RailPAC: Rail Passenger Association of CA & NV

Month: April 2013

  • Should we take the Long Distance Trains off of Amtrak’s Back?

    Analysis by Noel T. Braymer Amtrak says that they lose over $500 million dollars a year running the Long Distance Passenger Trains. But Amtrak endures this hardship because of the transportation necessity provided by the Long Distance Trains in much of rural America. Amtrak has been hinting that they would like the States to help…

  • eNewsletter for April 22, 2013

    AMTRAK’S NEW COST ACCOUNTING SYSTEM IS A SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT BUT CONCERNS OVER PRECISION AND LONG TERM VIABILITY REMAIN  In 2010, Amtrak implemented its new system, Amtrak’s Performance Tracking (APT), which is based on a cost methodology developed jointly by FRA and Amtrak, to track and report on its financial performance… Amtrak is unable to assign a…

  • Capitol Corridor Monthly Report (March, 2013)

    And other California Corridor statistics. Reported by DAVID B. KUTROSKY, Managing Director Ridership for FY2013 continues to drop compared to last year’s historical highs. For March 2013, 145,271 passengers used the Capitol Corridor, representing a 4.7% drop compared to March 2012. Revenue for March 2013 has showed a negligible decrease of 0.4% versus March 2012.…

  • The Denver Crossover for the Southwest Zephyr and the California Chief.

    By Noel T. Braymer A major problem since the creation of Amtrak is there are so many places it is impossible for passengers to get to by Rail in this country. It isn’t for lack of stations with over 400 Amtrak Stations over most of the continental United States. But you can’t take a train…

  • eNewsletter for April 15, 2013

    It is amazing that the mechanics and the NCTD engineer in charge of Sprinter maintenance knew only a year after the start of Sprinter service that there was a problem with these rotors, but not management. In 2009 this engineer was contacting manufacturers about replacement rotors and it was 3 years before he got a…

  • Why Would a Foreign Country Finance California High Speed Rail?

    Analysis by Noel T. Braymer After several near death experiences the California High Speed Rail project is poised to soon start construction for 130 miles of new railroad in the San Joaquin Valley. This is assured with almost $6 billion dollars in funding from Federal and State sources. This is after several changes were made…

  • eNewsletter for April 8, 2013

    The western trains ALL cover their variable and direct fixed costs of operations handily, but fail only to cover Amtrak’s allocations of system fixed costs which exist irrespective of the fact or volume of long distance train operations. It is still the case also that Amtrak deliberately misallocates substantial shares of NEC fixed costs to…

  • RailPAC President writes CPUC re Sprinter

    Mr. Michael R. Peevey 8th April, 2013 President, California Public Utilities Commission 505 Van Ness Avenue San Francisco CA 94102 SAFE OPERATION OF “SPRINTER” RAIL PASSENGER SERVICE Dear President Peevey: The Rail Passenger Association of California is a non-profit, 501c3 California Corporation active since 1977 in promoting passenger rail. I am writing to request that…

  • The complicated history of the Sprinter

    Report and Photo by Noel T. Braymer, RailPAC e-newsletter Editor The Sprinter started out as a simple project to serve the 22 miles between Oceanside and Escondido. The original proposal by RailPAC’s Byron Nordberg back in the 1980’s was to rebuild the existing single tracked short line railroad between these 2 cities for about 70-80…

  • RailPAC President writes Caltrans about the Surfliners becoming Coasters

    NOTE: This letter from Paul Dyson and Noel Braymer’s article below express the RailPAC opinions on this subject. 8th April, 2013 Mr. William D. Bronte, Chief, Division of Rail Department of Transportation 1120 N Street MS 74 Sacramento, CA 95814 Surfliner: Degrading Intercity Schedules to cover gaps in Commuter Service a bad policy and contrary…