Why Amtrak loses money and why eliminating trains doesn’t save money January 6th, 2012
By Noel T. Braymer
(W. Graham Claytor, Amtrak President 1982-1993) was credited with helping to revive the ailing passenger railroad by many experts, and even some critics of its operations. By the time he retired, fares and other revenues covered 80 percent of Amtrak’s expenses, up from 42 percent in 1980. Mr. Claytor predicted that Amtrak might be able to cover all of its operating costs, something that no national railroad system in the world does now, by the year 2000. (From the New York Times obituary for W. Graham Claytor of May 15, 1994.)
How High Speed Rail is like Rail Rapid Transit December 2nd, 2011
Opinion of Noel T. Braymer
I grew up in Orange County in the 1960′s. In Orange County all the TV stations were in Los Angeles and my family subscribed to a local newspaper and the Los Angeles Times. Even as a child I followed the news and read the newspapers. I remember all through out the 60′s and 70′s Los Angeles every few years would propose a new “Rapid Transit” rail system which after months of publicity and criticism would die out until the next attempt was made. The proposed projects were usually fully grade separated and while they might share existing rights of ways including rail ROW no attempt was made of using the existing railroads. These projects were very expensive and often got the support of major construction companies and Labor Unions. The proposed cost and the questions about ridership usually shot these projects down. Finally in the late 1970′s Los Angeles concentrated on just building a Wilshire Subway by applying for a Federal Grant instead of depending on voter approval for a county wide system. In the early 1980′s the voters of Los Angeles County approved the first sales tax increase for improvement of all forms of transportation not just for rail transit.
Big Changes coming for California High Speed Rail? October 20th, 2011
Opinion by Noel T. Braymer
There are hints that the revised Business Plan now due on November 1st for the California High Speed Rail Project will reflect current economic realities. The October 16th Wall Street Journal reports the project will be built incrementally with greater use of existing track. The possibility that the new trackage could be used at first by the San Joaquin Trains is being raised. In the article California High Speed Rail Authority CEO Roelof van Ark “said private investors, including rail operators and construction companies from Europe and Asia, have voiced interest in high-speed rail. The catch: Investors want to see a link to San Francisco or Los Angeles closer to completion before they put in billions, he said. It is precisely that link for which the state needs money. Mr. van Ark said the new business plan would include scaled-back options that would link the new track to existing commuter transit lines in the two cities and, as a last resort, perhaps Amtrak lines.”
Santa Clarita to the Green Line to Orange County by Rail? October 8th, 2011
Opinion by Noel T. Braymer
The Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) is currently conducting a study of what to do with what is left of about 20 miles of what was the Pacific Electric’s West Santa Ana Branch. This right of way has been publicly owned by the Counties of Los Angeles and Orange since the 1980′s between Paramount and Santa Ana. The SCAG study is looking at several modes including Mag-Lev, Commuter Rail, Light Rail, Busway and so on. SCAG plans to complete their study of what to do with this right of way by the end of this year. SCAG is studying service between the Green Line and 710 Freeway to Santa Ana with possible connections to LAX and or downtown Los Angeles. It would be possible to use street running on Santa Ana Blvd in Santa Ana for Light Rail connections from the Santa Ana Transportation Center to the West Santa Ana Branch. In fact the Cities of Santa Ana and Garden Grove have proposed doing that as a local streetcar service that would run as far as Garden Grove on the right of way. This right of way is eligible for $250 million in funding in Los Angeles County from the Measure R half cent tax as of 2015 and for possible Federal Funding after the completion after the SCAG study.
Infrastructure: Pay for it Now, or You Will Later! September 10th, 2011
Opinion by Noel T. Braymer
Most people heard about the power outage on Thursday September 8th in the San Diego area. I was caught in the middle of it. Nothing forces you to realize how much “civilized” life depends or how much we take infrastructure for granted until it fails. People couldn’t work because because they were in the dark, the computers were down as was the air conditioning. Traffic was a mess with people trying to get home and with the traffic lights out. Most stores had to close for the same reason most people couldn’t work. If you were driving the gas stations were closed because they couldn’t pump gasoline. If you were away from home you couldn’t eat because most restaurants and stores were closed. And if you had to go the bathroom where would you go? Away from home most people use gas stations and stores bathrooms. Also with pumps not running sewage in some cases was dumped in the Ocean. At the time it seemed the outage might last for days, fortunately it was only for hours.
LAUS River Annex: An Idea You May Hate or Like August 20th, 2011
Opinion by Noel T. Braymer
Building run-through tracks at Union Station to eliminate the need to back trains in or out of the station is a long held dream. This will be critical for High Speed Rail service for travels from Orange County to points north of Los Angeles. Construction is now underway to put back 3 former station tracks into service which are needed before construction of run-through tracks can begin. Read the rest of this entry »
Getting State Wide High Speed Rail Service Sooner. August 17th, 2011
Opinion by Noel T. Braymer
We can’t afford not to spend money on Transportation July 20th, 2011
Opinion by Noel T. Braymer
When people in the San Joaquin Valley talk about the High Speed Rail Project there is very little talk about how quickly they will be able to get to Los Angeles or San Francisco or about the cost of the project. If you are a farm owner in the San Joaquin Valley the issue is about what impact construction of High Speed Rail will have on their property. For most everyone else the issue is how many jobs High Speed Rail will create. No wonder considering that the recorded unemployment in the San Joaquin Valley ranged from a ‘low” in Madera County of 15.3 percent to a high of 18.9 percent in Merced County compared with a Nation average unemployment of 9.7 percent as of July 2010. Jobs or lack there of is the most pressing issue for most people in this county, not that you would see it on TV news.The United States has a large backlog of construction projects in the trillions of dollars. We don’t need many new roads, but the roads we have are in poor shape, particularly the bridges on many of these existing roads.
The urban area between Washington D.C. up through New York City to Boston is heavily populated at around 38 million people. This is also roughly the population of California. Because of the population density in this area it is clearly a good candidate for good rail passenger service. Many people for years have felt that high speed rail is the answer for this region. This corridor already has the fastest scheduled running times of any passenger trains in the United States. The question is will faster service be affordable in the region to build and will faster speeds greatly increase ridership. To answer these questions we should compare the NEC to other High Speed Rail projects.
Does a Railroad Need to Own its Tracks? June 4th, 2011
Commentary by Noel T. Braymer
