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California Integrated Travel Conference 2018 at UC Davis May 1and 2
RailPAC Board members Doug Kerr and Steve Roberts attended this event, and their report follows. Chad Edison and State staff have been working hard to bring together the many State rail and transit agencies to make travel easier for the passenger, a long standing RailPAC goal. On May 1 and 2 Steve Roberts and I…
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The Anderson Tape – LA Rail Summit April 19, 2018
The recording of Amtrak CEO Richard Anderson’s presentation, plus audience questions, is now available. The Anderson segment begins at approximately One Hour and 46 minutes. https://www.ustream.tv/recorded/114596550 It seems to be taking an awfully long time for the implications of these remarks to sink in. RailPAC is currently reviewing the options, and sounding out potential allies,…
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Why Anderson thinks he is doing the right thing – Amtrak’s mission statement
Why Anderson thinks he can, and should, destroy the National Passenger Rail Network Paul Dyson, RailPAC President Amtrak CEO Richard Anderson has interpreted PRIIA and other Amtrak legislation, and together with Amtrak’s flawed management information systems, has concluded that the national Network is a hopeless money loser. It is therefore his job to get rid…
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Amtrak CEO: Phasing out long distance trains in favor of “corridors”.
Report – Richard Anderson, Amtrak CEO – Remarks to California Rail Summit and Questions and Answers 19th April 2018 Richard Anderson, CEO of Amtrak, gave a keynote address to about 150 passenger rail officials and industry professionals, plus a handful of advocates. I have the feeling he had not counted on there being any advocates…
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Passenger Rail Investment Priorities – RailPAC View
I was recently asked by a member about our policy towards investments, particularly regarding High Speed Rail versus conventional incremental improvements. Below is my attempt at a brief answer. I’d be interested to hear from you, and let me know if I have your permission to post your comments. Thank you for raising a…
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Electrolink North – RailPAC’s vision for ACE and the Mega Region Of Northern California
By Steve Roberts, RailPAC Vice President – Policy and Research ACE – Well short of its potential to move more people – Photo By Arne Brown More Frequent Service Faster Trains Better Connectivity Electrification This post is being updated with new statistics and information and will be republished soon.
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DMU – Horses for Courses
Noel Braymer wrote a good piece about Amtrak CEO Anderson’s musings on the use of Diesel Multiple Units (“DMU”) to replace aging Amfleet cars. (See below). I’d just like to embellish Noel’s thoughts a little. I’ve ridden in a lot of DMUs since the late 50’s when they were introduced as part of British Railway’s…
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Ventura – Santa Barbara “Commuter ” Service off to rocky start – the punctuality problem
LOSSAN retimed the morning train (761) from LAUS to San Luis Obispo to make it a “commuter” train from Ventura County to Santa Barbara and Goleta. (See Surfliner schedule effective 4.1.18). Various efforts were made to try and stop the last train to Goleta at Oxnard and start the morning train from there but none…
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RailPAC Responds to LOSSAN Business Plan 2018
One of RailPAC’s missions is to respond to the Business Plans of the State Rail Corridors. We have concerns about many of the policies adopted and hope that our experience is useful in pointing these Boards in the right direction. The reality is that RailPAC has a longer history of attendance at these meetings, and…
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Amtrak determined to starve itself to death – Paul Dyson
This is a brief posting as I am working on the next issue of Steel Wheels. In the last two days Bob Johnston of Trains magazine has reported on Amtrak’s reduction of consists on the long distance trains. RailPAC’s James Smith tells me that his daughter has been unable to reserve a seat on the…