A Special Event Report and PHOTOS by Bill Kerby, RailPAC Treasurer July 22, 2009 Building on a theme that greener technology is better technology, Amtrak California unveiled at the Sacramento Valley Station the first FP 59 locomotive to be EPA certified emissions standard at Tier 2. With this certification, NOX emissions are cut in half…
Editorial By Noel T. Braymer From the beginning freight has always been the main business of American Railroads. Passenger Trains generally are profitable, but not as much as freight. In many cases passenger service was mostly used to develop land owned by the railroads. The railroads up until the 1940’s had enough freight business to…
THOUGHTS ON THE BOARDMAN CORRESPONDENCE Commentary by Paul Dyson, RailPAC President RailPAC has consistently supported daily service and restoration of the Sunset Route to Florida. A lot of the Amtrak people we talk to agree that thrice weekly service just doesn’t work; the 7 day a week costs are still there but the revenue isn’t!…
TRANSCRIPT OF NOTE FROM JOE BOARDMAN TO PAUL DYSON 7/14/09 Paul: I have your letter of the 13th. I understand your interest, mine too frankly but we are not ready to pull the trigger on the changes that you want right now. Equipment has become a very complex issue and we are making progress. We…
Opinion by Noel T. Braymer Since the late 1970’s there has been talk off and on of raising taxes on gasoline as much as 50 cents more a gallon. The reason for this would be to raise money for alternatives to driving such as better rail and transit service, for alternative energy, infrastructure repairs and…
THE SCHEDULE 9:00 am Ventura County electeds meet on the Oxnard Station platform 9:00 am Santa Barbara County electeds meet on the Santa Barbara Station platform 9:20 am Train Departs Santa Barbara Station Southbound for Carpinteria with electeds 9:21 am Train Departs Oxnard Station Northbound for Santa Barbara with electeds 9:35 am Southbound train arrives…
13th July, 2009 Dear Mr. Crosbie: Many thanks for taking the time for a meeting with me last Thursday (8th July, 2009). I have written today to Mr. Boardman concerning the Sunset route and RailPAC’s support for positive steps by Amtrak. I’d like to expand upon some other topics that we covered briefly. Regarding the…
Reported by Eugene K. Skoropowski Managing Director, Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority June ridership numbers in California and across the nation continue to be disappointing. The California economy and high unemployment rate are manifesting themselves in uncertainty and reduction in travel, particularly discretionary travel. The Capitol Corridor still handled 131, 670 passengers in June 2009,…
Editorial by Noel T. Braymer RailPAC, while it is non-partisan is a political organization. It is because we are involved in politics that even though we are a non-profit organization, donations to RailPAC are not tax-deductible. Our goal is the creation of a safe, comfortable, economical and well connected rail passenger system for California and…
July 1 Meeting Report and comments by Paul Dyson, RailPAC President In an encouraging sign that LOSSAN and the County transportation executives are getting to grips with the conflicts between the multiple agencies operating railroads in Southern California (Amtrak, BNSF, UP, SCRRA and NCTD) the LOSSAN Board on Wednesday discussed the “Corridor Long Term Vision…