Commentary

RailPAC’s Dyson writes Amtrak IG re Deely letter

28 February, 2008

Mr. Fred Weiderhold, Jr
Inspector General
NATIONAL RAILROAD PASSENGER CORPORATION
P.O. Box 76654
Washington, DC 20013 6654

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California High Speed Rail Might Be On The Ballot This November

Editorial by Noel T. Braymer

On this year’s November ballot if the governor doesn’t postponed it again, will be a bond issue for 9.95 billion dollars from the California High Speed Rail Authority. This money will go towards building a start up High Speed Rail (HSR) service between Anaheim and San Francisco. The assumption is this money will be matched with money from Federal, local and private sources to more than double the 9.95 billion dollars being raised from this bond issue. What exactly is being proposed and what are the benefits of this project if it is built?
 

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Starlight should go to Klamath Falls and Eugene with bus bridge

Further communication from the RailPAC President to the Amtrak President NOTE: Full restoration of service for trains 11/14 is anticipated for March 3, but LIKELY will be much later. Also see “Partial restoration” article below.

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RailPAC’s Dyson strongly replies to Mr. Kummant ’s “explanation” for suspending the Coast Starlight

NOTE: The original letter from Mr. Dyson, letters of support, and Mr. Kummant’s reply appear as separate posts below on this site.
January 29, 2008
Mr. Alex Kummant
President and CEO

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SUSPENSION OF COAST STARLIGHT SERVICE

Amtrak must reverse its decision to cancel the train during the Oregon washout!
A letter to Amtrak President Alex Kummant from RailPAC President Paul Dyson

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Letters written in support of RailPAC position on Coast Starlight suspension

The following letters have been written in support of RailPAC’s position of opposing Amtrak’s outright cancellation of the Coast Starlight because of the landslide in Oregon. (1) to Senator Boxer (2) from LOSSAN Corridor (3) from SBCAG As other letters are received we will add them here.

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OCEANSIDE TRANSIT CENTER – A GOOD FACILITY LET DOWN BY POOR EXECUTION

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Commentary By Paul Dyson, RailPAC President

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What is the final word for California High Speed Rail?

By Noel T. Braymer

George Skelton of the Capital Journal from Sacramento wrote some rather discouraging things about what is being proposed for the California High Speed Rail Project. This is what he wrote as published in the December 24 issue of the Los Angeles Times.”Turns out, as a Sacramentan, I wouldn’t be allowed to use the train for a very long time. Neither would people in San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino, Modesto or Stockton. We’d only get to watch from a distance as the bullet became the plaything of people in San Francisco, San Jose, Fresno, Bakersfield, Palmdale, Los Angeles and Anaheim… This happened when the authority approved a Pacheco Pass route from the San Joaquin Valley to the Bay Area- a path through rural Los Banos roughly 60 miles south of an alternative Altamont Pass line near fast-growing Tracy. If the bullet line had been extended north to Tracy, it could also have served Modesto and Stockton. And then it might have been feasible to lay another 40 miles of track to the state capital. But the Pacheco Pass route was more direct to San Francisco, less expensive and a detour around enviromental slow-downs.”

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America wants more Rail Passenger Service

By Noel T. Braymer

Back in November 4th of last year PARADE Magazine ran a story about Amtrak entitled “With high gas prices and airport delays, could we make our trains…A Better Way To Travel?” With this story PARADE Magazine ran a poll of its readers asking “Should America Invest more in Trains? In the December 9th issue PARADE published the results of this poll in which its responding readers replied an overwhelming 97% in favor of spending for more rail passenger service. While hardly a scientific finding, it does show there is a strong demand for rail passenger service nation wide. PARADE Magazine is about as Middle Amerincan as a publication can be and is in most Sunday newspapers around the country. It is no secret that letters in support of Amtrak often run second only for support of Social Security in Congressional Mailboxes.

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Pacific Surfliner – A failing service

Commentary by Paul Dyson, RailPAC President
24 November, 2007

LOSSAN OTP, AND SCHEDULE ISSUES AND STRATEGIES
COMMENTS ON DRAFT MEMO AND ON MEMO FROM JONATHAN HUTCHISON, AMTRAK

The omissions from these documents are as significant as the content.

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