RailPAC: Rail Passenger Association of CA & NV

Year: 2014

  • What’s the matter with Metrolink?

    By Noel T. Braymer Metrolink has been slowly going downhill even before the Chatsworth crash disaster in 2008. Since 2008, safety on Metrolink has been greatly improved and will get better with the full implementation of Positive Train Control. But Metrolink’s problems stem from a lack of leadership and planning. Metrolink has been slow to…

  • RailPAC eNewsletter for November 3, 2014

    24 hurt as Amtrak train, semi collide Indianapolis Star-Oct 28, 2014 “I went across the tracks, then I seen that train coming, and it was too late,” Hatfield said recalling the morning’s accident. “That’s about it.” There were 56 passenger on this Hoosier State. The crossing didn’t have warning lights or gates: see photos in this story. NB…

  • The Future Passenger Rail Connections at San Diego’s Airport

    By Noel T. Braymer By 2016, there will be a shuttle bus connection from the Washington Street Trolley Station and the terminals at San Diego International Airport. This is part of a much larger project over the next 20 years to move the main entrance of the airport to the North Side right along the…

  • RailPAC rail PHOTOS of the month (October, 2014)

    Here are this month’s photos by RailPAC photographers! Click on each photo to see it full size! Contributions to this page are welcome. Send your jpg rail photos to Russ Jackson, RailPAC Photo Editor, at [email protected]. 1. (of 5) This was the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Caltrain Baby Bullet trains, which was…

  • RailPAC eNewsletter for October 27, 2014

    Construction to Impact Rail Service in October Complete Rail Closure October 25 -26  The weekend of October 25-26 will see rail service interruptions along the Coastal rail corridor from Oceanside to San Diego: COASTER: No COASTER service will be provided. AMTRAK – Amtrak trains will not operate between Oceanside and San Diego including the six select Amtrak ‘Rail…

  • Is it Full Speed Ahead Now for California High Speed Rail?

    By Noel T. Braymer This October 15th the California State Supreme Court upheld the ruling of an Appellate Court releasing Prop 1A Bond funds for construction in the San Joaquin Valley for High Speed Rail. By a vote of 6 to 1 the State Supreme Court decided not to take up this case for review.…

  • RailPAC eNewsletter for October 20, 2014

    California High-Speed Rail Gets Go-Ahead Daily Beast – Oct 15, 2014 The final legal obstacle for California’s bullet-train plan was overcome Wednesday when the California Supreme Court decided not to review a lawsuit against the state’s funding plan. This means that the construction can legally begin. The issue was whether the California High-Speed Rail Authority had acted…

  • Amtrak’s largest, most effective, and least subsidized services, the long distance trains and how to save them

    Commentary and a trip report by Andrew C. Selden NOTE: Mr. Selden is President of MinnARP, and is the newly elected President of URPA. He will be a speaker at the RailPAC November 15, 2014 Conference in Sacramento. The challenge of operating passenger trains, and in particular the higher revenue long distance trains (Amtrak’s largest,…

  • HISTORY OF AMTRAK and what has happened since 1971

    Commentary by Anthony Haswell, Vice President, Arizona Rail Passenger Association prepared for National Train Day, May 10, 2014, in Tucson, Arizona NOTE: Mr. Haswell is the founding father of NARP. He lives in Tucson, Arizona. The first job of any historian is to determine when a historical event began. Since Amtrak was created to deal…

  • LA’s Orange Line should have been a Rail Line from the Start

    By Noel T. Braymer The Orange Line in the San Fernando Valley is run with buses on a “Busway” between North Hollywood and Chatsworth. The main problem with it right now is that it is crowded and nearing capacity. From the start the project was something of an afterthought. The Orange Line Buses are parked…