February 17, 2010 Meeting Reported by Michael Barnbaum, Associate Director The Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Board met for the first time in 2010 and for the first time under Managing Director David Kutrosky. Chair Jim Holmes representing the Placer County Transportation Planning Agency called the meeting to order. He reported on the legislative meeting that…
A small shift in priorities could produce major benefits sooner and help build public support. Commentary by Ralph James, RailPAC Member, Alta, Blue Canyon CA NOTE: This article also appears in a shorter version in the March Western Rail Passenger Review. Prioritizing the order of expenditure on public projects which may span many years can…
February 26, 2010 Meeting Reported by Dennis Story, RailPAC Director The Coast Rail Coordinating Council Technical Committee meeting was held at the Derby Club, Seaside Park in Ventura on Friday, 2/26/10 from 11:00AM to 12:30PM. Attendees: Pete Rodgers (SLOCOG), Bill Bronte (Caltrans Rail Division), Jonathan Hutchison (phone), Mike Powers (SBCAG), Scott Spaulding (SBCAG), Vic Kamhi (VCTC),…
PHOTOS and Comments by Russ Jackson . . . Amtrak Western On Time Performance. On February 19, Train #1, the Sunset Limited arrived at Los Angeles Union Station at 8:20 AM. Nothing remarkable about that since its due at 8:40, but as crew members will tell you they consider that arrival time as being late…
February 1, 2010 Meeting Reported by Chris Flescher, Associate Director
Commentary by Paul Dyson, RailPAC President I’ve been looking back at some of my previous commentaries, particularly “High Speed Rail, Stay the Course”, and my more recent “High Speed Rail Dilemma” offering. Trying to reach a consensus among a couple of thousand passenger rail advocates in California about our largest ever public works project is…
Editorial by Noel T. Braymer To get to the RailPAC/NARP meeting in Sacramento on January 16th I once again chose the San Joaquin Bus/Train connection. I have been riding the San Joaquin now for almost 30 years. In that time I have long hoped for direct rail service from Southern California to the San Joaquin…
Reported by Jarrod DellaChiesa, RailPAC Director and Website Editor As smartphone sales continue to grow, mobile sites are becoming increasingly popular. Mobile sites take content available on a website and reformat it to look great on mobile platforms. Today, we’re excited to announce
SENATOR BARBARA BOXER Fax to 202 224 0454 22 February, 2010 PASSENGER RAIL SAFETY Dear Senator Boxer: First of all may I commend you for your concern about passenger rail safety following the Chatsworth collision last year, and also for spending so much time at the Los Angeles USDOT conference last Friday. We appreciate your…
Reported by David B. Kutrosky, Managing Director, CCJPA The Capitol Corridor January 2010 ridership showed a decline compared to January 2009 and 2008. Ridership for January 2010 was down by 8.4% primarily due to the first phase of the “tie renewal program” (January 18 – February 14, 2010) between Suisun/Fairfield and Sacramento stations. Some late-morning and mid-day trains Capitol…