Month: August 2013

  • Why I am Thankful for California High Speed Rail

    By Noel T. Braymer I was never a big fan of the planning for the California High Speed Rail Project. I have long wanted State Wide High Speed Rail service in California. But what was originally planned by the California High Speed Rail Authority was often long on glitz but short on substance. Much of…

  • eNewsletter for August 26, 2013

    NEC Upgrades: Andrew Selden responds to Progressive Railroading     Train traffic congestion in the NEC reflects mostly the overload of regional commuter trains taking advantage of the severely under-priced federal infrastructure of the NEC. (Amtrak’s capital subsidies include somewhere in the range of $200 million a year in direct subsidy to the regional agencies…

  • Orange County Transportation Authority gets the LOSSAN Administration Contract

    By Noel T. Braymer I was able to attend the LOSSAN Board meeting on August 23rd in San Diego at the Board Room of SANDAG. The final selection of an agency to take care of the administration of the reorganized LOSSAN Joint Powers Authority was the main order of business and took up most of…

  • The Fallacy behind Hyperloop

    By Noel T. Braymer The problem with Hyperloop, like most attempts to “reinvent the wheel” is that the promoters of such ideas ignore the fundamentals of how transportation works. The fundamentals are feeders and distribution networks and the travel time from origin to destination. When looking at any airport you will find lots of flat…

  • eNewsletter for August 19, 2013

    In a brilliant display of self-promotion, Mr. Musk gave on a slow news month a massive dose of sensational distraction the media was hungry for. However a high speed shuttle from kinda close to Los Angeles and somewhere in the Bay Area is not a State wide transportation system. As it is there isn’t a…

  • What’s the Good News for Rail Passenger Service in California?

    By Noel T. Braymer Over the last 35 years or so there have been many ups and downs to expanding Rail Passenger Service in California. While things may seem rocky now, the future is very promising. Just look at how far things have come in Los Angeles since 1990 when the first 22 miles of…

  • eNewsletter for August 12, 2013

    Amtrak has finished its management reorganization which means laying off many competent and highly experienced employees. Standing out in this group leaving Amtrak is Brian Rosenwald best known for his introduction of the Pacific Parlor Car among many upgrades on the Coast Starlight. Despite Amtrak’s PR and misleading accounting, it has been in a slow…

  • Capitol and other CA Corridor Statistics (July, 2013)

    Reported by David B. Kutrosky, Managing Director, Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority Capitol Corridor Service Performance For the first time in FY2013, the monthly Capitol Corridor ridership experienced an increase above the prior year month. A total of 140,533 passengers rode the Capitol Corridor trains in July 2013, an increase of 2.3% compared to July…

  • Lessons for California from Spain about Trains

    By Noel T. Braymer There has been some hysteria from the media about the future of High Speed Rail in California after the recent Train crash in Spain. There is a great deal California can learn from Spain about rail passenger service and High Speed Rail. Spain is slightly larger in size, its population is…

  • Metrolink’s Shrinking Ridership

    By Noel T. Braymer   Graphic from LOSSAN   Why is ridership declining on Metrolink? There are many reasons. Much of the rise in ridership recently in public transportation is directly the result of spikes in the price of gasoline and cost of driving a car. Since last year the price of gasoline has more…