Author: Russ Jackson

  • Monterey County Rail October Meeting

    TAMC Rail Policy Committee meeting October 1, 2007, Salinas Reported by Chris Flescher, RailPAC Associate Director Most of the meeting consisted of two presentations. The first was from a planner who worked on the Sprinter project in North San Diego County. The second one was from a planner who works for Monterey Salinas Transit (MST),…

  • September CA Corridor stats and comments

    September 2007 Results- and FY 2006-07 Capitol Corridor and California stats (our best year yet) By Gene Skoropowski Progress continues on the Capitol Corridor. We have just received the September 2007 stats from Amtrak, and the end-of-fiscal year stats as well. For California, they are very good. For the Capitol Corridor, the numbers continue to…

  • Coast Rail Coordinating Council meeting report

    CRCC Policy Committee Meeting September 29, 2007 Paraiso Winery, Soledad, CA Reported by Chris Flescher, RailPAC Associate Director, Salinas NOTE: This article contains many news items of statewide interest RailPAC President, Paul Dyson, and Director Dennis Story attended the meeting, also. There are three categories of actions needed to start the Coast Daylight train: track…

  • OTP on the Southwest Chief lately

    How has Amtrak train 3/4, the Southwest Chief, (and others) been doing lately? Commentary by Russ Jackson When a long distance train has a very good on time performance it’s a time to celebrate, and while the Southwest Chief regularly has one of Amtrak’s best records it’s good to look once in a while. Southwest…

  • CA Corridor August statistics

    Summary of August 2007 ridership and ticket revenue on the California Corridors As received from Amtrak. Reported by Gene Skoropowski These results are good news for all intercity passenger rail services across California, and particularly good news for the Capitol Corridor service. After 11 months, with every month in the fiscal year setting a new…

  • TAMC Rail Policy Committee meeting

    Transportation Agency for Monterey County Rail Policy Committee, September 10, 2007. Salinas Reported for RailPAC by Chris Flescher There is a strong interest in trying to reduce the cost for the Branch Line Project (the light rail and/or bus rapid transit from Castroville to Monterey). Parsons has come up with a list of options to…

  • CCJPB September Meeting Report

    Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Board meeting September 19, 2007 Suisun City Hall A PHOTO report by Russ Jackson As Capitol Corridor JPB Managing Director, Gene Skoropowski, said in the meeting, “Good news is always easy to report,” and that seems to be the theme of all of the CCJPB meetings to the delight of the…

  • RailPAC September Meeting Report

    California State Railroad Museum, Sacramento September 15, 2007 Reported by Russ Jackson and Bob Manning Photos by the authors The CSRM is a perfect place for a rail advocacy meeting. The atmosphere and hospitality were outstanding. The Rail Passenger Association of California board of directors (shown below with President Paul Dyson presiding) met in a…

  • CA Rail Photos: An Arizonan comes to CA

    From Bill Lindley, RailPAC Associate Director, and Arizona Rail Passenger Association Treasurer. Taken on his vacation from the Arizona heat this summer. An original series San Diego Trolley train is in downtown San Diego on August 6, 2007. A Surfliner train passes through Old Town Station in San Diego The Trolley, Coasters, and some Surfliners…

  • RailPAC welcomes expanded Metrolink weekend service

    September 5, 2007. PRESS RELEASE: RailPAC President Paul Dyson today called for continued expansion of Metrolink train service throughout the region. In welcoming the additional trains on the Antelope Valley line on Saturday, and service for the first time on Sunday, Dyson said that: “At last Metrolink is beginning to fulfill its potential as a…