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Strong Demand For More Passenger Service To Palm Springs And Beyond
RailPAC Meeting Report, Reported by Noel Braymer — Over 60 people filled the Mizell Senior Center on June 3rd. Guest Speakers included Mayor Ron Oden of Palm Springs, Robert Parkins, former City Manager of Palms Springs, Jack Wilson, Assistant Superintendent of Road Operation for Amtrak, Lea Simpson of Caltrans Division of Rail, and Sheldon Peterson…
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Testimony by RailPAC President, Paul Dyson
Testimony to the California State Senate Transportation Committee — My Name is Paul Dyson and I am the President of RailPAC, the Rail Passenger Association of California. I am a resident of Burbank and a member of that City’s Transportation Commission. Our RailPAC organization has always favored an incremental approach to rail passenger improvements. We…
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San Joaquin Valley Rail Committee
Reported by Russ Jackson — Hot rumor of the day, provided by a “high ranking official” in an interview with this writer after the meeting: “Don’t look for the Sunset Limited to be extended back to Jacksonville and Orlando. There are too many problems for the limited ridership that would result, and we’d have to…
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LOSSAN Corridor Meeting Report
Reported by Noel Braymer — The meeting was well attended by representatives of member agencies. Also at this meeting was Amtrak VP Gil Mallery with Liz O’Donoghue. There was a lot of material discussed at this meeting so this report will stick mostly to the highlights. In the audience were only about a half dozen…
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Gas Pains! Where is the train?
By Noel Braymer, Editor, Western Rail Passenger Review — The answer in most cases is that the trains are full, at least during rush hours. The Department of Energy has announced that it expects gasoline prices to continue to rise during the peak summer driving season. This on top of already record breaking prices for…
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The Public’s Relationship With The Union Pacific
Guest Editorial by “Coast Observer,” who by his position has asked to be anonymous at this time — In spite of the continued efforts by a handful of stalwarts particularly in the Central Coast area, the effort to increase Coast Line passenger service remains stalled. The problems are a combination of a lack of project…
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A 37 billion dollar bond measure with something for everyone
Special Report — Analysis by Noel Braymer — After failing in March to come up with a package for the June election, the legislature and governor with major horse trading and political arm twisting produced a 37 billion dollar set of bond issues for the November 7th election. This is down from the original 68…
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Coast Rail Coordinating Committee
Reported by Paul Dyson — For the benefit of new readers, the CRCC exists to coordinate activities of the various regional governments who are attempting to expand rail passenger service on the coast route between Los Angeles and San Francisco. The meeting was rather poorly attended, Pete Rodgers of SLOCOG, Mike Powers of SBCAG, Eric…
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Riding The Sunset Limited With Amtrak’s Food Service
Amtrak’s Sunset Limited, trains 1 and 2, have not had a good on time performance for years. Now, they are saddled with, call it whatever you want, a downgraded food service mandated by Amtrak management
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SCAG Maglev Task Force
Reported by Paul Dyson, RailPAC President — This is the first of these meetings that I have attended and so some of these observations may be old news to many of you. Although the Task Force is meant to focus on the core line from West Los Angeles to Ontario Airport, the majority of those…