Building Credibility at the High Speed Rail Authority Board Meeting August 30th, 2011
August 25 Meeting Report by Bill Kerby, RailPAC Treasurer
Public comments, invited by the High Speed Rail Authority (HSRA) Board at the opening of the meeting August 25, 2011, lasted about a half hour with two minute presentations: hiring opportunities for small businesses; environmental justice; support for HSRA recommended route alignments; and one instance where an individual engaged in self promotion for employment. Planners and business owners weighed in on alignment A2 through Fresno arguing that tracks will divide the communities on this route.
Followup: A trucker looks at the Nevada Amtrak-truck crash August 27th, 2011
Recently the RailPAC website published four “theories” of how the July accident between a truck and Amtrak’s California Zephyr in the Nevada desert east of Reno might have happened (posted July 15, 2011). We asked Jason Brown, a commercial trucker, for his opinion on the events surrounding that crash.
eNewslsetter for August 22, 2011 August 24th, 2011
I led a student Rail Study Trip to China last March and we covered most of the new CRH lines; we rode part of the new Shanghai-Beijing line (not then fully opened), and the entire Wuhan-Guangzhou line at 350 kph. Most impressive. We also rode the new coastal line from Fuzhou to Shanghai. The recent accident occurred on the latter line, which IS NOT one of the super high-speed lines, with top speeds of only 200-kph, and the equipment involved was the older, fast train equipment that is used on many D-class trains on conventional rail lines in China. That equipment has never impressed me from a ride quality standpoint. It was not the velvet smooth G-class equipment, of various designs, found on the true CRH lines. Still, a signal failure is just that, and the political fallout in China has been enormous, even if much of the press coverage has been just plain wrong. August 22, 2011
LAUS River Annex: An Idea You May Hate or Like August 20th, 2011
Opinion by Noel T. Braymer
Building run-through tracks at Union Station to eliminate the need to back trains in or out of the station is a long held dream. This will be critical for High Speed Rail service for travels from Orange County to points north of Los Angeles. Construction is now underway to put back 3 former station tracks into service which are needed before construction of run-through tracks can begin. Read the rest of this entry »
Getting State Wide High Speed Rail Service Sooner. August 17th, 2011
Opinion by Noel T. Braymer
eNewsletter for August 15, 2011 August 17th, 2011
eNewsletter for August 8, 2011 August 10th, 2011
We could see in the next 3 years 3 more round trips between Fullerton and Laguna Niguel/ Mission Viejo, 3 more round trips between Oceanside and San Diego, and an additional round trip between Los Angeles and San Diego. There will be additional double tracking in San Diego County, more triple tracking between Fullerton and Los Angeles and a local Santa Barbara commuter train likely by 2014. August 8, 2011
The A Train is the Country’s Newest Commuter Service August 6th, 2011
Report and Photos by Russ Jackson, Dallas
As relief from the heavy rail news, all the local and national budget crises, and the summer Amtrak train-delaying floods and heat, there was good rail news: the June 18 startup of the “A Train” (to the appropriate tune) commuter rail line operated by the line owner Denton County Transit Authority here in Texas. Read the rest of this entry »
eNewsletter for August 1, 2011 August 4th, 2011
We got your email on what our readers thinks should be done with the California High Speed Rail Project. The questions were: Cancel the project, give back the Federal money and what would be your alternative ? Keep the project the way it is ? Where would you build first outside of the San Joaquin Valley , to San Jose or Palmdale ? Do you think there are ways to save money on the High Speed Project, if so how ? August 1, 2011
