-
Metrolink Safety and Passenger Rail in Southern California
Reply to a Los Angeles Times report by Paul Dyson We should be grateful to the Los Angeles Times for bringing up the topic of rail safety, even though the pieces that filled your columns last Sunday 27 September seemed to be more concerned with causing a sensation rather than examining the causes of the…
-
CAPITOL CORRIDOR JPB Meeting Report; Gene Skoropowski to retire in November
Reported by Mike Barnbaum, RailPAC Associate Director Wednesday, 16 September 2009, in Suisun City. The CCJPA FY 10 Budget was passed by all members present as was the CCJPA/Amtrak FY 10 Fixed Price Operating Agreement. In Legislative Matters, this writer approached RailPAC VP North, Arthur Lloyd, over concern of a bill brewing in Sacramento by…
-
TRACKING RAIL NEWS
. . . PHOTOS . . . and Commentary by Russ Jackson . . . October 1, 2009. (Photo right) California Zephyr waiting to depart Sacramento station. . . . On Time Performance and other Amtrak news: . . . Good news for travelers! . . . Amtrak Guest Rewards is offering double points on…
-
1st Annual Central Coast Railroad Festival
Family Fun Event with Activities from Paso Robles to Santa Maria – October 8-12, 2009. A variety of free events and activities will take place at numerous railroad, historical and educational locations throughout San Luis Obispo and northern Santa Barbara Counties. See their website announcement at www.ccrf.com The Central Coast Railroad Festival will be a…
-
LOSSAN BREAKTHROUGH?
Commentary by Paul Dyson, RailPAC President The September 9th LOSSAN Board meeting at Oceanside may well be regarded as a turning point in bringing some rationality and common sense to the governance and operation of this corridor. And it perhaps was appropriate that the meeting was held at Oceanside, the site of the “Berlin Wall”…
-
TRACKING RAIL NEWS . . .
. . . PHOTOS and Commentary by Russ Jackson . . . California. . . . The Solano County city of Vallejo had some good economic news this month when Caltrans announced that Althom will open a Mare Island facility in October to overhaul all 66 California cars on a $13.1 million contract. Door replacement,…
-
CA Corridors Stats for July and August
Reported by Eugene K. Skoropowski Managing Director, Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority I apologize for the ‘combined July and August reports’. Future reports should return to their usual month-by-month issuance. Ridership numbers in California and across the nation continue to be lower than a year ago (2008).However, upon further comparison to 2007, the 2009 numbers…
-
San Francisco Bay Bridge reopens
What was the effect on Amtrak? September 9, 2009. Report by Gene Poon The closure of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge over the Labor Day weekend for scheduled construction forced Amtrak to make adjustments to all of its schedules that utilize Thruway Bus service to reach San Francisco from Oakland or Emeryville. Normal Thruway service…
-
CALIFORNIA HIGH SPEED RAIL – STAY THE COURSE
Commentary by Paul Dyson You may have read detailed critiques of the California High Speed Rail project in various publications from so called rail advocacy groups and environmentalists. It’s the wrong route, the wrong technology, the wrong decision makers, or words to that effect. In the north the apparent cause celebre is the Pacheco Pass…
-
San Joaquin Valley Rail Committee Report
By Mike Barnbaum, RailPAC Associate Director, Sacramento Cal State University Stanislaus, Turlock, California, Thursday 13 August 2009 Merced County Supervisor John Pedrozo called the meeting to order on-time at 11:15 A.M. Host Supervisor, Vito Chiesa, introduced the CUS Stanislaus Campus President, who gave a short address on Rail, High Speed Rail, and Education. Matt Machado…