Amtrak California Railcar Development Open House April 26th, 2010
Report by Jarrod DellaChiesa, Director and Website Editor
As we all know, there are currently no funds available for new railcars. In 2006, Californians approved the procurement of new railcars through Proposition 1B. The budget crisis has caused the release of the Prop 1B bonds to be put on hold indefinitely.
In the midst of this, Caltrans is once again being a leader in intercity rail and is, on their own, working with Amtrak, other states, railcar builders, rail groups and riders to design the third generation of California Cars – a National standardized railcar. This design will allow any state to purchase railcars quickly, at a lower cost and will provide railcar manufactures an incentive to tool a shop for continuous building of bi-level intercity railcars. Since the cars are being designed now, once funds are released, a bid will be able to be sent out without further delays. Any state will be able to add onto the car order and make any minor modifications to suit their own needs.
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Coalition Building at Steel Wheels Conference April 21st, 2010
Commentary by Paul Dyson, President
This year at Steel Wheels in California we tried a couple of innovations. While most of the day consisted of the usual (excellent) presentations by politicians and industry professionals, we also put together a forum of passenger rail advocates from different groups to discuss High Speed Rail, and to attempt to answer the question: “How to spend the first billion dollars?” I had a couple of reasons for doing this. First, however good the speakers might be we needed some variety in the format to keep the audience interested. Second, and more important in the long run, was the thought that such a free form discussion would reveal that we have more common ground than disagreement among passenger rail advocates and that this could form the basis for united action in the future towards achieving our common goals.
Steel Wheels in California Presentations April 20th, 2010
As promised, we are providing the files presented on April 17, 2010 at Steel Wheels in California, our annual RailPAC/NARP Joint Annual Meeting. Some files are large, so please be patient.
Report and Photos by Russ Jackson
Originally published in the April 2010 “Tracking the News”
TAMC Rail Policy Committee Meeting Report April 12th, 2010
San Joaquin Valley Rail Committee Meeting Report March 13th, 2010
February 11, 2010 Meeting
Reported by Michael Barnbaum, Associate Director
The San Joaquin Valley Rail Committee met February 11th and for the first time since October of 2009. The meeting took place inside the Castle Conference Center in Atwater. A special stop located at a railroad crossing directly across the street from the Castle Conference Center in Atwater was arranged by San Joaquin Valley Rail Committee Facilitator, Arthur Lloyd in cooperation with the BNSF Railroad, Amtrak, and CalTrans Division of Rail.
Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Board Meeting Report March 13th, 2010
February 17, 2010 Meeting
Reported by Michael Barnbaum, Associate Director
The Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Board met for the first time in 2010 and for the first time under Managing Director David Kutrosky. Chair Jim Holmes representing the Placer County Transportation Planning Agency called the meeting to order. He reported on the legislative meeting that took place on February 10th and the Governor’s Budget Proposal.
TAMC Rail Policy Committee Meeting Report March 1st, 2010
February 1, 2010 Meeting
Reported by Chris Flescher, Associate Director
More on the Coast Starlight China February 12th, 2010
Reported by Jarrod DellaChiesa, Website Editor and CSCN Project Coordinator
As reported a few days ago, the Coast Starlight is finally doing away with plastic dinnerware and synthetic tablecloths and is re-introducing full china service and linen. This is exciting because passengers will once again receive a quality Dining Car experience.
Here are some additional details … Read the rest of this entry »
Coast Starlight Re-introduces Real China and Linen February 10th, 2010
Official Amtrak Press Release
Elegant dinner service aims to improve customer satisfaction
OAKLAND – Beginning today, real china, table linens and glassware are returning to Amtrak’s popular Coast Starlight long-distance train to provide an elegant dining experience for passengers and is the latest service change aimed at further improving customer satisfaction on the west coast route between Los Angeles and Seattle.
