RailPAC: Rail Passenger Association of CA & NV

The San Joaquins: California’s Overnight Trains?

By Noel T. Braymer Many would love to be able to catch a train in the evening and wake up near their destination from one end of California to the next. This isn’t likely to happen anytime soon. There has been talk for years about extending a round trip San Joaquin over the Tehachapis overnight…

July 17, 2014
RailPAC eNewsletter for July 14, 2014

The sorry state of Amtrak’s on-time performance, mapped Washington Post (blog)-Jul 10, 2014 Eight of the 33 routes, including most of the long-distance cross-country lines, experienced on-time arrivals less than 50 percent of the time over the past 12 months. The Empire Builder, running from Chicago to Washington, ran on time only 21 percent of the time…

July 17, 2014
Capitol Corridor Monthly Report (June, 2014)

Reported by David B. Kutrosky, Managing Director Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority Service Performance Overview For the third consecutive month, ridership increased on the Capitol Corridor over 2013. In June 2014, a total of 116,605 passengers rode Capitol Corridor trains, representing a 1.7% increase compared to June 2013. Revenues continue to be above prior year-month…

July 15, 2014
Why BART has Faster, more Direct Service than LA Metro

By Noel T. Braymer I am not a big fan of BART. One of my biggest complaints about BART is their less than ideal connections to Caltrain, Muni Metro and Amtrak. But between BART routes, the connections are excellent. I can’t say the same about LA Metro. Transferring between the Blue Line to the Red…

July 10, 2014
eNewsletter for July 7, 2014

Bullet Train Officials Wants to Start Work in LA County ASAP Curbed LA – ?July 1, 2014 …now the authority hopes to build the Palmdale-Burbank section somewhat concurrently with the Central Valley section … There is still uncertainty over the exact route the train would take between the two cities; the authority is considering a request from…

July 10, 2014
Sunset Limited in jeopardy is serious business: Part 1, Comments by RailPAC member Steve Roberts

I wanted to emphasize that the comments made by Russ Jackson and Paul Dyson on the seriousness of the Sunset Ltd. amendment are not overstated. (Note: See their commentaries also on railpac.org) The whole long-distance network is at risk. Also this is a battle unlike any we have seen in the past for the following…

July 9, 2014
Sunset Limited in jeopardy is serious business: Part 2, Comments from the Texas Rail Advocates

NOTE: Reprinted with permission of Peter LeCody and the TRA, from their website: www.Texasrailadvocates.org (Washington) In a last minute voice vote on the House appropriations bill for transportation, Texas Representative Pete Sessions (R-District 33-Dallas) succeeded in his efforts to kill an Amtrak route that has been a financial target of the long distance trains. This…

July 9, 2014
A quick look at the Future of the San Joaquin’s

Complied by Noel T. Braymer Recently the board of the new San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority approved their first Business Plan for the San Joaquin Trains. There is a great deal of information in the 156 page packet which includes comments of the draft and the revised final draft of the Business Plan showing changes…

July 5, 2014
eNewsletter for June 30, 2014

Corridor Capital: The Indiana Department of Transportation on June 24, 2014 selected Corridor Capital as its preferred vendor to manage and operate the current Amtrak Hoosier State route between Indianapolis and Chicago. Indiana DOT and Corridor Capital are now in discussions towards an agreement for a changeover in operations commencing October 1, 2014. June 30, 2014 The…

July 4, 2014
Can We Connect Metrolink to LAX?

By Noel T. Braymer Recently Shawn Nelson, Chairman of the Orange County Transportation Authority called for closing the gap of about 2.5 miles between the end of LA Metro’s Green Line (which by 2019 will connect with LAX) to the Norwalk/Santa Fe Springs Metrolink Station. No doubt LA Metro would agree, but would ask who…

July 3, 2014