RailPAC: Rail Passenger Association of CA & NV

Year: 2011

  • eNewsletter for August 29, 2011

    …What is the history of rail during  major earthquakes? During the Loma Prieta Earthquake of 1989 many buildings and several roads suffered damage. The Bay Bridge had to be shut down and a large section of viaduct for the Nimitz Freeway in Oakland was destroyed. Caltrain ran on the night of the earthquake. BART was…

  • Some Amtrak California Zephyr Service to Resume

    Trains 5 & 6 to operate between California and Colorado this weekend Reported by Amtrak and Gene Poon CHICAGO – Daily service by the Amtrak California Zephyr between San Francisco Bay Area and Denver will resume this weekend, effective with the departure of eastbound Train 6 from Emeryville, Calif., on Sept. 3, and the westbound…

  • Building Credibility at the High Speed Rail Authority Board Meeting

    August 25 Meeting Report by Bill Kerby, RailPAC Treasurer Public comments, invited by the High Speed Rail Authority (HSRA) Board at the opening of the meeting August 25, 2011, lasted about a half hour with two minute presentations: hiring opportunities for small businesses; environmental justice; support for HSRA recommended route alignments; and one instance where…

  • Followup: A trucker looks at the Nevada Amtrak-truck crash

    Recently the RailPAC website published four “theories” of how the July accident between a truck and Amtrak’s California Zephyr in the Nevada desert east of Reno might have happened (posted July 15, 2011). We asked Jason Brown, a commercial trucker, for his opinion on the events surrounding that crash. Commentary by Jason Brown for RailPAC.org…

  • eNewslsetter for August 22, 2011

    I led a student Rail Study Trip to China last March and we covered most of the new CRH lines; we rode part of the new Shanghai-Beijing line (not then fully opened), and the entire Wuhan-Guangzhou line at 350 kph.  Most impressive.  We also rode the new coastal line from Fuzhou to Shanghai. The recent…

  • LAUS River Annex: An Idea You May Hate or Like

    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…

  • Getting State Wide High Speed Rail Service Sooner.

    Opinion by Noel T. Braymer The California High Speed Rail Authority is now planning to run the shortest economically viable segment for an initial start up service rather than wait to have the entire phase I line running from Anaheim to San Francisco. This is a good idea to get revenue and let people see…

  • eNewsletter for August 15, 2011

    Mr. Fenton, CEO of Metrolink is working to expand the market for Rail Passenger service and is talking about better connections and faster service on Metrolink trains with speeds over 100 miles per hour. One of the markets he talks about for faster speed is the Antelope Valley where Palmdale is. Much is being looked…

  • eNewsletter for August 8, 2011

    We could see in the next 3 years 3 more round trips between Fullerton and Laguna Niguel/ Mission Viejo, 3 more round trips between Oceanside and San Diego, and an additional round trip between Los Angeles and San Diego. There will be additional double tracking in San Diego County, more triple tracking between Fullerton and…

  • The A Train is the Country’s Newest Commuter Service

    Report and Photos by Russ Jackson, Dallas As relief from the heavy rail news, all the local and national budget crises, and the summer Amtrak train-delaying floods and heat, there was good rail news: the June 18 startup of the “A Train” (to the appropriate tune) commuter rail line operated by the line owner Denton…