RailPAC: Rail Passenger Association of CA & NV

Filling Up Passenger Trains with On-Line Ticketing

By Noel T. Braymer Even the busiest passenger train lines don’t have full trains all of the time. More passengers on trains translates into more support for improved rail passenger service. It also brings in more money which is always needed for passenger rail service. So how can rail passenger providers fill up trains that…

December 14, 2013
eNewsletter for December 9, 2013

A 220-mph NEC? A contrarian weighs in RailwayAge Magazine (blog)-Dec 3, 2013 But as a contrarian points out, the infrastructure improvement costs of upping maximum Northeast Corridor speeds to 220 mph is equivalent to almost $1 billion per minute saved, and when one arrives a half-hour earlier at origin to await boarding, and then stands in a…

December 12, 2013
Why Does it Take So Long to Get More and Faster Trains?

By Noel T. Braymer The short answer is money: or rather the lack of money. Things looked much brighter back in 2000. In 2000 the State of California had a budget surplus of 12.3 billion dollars! The Federal Government also had a budget surplus and the Federal Debt was shrinking. Unemployment was low and economic…

December 5, 2013
eNewsletter for December 2, 2013

Editorial: High-speed rail proceeds in fits and start Sacramento Bee – Nov 27, 2013 In a mixed ruling on Monday, Kenny did not question going forward with the project. So the gleeful comment that “The high-speed rail project is derailed,” by Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, is an extravagant exaggeration. The judge…

December 5, 2013
RailPAC PHOTOS of the Month (November, 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. 1. How’s this for an historic photo? Is that really Mr. & Mrs. Leland Stanford speaking…

December 2, 2013
What’s the Future of California High Speed Rail?

Opinion by Noel T. Braymer The impact of the recent court decision on the use of voter approved bonds for High Speed Rail is unknown. This ruling doesn’t stop current construction which for now is being paid with Federal Funds. What the judge ruled is that the California High Speed Rail Authority CHSRA) according to…

November 29, 2013
Rail Service We Need Before High Speed Rail in California

Opinion by Noel T. Braymer The most optimistic deadline for the start up of High Speed Rail in California is 2022 between Burbank and Merced. This includes connecting feeder trains to most of Southern California and from the San Joaquin Valley to the Bay Area and Sacramento. There are many improvements needed for conventional rail…

November 29, 2013
eNewsletter for November 25, 2013

Boardman fires more Amtrak upper managers Trainorders.com Nov 19, 2013 On Monday Nov. 18, Amtrak fired more upper managers, eliminating twenty senior positions. Causalities reportedly included a 40-year Amtrak veteran and visionary whose last two decades were directly involved with the long distance trains and customer service, with many innovations to his credit. Comment: The person who Gene Poon…

November 29, 2013
What’s Up with the Coaster?

By Noel T. Braymer …

November 22, 2013
eNewslettter for November 18, 2013

Amtrak Serving Free Wine to Steak Loses Millions on Food Bloomberg-Nov 14, 2013 …Almost all of last year’s $72 million in food-service losses were from providing meals on long-distance trains, Inspector General Ted Alves said in testimony at a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing today. I remember at least 30 years ago I heard the…

November 22, 2013