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Big Changes coming for California High Speed Rail?
Opinion by Noel T. Braymer There are hints that the revised Business Plan now due on November 1st for the California High Speed Rail Project will reflect current economic realities. The October 16th Wall Street Journal reports the project will be built incrementally with greater use of existing track. The possibility that the new trackage…
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Santa Clarita to the Green Line to Orange County by Rail?
Opinion by Noel T. Braymer The Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) is currently conducting a study of what to do with what is left of about 20 miles of what was the Pacific Electric’s West Santa Ana Branch. This right of way has been publicly owned by the Counties of Los Angeles and Orange…
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Infrastructure: Pay for it Now, or You Will Later!
Opinion by Noel T. Braymer Most people heard about the power outage on Thursday September 8th in the San Diego area. I was caught in the middle of it. Nothing forces you to realize how much “civilized” life depends or how much we take infrastructure for granted until it fails. People couldn’t work because because…
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LAUS River Annex: An Idea You May Hate or Like
Opinion by Noel T. Braymer Building run-through tracks at Union Station to eliminate the need to back trains in or out of the station is a long held dream. This will be critical for High Speed Rail service for travels from Orange County to points north of Los Angeles. Construction is now underway to put…
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Getting State Wide High Speed Rail Service Sooner.
Opinion by Noel T. Braymer The California High Speed Rail Authority is now planning to run the shortest economically viable segment for an initial start up service rather than wait to have the entire phase I line running from Anaheim to San Francisco. This is a good idea to get revenue and let people see…
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We can’t afford not to spend money on Transportation
Opinion by Noel T. Braymer When people in the San Joaquin Valley talk about the High Speed Rail Project there is very little talk about how quickly they will be able to get to Los Angeles or San Francisco or about the cost of the project. If you are a farm owner in the San…
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Is the North East Corridor a good candidate for 220 mile per hour High Speed Rail?
Opinion by Noel T.Braymer The urban area between Washington D.C. up through New York City to Boston is heavily populated at around 38 million people. This is also roughly the population of California. Because of the population density in this area it is clearly a good candidate for good rail passenger service. Many people for…
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Does a Railroad Need to Own its Tracks?
Commentary by Noel T. Braymer Back in the 1960’s “everyone knew” that the railroads in the United States were going out of business. Actually the smaller railroads and the Class Is in the Mid-West and the North East were in trouble. My Father told me in the 1970’s that he thought that the solution to…
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Where are all those bankrupt High Speed Rail Countries?
Opinion by Noel T. Braymer There is nothing new about participants in a debate being selective in the “facts” they use to make their points. Much of the hysteria about High Speed Rail is based on the claim that around the world there are only 2 High Speed Rail routes that have made any money.…
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What is being planned for our future?
Editorial by Noel T. Braymer It is ironic that at the same time some politicians are busy opposing expanding rail service and alternative energy to fossil fuels; we now see years of frustration blowing up through out the Middle East as one by one dictators are being pushed out or threaten in this region. This…