What happened on the weekend of October 24-25 on the Surfliners? November 29th, 2009
Report by Noel T. Braymer
Train 571 left San Diego on time at 10:35 A.M. from San Diego on Saturday October 24, 2009. But by the time the train got to San Clemente around 11:40 the brakes locked up on the Business Class Car bringing the train to a halt.
The Never Ending Battle for Truth, Justice and Rational Rail Service November 29th, 2009
Editorial By Noel T. Braymer
What rail passengers want is very simple. They want trains that are clean, comfortable, safe and convenient.
CCJPB November Meeting Report; Farewell to Gene Skoropowski, Welcome to David Kutrosky (photo) November 24th, 2009
Reported by Mike Barnbaum, RailPAC Associate Director, Sacramento. NOTE: See a RailPAC photo report on Gene Skoropowski’s Capitol Corridor career on this site. (NOTE: Thanks to BART/CCJPB for the photo of David Kutrosky)
The 74th meeting of the Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority began with a report of Chair Jim Holmes who referred to Gene Skoropowski as “Double O Skoro.”
WE ARE DEEPER IN DEBT, SO WE MUST THINK EVEN HARDER November 24th, 2009
Commentary by Paul Dyson
I have previously quoted New Zealand scientist Ernest Rutherford, “We had no money so we had to think”, and this struck a chord with a lot of readers. Regardless of the field of human endeavor to which you might apply this aphorism it is a good starting point. Try to do as much as you can with as little as possible.
1999 RailPAC Annual Meeting in photos! November 16th, 2009
GENE SKOROPOWSKI . . . in RailPAC photos November 13th, 2009
Picture report by Russ Jackson Photos by the writer unless otherwise indicated. 
The rail advocacy community was disappointed to learn that Gene Skoropowski would be retiring from parent organization BART and his position as Managing Director of the Capitol Corridor JPB the end of November, 2009, and that he would be leaving the Golden state for the Sunshine state of Florida.
CA Corridors stats for October, 2009 November 12th, 2009
Reported by Eugene K. Skoropowski, Managing Director, Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority
October 2009 ridership numbers across the nation are beginning to show a ‘closing of the gap’. During this first month of the new fiscal year, the Capitol Corridor ridership was down significantly compared to October 2008, but again, still higher than October 2007. The San Joaquins ridership was down -5.8%, while the Pacific Surfliners have started recovery, with ridership up +2.1%, after many months of decline. Nationally, the ridership on the Amtrak system overall for October 2009 was down only -2.5% compared to 2008.
Trip PHOTO Report: On the Heartland Flyer: Nothing to complain about! November 8th, 2009
Comments and PHOTOS By Russ Jackson, website editor
Round trip from Ft. Worth to Oklahoma City on the Heartland Flyer September 30 and October 2, 2009. The Ft. Worth, Texas Intermodal station is a busy place, what with Amtrak’s Texas Eagles and Heartland Flyer, the TRE commuter line between Ft. Worth and Dallas, and it’s a local bus hub. It’s also where a Subway Sandwich place has opened, and that’s where we ate before boarding the train.
Tracking Rail News . . . November 5th, 2009
PHOTOS . . . and Commentary by Russ Jackson
. . . November, 2009.
. . . An important observation by RailPAC Sacramento Director, Marcia Johnston: 
On October 16 I stopped at the Davis Amtrak station to check out the southbound Coast Starlight, which was on time. It sat for some time, and I saw the station agent run into the station to pull out the manual wheelchair lift. There was one person attempting to board with an oversized wheelchair. The present long distance cars cannot board this type of vehicle, and neither can the manual wheelchair lift. The rider couldn’t be boarded unless a regular size wheelchair was utilized. When the person and a companion left she was observed crying. Her companion explained that the train was the only option and that they could not afford to fly, as the cost was too great.
TAMC October Meeting Report November 5th, 2009
Reported by Chris Flescher, RailPAC, Salinas
New developments from Soledad, the Coast Daylight, Castroville, and a Projects update.
