Report and Commentary by Russ Jackson Amtrak’s Coast Starlight still travels daily between Los Angeles and Seattle. Should we take it for granted? Well, let’s look at its performance lately. From Amtrak’s December 2012 Performance Report, now posted on Amtrak.com, we know the train’s end-point “on time performance” (OTP) for the fiscal year since October…
Analysis by Noel T. Braymer Trains can’t go everywhere, but buses can go to many places or when trains can’t. Buses can economically carry passengers to trains when it isn’t possible to use trains. Combining trains and buses can make travel faster for passengers to more places while increasing ridership and revenue for trains. This…
Analysis and Opinion by Noel T. Braymer The short answer is nobody knows for sure. The revised draft of this year’s California State Rail Plan (CSRP) was suppose to report on planning for a Blended High Speed Rail System using both conventional and high speed railroads. The current draft of the CSRP says by 2025…
Analysis by Noel T. Braymer With changes coming this October to the billing for State supported trains run by Amtrak, California and the other States supporting Amtrak Trains are getting sticker shock. Congress which is forcing Amtrak to raise its prices is also considering allowing private companies to take over some of these Amtrak trains.…
Report by Noel T. Braymer Cutting back on Long Distance Passenger Service has never saved money for Amtrak. It was tried in 1979 and again in 1997 with losses increasing not decreasing. Amtrak’s losses increased 150 million dollars from 1978 to 1981 after the October 1979 service cutbacks of 5 Long Distance Trains. Despite service…
Analysis by Noel T. Braymer with photos Recently Los Angeles City Council member Bill Rosendahl called for the creation of Metrolink service between downtown Los Angeles and Ontario Airport in a Motion at the City Council. Mr Rosendahl’s district surrounds LAX and his views reflect his constituents demand that regional air travel be spread out…