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Comet Car Access problem? A RailPAC solution.
First Published June 2013 As Noel Braymer has previously reported there is some discontent on the part of the San Joaquin rail board at being allocated two consists of the refurbished “Comet” cars. The two bones of contention? The age of the cars, as which date back to the 70s, and the access via steps…
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Metrolink to Withdraw Cab Cars from Service
Yesterday evening the Board of SCRRA (Metrolink) held a closed session meeting described as pursuant to public safety threat (or words to that effect. The notice is no longer on their website). The real purpose of the meeting was to inform the Board that the NTSB had requested that the Rotem cab cars be withdrawn…
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What’s Wrong with Amtrak?
Anyway you measure it, Amtrak just isn’t in the same league as the major league rail passenger railroads of Europe, Japan or China. Be it revenue, on-time performance, running times, average running times,customer satisfaction, passenger miles or whatever:Amtrak just isn’t in the same league for Passenger Railroading of most developed countries. To be fair, the…
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SJJPA MTG 8/21/15
It seemed more of a “HIP HIP HOORAY” congratulatory celebration. Very well attended, (standing room only in the fairly large Modesto Council Chambers) . Assembly Member Adam Gray chaired the meeting. Welcome was delivered by Modesto Mayor Garrad Marsh followed by statements from Legislative Members e.g. Senators Cathleen Galgiani (Stockton), Anthony Cannella (Ceres) and Assembly…
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What’s Coming and What’s Needed with LA Metrorail
There are now 5 rail transit projects in different states of construction in Los Angeles County. Two projects: the Gold Line extension from Pasadena to Azusa and the Expo Line extension from Culver City to Santa Monica are both now almost finished. Both will have passenger service by early 2016. Also well into construction is…
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Metrolink – Where to from here?
The interview of Art Leahy, Metrolink CEO, by Dan Weikel was revealing. (LA Times, June 30th) The revelation is that there is no long term movement to make Metrolink a vibrant, relevant mobility option for large numbers of citizens. Nothing that Leahy said indicated a desire to do anything more than business as usual, except with…
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How Not to Run Rail Passenger Service
In the United States, we have been running rail passenger service the wrong way for years. What we need is a rail passenger system. What we have instead is a fragmented series of services that that don’t connect with each or serve places when and where people want to travel. Often service providers look at…
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Is Amtrak Management Incompetent?
If you asked Amtrak passengers if Amtrak management was competent after they spent a day on a train with a car that had a serious problem, what do you think their answer would be? Or passengers stranded for hours on a train first because of mechanical problems, but then because Amtrak didn’t have replacement crews…
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Annual Members Meeting
Steel Wheels Conference 2016: A Year of Possibilities December 5, 2015 9:30 am – 3:00 pm Doors Open 9:00 am, with a break for lunch (not provided) Metro Boardroom, Los Angeles SUPPORT OUR LONG DISTANCE TRAINS! STEEL WHEELS 2015 Conference is your opportunity to show your support for the long distance trains. By attending this gathering…
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The Unreported Meltdown on the Route of the California Zephyr
There were a few news reports on June 27th of an Amtrak train from Chicago that was stranded overnight in Iowa because of a bridge wash out. This was the westbound California Zephyr leaving Chicago on Friday the 26th of June. What was not reported was that this train arrived at Emeryville 36 hours and…