Month: September 2013

  • How to Save the Chief

    By Noel T. Braymer The prospects for the future of the Southwest Chief don’t look good. The BNSF has made it clear that they will not spend more money on the route between Albuquerque, New Mexico and Newton, Kansas to maintain the tracks to passengers standards with so little freight traffic on them. BNSF wants…

  • eNewsletter for September 23, 2013

    BART was the first of several subway systems over the last 40 tears to operate with automation. Except in yard limits at slow speeds with operators at the controls BART trains have been mostly run by computers for over 40 years. The primary job of the operators is to check the doors at the station…

  • Stuck in Pico Rivera on Metrolink

    By Noel T. Braymer Everything was normal until we left the City of Commerce station on Metrolink #604 after leaving LAUS on time at 4:30 PM on Friday September 20, 2013. We barely cleared the station around 4:45 PM when we came to a halt. That’s not usual if the problem was signals or a…

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

    From David B. Kutroksy, Managing Director Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority Capitol Corridor Service Performance After a bounce in ridership in July 2013, ridership dropped in August 2013 by 2.2% compared to August 2012. A total of 143,080 passengers rode Capitol Corridor trains in August. Initial evaluation of conductor counts indicated that ridership for August…

  • Life after “Death” for Rail in LA.

    By Noel T. Braymer In 1998 the future of rail transit, particularly subway construction looked bleak in Los Angeles. Construction of the Red Line subway from downtown Los Angeles to North Hollywood was a mess. The Red Line construction had created a huge sink hole in east Hollywood. Many buildings were damaged because of ground…

  • eNewsletter for September 16, 2013

    This sounds like a great deal for the North County Transit District allowing them to add 3 additional round trips trains to their commuter train service for a fraction of the cost of adding more commuter trains. But it is a terrible deal for intercity rail passengers. In the 1970’s passengers trains ran between Los…

  • What’s the Plan for LOSSAN?

    By Noel T. Braymer  LOSSAN’s goal should be to increase ridership by providing better rail passenger service with faster trains serving more destinations.This is done with coordination of the different services to feed both local and express trains. By doing so all the trains on LOSSAN will improve their efficiency and be more economical for…

  • eNewsletter for September 9, 2013

    Highlights from the LOSSAN TAC meeting minutes for August 8, 2013. San Diego County plans to go to bid soon for a new siding at San Onofre to Pulgas, a third through track with a 3rd platform at Oceanside, and the Los Peñasquitos Bridges Replacement. San Diego County has committed over $400 million in LOSSAN…

  • LOSSAN to Arizona?

    By Noel T. Braymer LOSSAN originally stood for LOS Angeles-SAN Diego for the route of the San Diegan Trains back in the 1980’s. Since then rail service on this corridor has expanded to Santa Barbara and later to San Luis Obispo. With the introduction of Metrolink and Coaster service sharing parts of the LOSSAN corridor…

  • eNewsletter for September 3, 2013

    New crossing relieves train bottleneck Press-Enterprise- Aug 25. 2013 For long-suffering Colton residents, the project promises relief from the constant sound of horns blowing as trains made their way through the crossing… Passenger rail also should see some improvements. The Union Pacific line also is used by Amtrak, and BNSF has agreed to allow additional…