Month: September 2014

  • Restoration of the Desert Wind is needed now!

    Commentary by Anthony Lee, RailPAC Associate Director At the recent congressional hearing regarding re-authorization of Amtrak, Congresswoman Diane Titus(D) of Las Vegas requested a another study regarding restoring passenger rail service to Las Vegas, which is good news. The best option of restoring passenger rail service is a daily connection to the California Zephyr at…

  • High Speed Rail: Don’t Forget San Diego!

    By Noel T. Braymer The earliest San Diego can hope now to get direct High Speed Rail service is sometime after 2029. By 2029 the planning of the California High Speed Rail Authority is for 500 miles of High Speed Rail service between Anaheim and San Francisco. San Diego is the second largest city in…

  • RailPAC eNewsletter for September 22, 2014

    Gastropub proposed for Fred Harvey Room at Los Angeles Union Station! The Source Sep 15, 2014 If the lease is approved by the full Metro Board at its Oct. 2 meeting, the new restaurant would be the first to occupy the Fred Harvey Room at Union Station since the original Harvey House restaurant closed in 1967. The…

  • RailPAC Writes to CHSRA re Electrification, and the Response

    RailPAC President Paul Dyson wrote to the California High Speed Rail Authority AND other agencies re electrification. The Authority’s Board Chairman Dan Richard replied to Mr. Dyson. TO READ THESE ITEMS YOU MUST CLIC ON THE TITLE AND THEN ON THE BLUE LINES BELOW. Electrification_SCRRA_LACMTA_CHSRA Response_to_Paul_Dyson_9.23.14

  • Capitol Corridor Monthly Report (August, 2014)

    Reported by David B. Kutrosky, Managing Director Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority Service Performance Overview A total of 120,553 passengers rode Capitol Corridor trains in August, an uptick of 2.2% compared to August 2013 and marking the fifth consecutive month of ridership increases for the service. Revenue for August 2014 was up 0.5% over August…

  • LOSSAN Highlights from the September Board Meeting Agenda

    By Noel T. Braymer Much of the time reading agendas can be rather boring. Much of the material is either technical or legalistic. But like digging for gold if you dig in the right places you can hit paydirt in the LOSSAN Board Meeting Agenda. The latest meeting was held on September 15th. The minutes…

  • RailPAC eNewsletter for September 15, 2014

    To get more riders, Metrolink should lower fares Los Angeles Times-Sep 11, 2014 Letters to the Editor The comments by officials about ridership growth on the weekends due to the $10 pass make my case that ridership is price sensitive. One way to greatly increase ridership on the weekends would be to add frequencies to existing services and…

  • Let Us Start Now for Rail Service to Nevada

    Commentary by Robert MacDonald, RailPAC member, Oakland On September 11, 2014, the media announced that the Nevada State Legislature had passed the approval of TESLA’s constructing its “gigafactory” at Union Pacific’s station of PATRICK, which is about 13 miles east of the station of Reno. TESLA has announced that their new plant will employ 6,500…

  • Will California’s First High Speed Train go to Las Vegas?

    By Noel T. Braymer It is looking more and more that California’s first High Speed Train will go to Las Vegas. Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, a major supporter of California- Las Vegas High Speed Rail service, says he has been talking with Governor Brown about the future of California-Las Vegas High Speed Rail. Senator…

  • RailPAC eNewsletter for September 8, 2014

    Metrolink’s annual ridership continues to drop Los Angeles Times-Sep 7, 2014 Once hailed as the fastest-growing commuter line in the nation, the railroad has seen its annual ridership drop by almost 595,000 passengers since 2008, with resulting losses in revenue. That and other factors have left the agency squeezed between trimming service or boosting fares, either of…