RailPAC: Rail Passenger Association of CA & NV

Metrolink:Raise Ridership Not Fares for More Revenue

By Noel T. Braymer With about 18 million potential passengers in Metrolink’s market, it is barely scratching the surface with about 50,000 passengers on a good day. There is no mystery how to increase rail passenger revenue. Train revenue increases with longer routes serving as many markets as possible by selling more of the highest…

May 23, 2013
Why California,Nevada and Arizona are the best places for High Speed Rail

By Noel T. Braymer This isn’t just my opinion. The Brooking Institute, a Washington based “Think Tank” came to this conclusion in a paper it released in October 2009. This paper is titled“Expect Delays: An Analysis of Air Travel Trends in the United States” by Adie Tomer and Robert Puentes. Looking at air corridors under…

May 23, 2013
eNewsletter for May 20, 2013

Your experience confirms what I had heard that what was behind the fee and reservations on bikes on the Surfliners were because of problems running on-time with the low-level equipment and problems loading and unloading bikes on the Cab/Baggage Car. The Surfliners only have one low-level trainset but it is a major cause of Surfliners…

May 23, 2013
Capitol Corridor Monthly Report (April, 2013)

And statistics for the other California Corridors By David B. Kutrosky, Managing Director, Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority Ridership continues to decline for the Capitol Corridor in FY2013; however, the drop in ridership for April 2013 was not as significant as prior FY2013 results. For April 2013, 151,080 passengers used the Capitol Corridor, representing a…

May 18, 2013
The Many Places Where You Can’t Go by Passenger Trains

By Noel T. Braymer There are several major cities in this Country without intercity rail passenger service. There are many more major cities that are not connected to each other by rail passenger service. The largest city without rail service is Phoenix with a regional population of 4.3 million. That is close to the population…

May 17, 2013
eNewsletter for May 13, 2013

Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner Adopts Wildly Anti-Bicycle Policy Streetsblog Los Angeles (blog)-May 7, 2013 Starting on June 1, the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner service connecting San Luis Obispo to San Diego by way of Los Angeles is adopting a new policy that will make life harder for anyone planning on biking to or from the train. The policy is…

May 17, 2013
eNewsletter for May 6, 2013

Draft alternatives released for Los Angeles Union Station Master Plan The Los Angeles Union Station Master Plan team is releasing its draft alternatives today for improving the venerable station as a transit center. Among some of the proposals are replacing the parking lots in front of the station with open space, building a new bus…

May 9, 2013
LA doesn’t have Regional Rail with Airport Connections, but needs it

Story and Photos by Noel T. Braymer A recent international survey of air travelers by Skytrax rated the airports of the world. No American airport rated higher than 25th. LAX rated 109th out of 395 airports world wide. According to a story in the May 5, 2013 Los Angeles Times “What’s Wrong with Los Angeles…

May 9, 2013
RailPAC Rail Photos of the Month (April, 2013)

Here are 5 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]. THIS MONTH: Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona 1. The Denton County, Texas, A-Train, diesel-powered commuter trains travel between Denton and the Dallas…

May 3, 2013
A simple way to increase Rail Passenger Miles

By Noel T. Braymer The Department of Transportation keeps records on many elements of this country’s transportation system. This is done by the DOT’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration Bureau of Transportation Statistics. To measure how people travel the DOT counts the Passenger Miles traveled by different modes. For example a person riding a bike…

May 3, 2013