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Jim Hartnett tapped to head Caltrain agency
A regional search committee Wednesday selected Jim Hartnett as the new head of the San Mateo County Transit District (SMCTD) effective March 30. Hartnett, a former Redwood City councilman and board chair of the California High-Speed Rail Authority, will take over as the new general manager and CEO of the Peninsula-based transportation agency in the…
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L.A. Welcomes Two New Transit Chiefs
Los Angeles’ two major transportation agencies announced this week the hires of new CEOs to take their respective helms — one involves a new hire from Denver while the other is only moving a few floors up.
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Ken Ruben
It is with great sadness that I report the death of longtime RailPAC member and Associate Director Ken Ruben. Ken suffered a serious stroke on New Year’s Day from which he never recovered. He died yesterday morning, Thursday 12th March, 2015, aged 72.
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Amtrak Statement in Response to the Hoosier Announcement
Indiana is fighting back against the FRA ruling, which is excellent news. The whole idea of the ruling is ridiculous. If a State hires a qualified operator to do a job it should not have to become certified to do the job itself. Boardman is again trying to use PRIIA and now the FRA to…
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Farewell to Mike Scanlon
Mike Scanlon has done a hell of a good job with Caltrain in comparison to the shape it was in before (awful). Also under his purview is SAMTRANS and San Mateo Transportation Authority. Some of the many improvements made under his watch are: Improved station platforms and elimination of “holdout stations”, 96 trains/day, increased bike…
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January, Amtrak Consists, and the Southwest Chief
Report and Commentary by Russ Jackson January in any year brings the anticipation of problems for passenger trains encountering winter weather all across the country. January, 2015, was no exception what with the winter storms that dominated the news along Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor. All intercity train service north of New York City into New England…
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More on the Amtrak Long Distance trains performance vs. the NEC
Commentary by Andrew Selden, President, United Rail Passenger Alliance Amtrak recently told a U.S. Senator in writing (from an Amtrak senior executive officer) that elimination of all of the long distance trains (after transition costs) would increase its need for annual federal subsidy, because the same costs would continue to exist but be spread over…
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Amtrak’s 2014 – The Real Stats
Amtrak continually tells us about how many passengers they put into seats in the Northeast corridor. What many suspect because of far longer travel distances, but never can get Amtrak to say, is that in passenger miles (passenger mile = one passenger riding for one mile), and is said by some to be the most…
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Trip Report on the Texas Eagle and other trains: How was it?
Commentary by Russ Jackson Opinions expressed in this report are the author’s, and not necessarily those of the RailPAC Board This writer and spouse recently completed a November Amtrak circle trip, starting and ending with the Texas Eagle, which covered much of the western United States. For reporting purposes, the information below primarily covers the…
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Long Distance, State-Supported, and the NEC…now what?
Commentary by Russ Jackson Comments are those of the writer, not necessarily those of the RailPAC Board. The three categories in the title of this writing are all tied to Amtrak in one way or another. Amtrak, as we know, is the “National Rail Passenger Corporation,” and is the purveyor of intercity passenger rail transportation.…