Commentary by and opinion of Noel T. Braymer California has for almost the last 100 years, for better or for worse been the trendsetter for this country. Whatever it is, it either starts or takes off in California before spreading to the rest of the county and often the rest of the world. Be it…
Commentary by Russ Jackson Comments are those of the writer, not necessarily those of the RailPAC Board. The three categories in the title of this writing are all tied to Amtrak in one way or another. Amtrak, as we know, is the “National Rail Passenger Corporation,” and is the purveyor of intercity passenger rail transportation.…
By Noel T. Braymer Metrolink has been slowly going downhill even before the Chatsworth crash disaster in 2008. Since 2008, safety on Metrolink has been greatly improved and will get better with the full implementation of Positive Train Control. But Metrolink’s problems stem from a lack of leadership and planning. Metrolink has been slow to…
By Noel T. Braymer By 2016, there will be a shuttle bus connection from the Washington Street Trolley Station and the terminals at San Diego International Airport. This is part of a much larger project over the next 20 years to move the main entrance of the airport to the North Side right along the…
Here are this month’s photos by RailPAC photographers! Click on each photo to see it full size! Contributions to this page are welcome. Send your jpg rail photos to Russ Jackson, RailPAC Photo Editor, at [email protected]. 1. (of 5) This was the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Caltrain Baby Bullet trains, which was…
By Noel T. Braymer This October 15th the California State Supreme Court upheld the ruling of an Appellate Court releasing Prop 1A Bond funds for construction in the San Joaquin Valley for High Speed Rail. By a vote of 6 to 1 the State Supreme Court decided not to take up this case for review.…
Commentary and a trip report by Andrew C. Selden NOTE: Mr. Selden is President of MinnARP, and is the newly elected President of URPA. He will be a speaker at the RailPAC November 15, 2014 Conference in Sacramento. The challenge of operating passenger trains, and in particular the higher revenue long distance trains (Amtrak’s largest,…