Month: March 2012

  • Building High Speed Rail while making friends and not enemies

    Opinion by Noel T. Braymer Transportation is a very political issue since it usually depends on public monies. But rarely is it a partisan issue. This is because everyone needs  good transportation. In a disaster if transportation is cut off most stores will run out of inventory in a week or less. Most gas station…

  • eNewsletter for March 26, 2012

    STOCKTON, Calif. (KCRA) — A spokesman with the San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission, which runs the Altamont Commuter Express, said legislation is in the works to take over the San Joaquin’s Amtrak line…The Joint Powers Authority would be the governing board, made up of 11 members from the counties where the Amtrak line currently runs.…

  • The Sunset Route: What’s happening there? A photo report.

    Report and Comments by Russ Jackson, RailPAC, Dallas. PHOTOS by Richard Strandberg, Mike Palmer, Russ Jackson. Maps from the Amtrak timetable. This article is not only about Amtrak’s Sunset Limited and the recent developments regarding this train. We will be pointing out the highlights of the improvements that are taking place along that line through…

  • eNewsletter for March 12, 2012

    At the end of February and start of March there were confusing headlines about the California High Speed Rail Project. Based on a memo by the chief counsel of the California High Speed Rail Authority Thomas Fellenz, there were headlines saying start of construction was being delayed from this Summer until Spring 2013 in the…

  • Amtrak changes the Sunset Limited schedule: Positives, Negatives, and they agreed to WHAT?

    Analysis and Commentary by Russ Jackson, RailPAC From out of the blue, so to speak, on March 13 came an Amtrak News Release from New Orleans, not Washington DC, saying a new schedule for the Sunset Limited would take effect on May 7, 2012. This new schedule will have major impacts all along its route,…

  • Traveling by Amtrak from Sacramento to Tucson before and after the May 7 Schedule Change

    Commentary by Ralph James, RailPAC My wife left on the morning of March 15 for a flight out of Sacramento to Tucson AZ for several days to visit our daughter. The Sunset Limited schedule was something we had discussed in passing during the planning since she prefers rail travel to flying as long as it…

  • eNewsletter for March 5, 2012

    Express train 599 is suppose to run from San Diego to Los Angeles in 2 hours and 28 minutes with 4 intermediate stops. The first Amtrak train out of San Diego the 763 is scheduled to get to Los Angeles in 2 hours 40 minutes with 7 intermediate stops. What is really pathetic is that…

  • Latest episode of the California High Speed Rail Soap Opera.

    Opinion by Noel T. Braymer At the end of February and start of March there were confusing headlines about the California High Speed Rail Project. Based on a memo by the chief counsel of the California High Speed Rail Authority Thomas Fellenz, there were headlines saying start of construction was being delayed from this Summer…

  • Why The Capitol Corridor Works, and What is Wrong with the Pacific Surfliners

    Opinion by Noel T. Braymer When the Capitol Corridor service began in 1991 it was with 3 round trips between San Jose and Sacramento. On time performance then for the trains was typical of Amtrak corridor service in the plus or minus 70 to 80 percent range. Today there are 16 round trips and these…

  • ENewsletter for February 27, 2012

    An engine died in Kansas. So what else is new? Southwest Chief train #3 that departed Chicago on February 20, 2012, arrived in Fullerton 8 hours 10 minutes late, and because of the end-of-run padding it arrived at Los Angeles Union Station 6 hours 58 minutes late.. February 27, 2012 The above copy of this enewletter…