RailPAC: Rail Passenger Association of CA & NV

San Joaquin Valley Rail Committee meeting report

Report by Bruce Jenkins I attended the SJVRC Meeting on Thursday, 2/28 in Fresno. Some of the more important items are as follows: Caltrans Division of Rail Chief, Bill Bronte reported : a) The San Joaquin trains are sporting a 64.5% Fare Box Recovery, the highest in the country. b) On Time Performance for February,…

March 2, 2013
All aboard the LOSSAN Express?

Opinion by Noel T. Braymer With a Congressionally mandated fee increase for millions of dollars of coming this October to the Surfliners; now would be a good time to explore other options for intercity rail passenger service between Los Angeles and San Diego. The State is already paying a high price for Amtrak operations for…

March 2, 2013
eNewsletter for February 25, 2013

This new Federal bill could increase the State’s payment to Amtrak up to 25 million dollars from about 100 million which would blow a hole in the budget of State Rail Program. The service which would be charged more is the Surfliner. This is because 3 Surfliner Trains which predate the State subsidizing local service…

March 2, 2013
RailPAC PHOTOS of the Month (February, 2013)

Here are 5 photos by RailPAC photographers. Click on each photo to see it full size! Contributions to thia page each month are welcome. Send your jpeg photos to RailPAC Photo Editor, at [email protected] 1. San Diego’s Santa Fe depot. Amtrak passengers must wait until this locked gate is opened before boarding trains. This makes…

March 1, 2013
The Coast Starlight and the Coast Line are Just Coasting

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…

March 1, 2013
Why Trains need Buses

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…

February 22, 2013
eNewsletter for February 18, 2013

Many of the problems at Metrolink stem from previous management which lacked leadership and failed to understand the mission of Metrolink which is stated in the name of the body running it: Southern California Regional Rail Authority. A better name for Metrolink would be SoCal Rail. Previous management was under the illusion that Metrolink was…

February 22, 2013
eNewsletter for February 11, 2013

CONCLUSION:This is the third trial of an “express” service on this corridor. The dropped stops were reinstated after a similar decrease in ridership in the earlier trials. The same declining pattern repeats with 2011 – 2013 express train. The corridor as a whole is overall holding steady on ridership and overall up on revenue during…

February 16, 2013
What will California Rail service be like by 2020?

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…

February 15, 2013
eNewsletter for February 4, 2013

Amtrak last September after the end of the 2012 Fiscal Year ballyhooed the fact that they had recovered 85% of their OPERATING costs and only needed $361 million extra in 2012 to cover operations. But the final figure for Federal funds for Amtrak is $1.418 billion. The biggest chunk at $623 million is for Capital…

February 9, 2013