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More Shovel Ready Stimulus Please
Opinion by Noel T. Braymer With mid-term elections coming up the administration is now talking about spending 50 billion dollars for transportation projects in the long delayed transportation bill. The amount of new money going for infrastructure pales compared to the trillions of dollars of deferred maintenance we have in this country. Given the need…
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Tracking Rail News: October 2010
Comments by Russ Jackson Photos by Bob Snow and Russ Jackson . . . On Time Performance. With the fiscal year ending in a few days, we will hold off the big numbers until the yearly data is available. September has been a fairly routine month, once the flooding in Iowa subsided. The California Zephyr…
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How much does the UP want to run a daily Sunset?!
$750 million, that’s how much. By Russ Jackson This article appeared on page one of the October 2010, Western Rail Passenger Review. On September 30, Amtrak released its plan for the Sunset Limited without a start date. A followup article will appear next month.
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RailPAC Takes HSR Tour of France
By Bruce Jenkins, RailPAC Director RailPAC Vice President North Art Lloyd and Director Bruce Jenkins joined a High Speed Rail Tour of France on September 13 thru 18th. The Tour was superbly guided by Rick Harnish, Executive Director of MidWestern High Speed Rail Association, who is also on the board of NARP. The tour was…
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LA City Council Rail Resolution Passes Unanimously
This morning a RailPAC resolution supporting the construction of double track between Van Nuys and Chatsworth and the building of a second platform at Van Nuys station was passed unanimously by the City Council meeting at Van Nuys. Paul Dyson, RailPAC president, spoke in favor of the motion, which was proposed by Council members Tom LaBonge and Greig…
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What AB 32 and Rail Service have in Common
Editorial by Noel T. Braymer AB 32 is a law passed and signed into law in California back in September 27, 2006. Its goal is to reduce the state’s emission of carbon back to 1990 levels by 2020. This law has broad bi-partisan support. Environmentalists support the law because it would clean the air and…
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Coast Starlight on Google Transit
Report by Jarrod DellaChiesa, RailPAC Director and Coast Starlight Communities Network Project Coordinator It is with great pleasure that I announce that the Coast Starlight is now live on Google Transit! In early 2008, the Coast Starlight Communities Network first suggested that Amtrak share their routes on Google Transit. CSCN began working with Amtrak and…
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Burbank Airport Authority Presentation
On Monday September 20th, 2010, RailPAC President Paul Dyson attended the regular meeting of the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority, the JPA that operates Burbank Bob Hope Airport. On behalf of RailPAC Paul presented Authority President Frank Quintero with a plaque marking the occasion of the authorization by Burbank City Council to proceed with construction of the Regional Intermodal Transportation Center. The…
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Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Board Meeting Report
September 15, 2010 Meeting in Suisun City Reported by Michael Barnbaum, Associate Director Nine out of a total sixteen directors were present, barely constituting a majority of Directors for this meeting. After Roll Call and the Pledge of Allegiance, Chair Holmes (Placer County) addressed the audience in his “Report of the Chair” time on the…
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August California Intercity Passenger Rail Performance
Reported by David B. Kutrosky, Managing Director, CCJPA Performance continues to improve on the Capitol Corridor compared to monthly results from 2009. In fact, ridership has increased each of the last 6 months, closing the gap on decreases earlier in the fiscal year. August 2010 ridership was 138,739, a 5% increase over August 2009. Revenue mirrored the ridership…