine a worse outcome in this whole process. It has almost nothing to do with a sensible transportation policy and is entirely driven by short term political considerations.
Commentary by Paul Dyson
As we contemplate construction of High Speed Rail and electrification of existing routes we need to ask if catenary height an issue. This may seem arcane, almost academic, but it has real implications for the type of railroad network that we want to see here in California. Indeed it raises issues for the whole country.
News from URPA
