RailPAC: Rail Passenger Association of CA & NV

What Do The Long Haul Trains Really Cost?

By Andrew Selden, President, Minnesota Rail Passenger Association The great Amtrak myth is that long distance trains cost a ton of money (one recent report we saw, which loaded them up with shares of every cost imaginable, including NEC costs and all the non-cash ones like depreciation of fully-depreciated Superliners, alleged a net loss last…

January 14, 2014
Is Shipping Oil by Rail a Good Idea?

By Noel T. Braymer In the last 6 months of 2013 there were 4 explosive accidents with fires in the US and Canada of unit oil trains carrying unconventional oil made from shale or tar sands. The latest accident in North Dakota on December 30th involved an 104 car train of oil tanker cars. While…

January 10, 2014
eNewsletter for January 6, 2014

When some people hear about plans to build a major stadium depending on rail transit; the first thing they complain about is people won’t take the trains and there won’t be enough parking. These were the same complaints when PETCO Park was built in San Diego. Parking is limited in this part of San Diego.…

January 10, 2014
2014 Steel Wheels Conference, 1 February

The 2014 Annual Steel Wheels Conference Saturday, February 1, 2014 Los Angeles Metro Board Room at Union Station, Los Angeles 9:30 am – 3:30 pm • Doors Open 9:00 am with a break for lunch (not provided) Once again RailPAC and NARP are presenting the annual Steel Wheels Conference, a must for rail advocates. Conveniently located at…

January 7, 2014
Here’s What’s Happening on the LOSSAN Corridor in 2014

Complied by Noel T. Braymer There is a great deal of construction that will be finished as well as started during 2014 along the LOSSAN Rail Corridor. This is largely centered in the Counties of San Diego, Orange and Los Angeles. This is a quick review of some of these project underway now. August 2013…

January 3, 2014
eNewsletter for December 30, 2013

The Peak Oil Crisis: California’s Bubble Pops Falls Church News Press-Dec 11, 2013 Rapid increases in production, however, mean that the faster we use up something the sooner will come the day when production starts to decline and that may not be very far away…As the U.S. burns about 7 billion barrels of oil a year we…

January 3, 2014
RailPAC PHOTOS of the Month (December, 2013)

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 RailPAC Photo Editor, at [email protected]. Russ Jackson, Photo page editor. And, a HAPPY NEW YEAR from the RailPAC Staff. 1. RailPAC member, Alexander Friedman, was on…

January 2, 2014
What’s Needed for Great Rail Passenger Service

By Noel T. Braymer When rail service is good, people will take the train in droves. When there is great rail service, many traffic congestion problems can be solved or reduced. The problems today with depending on cars for transportation are: they take up lots of space, we can’t build enough roads or parking lots…

December 27, 2013
eNewsletter for December 23, 2013

Expo Line leads to drop in driving USC News-Dec 16, 2013 Los Angeles residents who live near a Metro Expo Line station on Exposition Boulevard reduced the number of miles they drove and tripled their rail ridership since the rail line opened last year, according to a new USC study. December 23, 2013 The above…

December 27, 2013
November 2013 Capitol Corridor Service Performance

Report by David B. Kutrosky, Managing Director Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority The performance results for both ridership and revenue continued to decline in November 2013 when compared to November 2012. For November 2013, a total of 117,891 passengers rode the Capitol Corridor trains, representing a 6.8% drop in ridership and an 8.2% decline in…

December 24, 2013