By Noel T. Braymer It’s expensive to build a new railroad. Even improvements to existing railroads aren’t cheap. Plus there are few places to build railroads today at any price, particularly in cities. As it is funding is always tight for any form of transportation construction. This is why is it often better to share…
Commentary By Bruce Richardson, URPA Once again, for the 43rd time, here we are on May Day, the anniversary of the official day of Amtrak operations beginning on May 1, 1971. It was the day most of the still-operating passenger trains in the country disappeared, and the freight railroads breathed a sigh of relief because…
By Noel T. Braymer Technically most trains already run on electricity. Diesel-electric locomotives use a diesel engine to generate electricity to power the electric motors in the locomotive’s trucks. The question is will trains continue to be powered by fossil fuels? The cost of energy is a big issue for train operators. In North America…
David B. Kutrosky, Managing Director Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority Service Performance Overview In March 2014, both ridership and revenue for the Capitol Corridor were below last year’s March- results by 1.7% and 3.5% respectively. A total of 118,518 passengers rode Capitol Corridor trains in March 2014. The ridership decrease was primarily due to the…
By Noel T. Braymer On April 9th the Metropolitan Transportation Commission had a committee meeting to reallocate money from stalled projects to others ready to go. Among the stalled projects in the Bay Area is the effort to repair the Dumbarton Rail Bridge between Redwood City and Fremont and establish rush hour commuter rail service…
By Noel T. Braymer Tourists come to visit California from all over the world. Many of them would love to take the train here; just like they do back home, if they knew how. Most tourists would prefer to travel without getting stuck or lost in California traffic. But little is done to help visitors…