Editorial by Noel T. Braymer There are three good reasons for voting for Prop 1A. They are jobs, jobs and jobs. Expanded high speed, intercity and commuter rail passenger services will create jobs from construction, in the operation of rail service and from the economic development that improved transportation creates. At the heart of the…
The growth continues! California and the entire country continues “getting on board the train!”While it is a bit surprising that none of our national candidates for office seem to focus on passenger rail investments, and the mobility, jobs and economic stimulus such investments bring, as more and more Americans step on-board trains, maybe the message…
October 4, 2008 After more than two years of nudging and cajoling by RailPAC, Amtrak has finally rescheduled the weekend 798 Surfliner train and reduced the running time by over 30 minutes. Currently the 798 waits at Moorpark for Metrolink trains over the single track from Simi Valley. No Metrolink trains run on Saturdays and…
Report by Chris Flescher The first part of the meeting was news of passenger rail south of here. The local transit agency in San Luis Obispo County offers free transfers from the Pacific Surfliner trains. At this time, in Grover Beach, the passenger train platform is on one side of the tracks, but the stop…
By Noel T. Braymer Since the disastrous collision at Chatsworth on September 12th, Metrolink has been in a panic to improve its public image and find quick ways to improve the safety of its trains. One step will be the rapid installation of Automatic Train Stop or ATS signaling on most or all of its train…
Editorial By Noel T. Braymer We know that on September 12th the engineer of Metrolink Train 111 failed to acknowledge or apply brakes for both a yellow and red signal. He even failed to apply brakes before running into a local UP Freight on a single track segment just outside of Tunnel 26. What we…
September 20, 2008 Reported by Robert Manning, RailPAC Director, Palm Springs, with PHOTOS by Mrs. Bob Manning The Auditorium for the University Of California Riverside Graduate Center located in Palm Desert, turned out to be the perfect location for a train meeting. This public forum dealing with daily passenger train service from Los Angeles to…
Meeting Report September 19, 2008 Reported by Bruce Jenkins, RailPAC Director, Sunnyvale The Coast Rail Coordinating Council met September. 19, ’08 in Soledad, CA, at the Paraiso Winery. Track and Access for the future Coast Daylight train: A Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for track access and project negotiation has bounced back and forth between Caltrans…
By Bruce Jenkins, RailPAC Director The Meeting of the Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Board (CCJPB) was held September 17, 2008 at Suisun City Hall. (The CCJPB is celebrating it’s 10th anniversary). Managing Director Eugene Skoropowski gave still another glowing report on the outstanding ridership and revenue increases and the On Time Performance (OTP) which in…
RAIL PASSENGER ASSOCIATION OF CALIFORNIA 1017 L Street PMB 217, Sacramento, CA 95814 www.railpac.org 17th September 2008 STATEMENT REGARDING METROLINK/UNION PACIFIC TRAIN COLLISION AT CHATSWORTH, CALIFORNIA FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 12, 2008 The Rail Passenger Association of California is greatly dismayed by the loss of life and injuries resulting from the collision between a Metrolink passenger train…