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New Amtrak Cars, But (sigh) Not For The West
Commentary by Russ Jackson, URPA/RailPAC On October 24, 2013, Amtrak rolled out the new low-level Viewliner cars at the manufacturer CAF’s plant in Elmira, New York. The order is for 130 cars: 25 sleeper cars, 25 dining cars, 25 baggage/dormitory cars and 55 baggage cars, and Amtrak is excited. They should be. This is the…
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Re: Ralph James Auburn-Bakersfield Trip (a discussion)
NOTE: The following letter was published in the July 29, 2013 RailPAC e-newsletter as a “letter to the editor” after Ralph James’ article on the subject in the July-August issue of the “Steel Wheels” newsletter. Ralph James has now replied to Mr. Heywood, and those comments are published here. Bob Heywood, Modesto, CA, wrote, I…
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Amtrak’s Southwest Chief; a future still in doubt
Commentary by Russ Jackson, RailPAC It’s time we took another look at the continuing saga of the future of the Southwest Chief, which requires action as to whether 1) It will continue on its historic route from Albuquerque to Kansas via the Raton Pass route, or, 2) It will be moved to the BNSF “Transcon”…
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Comet Car Access problem? A RailPAC solution
RailPAC Opinion with PHOTOS, by Paul Dyson, RailPAC President As RailPAC’s e-mail newsletter Editor Noel Braymer has previously reported there is some discontent on the part of the San Joaquin rail board at being allocated two consists of the refurbished “Comet” cars. The two bones of contention? The age of the cars, as which date…
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Sacramento to Tucson, on Amtrak and in the Dining Car
Trip Report and Comments by Mike Barnbaum, RailPAC Associate Director Six months ago, I reserved with 11,000 Guest Rewards points, a round trip from Sacramento to Tucson. I have already traveled one-way, and will be returning on Sunday 26 May from Tucson, arriving into Sacramento on Monday 27 May. This was a sad trip in…
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RailPAC President writes CPUC re Sprinter
Mr. Michael R. Peevey 8th April, 2013 President, California Public Utilities Commission 505 Van Ness Avenue San Francisco CA 94102 SAFE OPERATION OF “SPRINTER” RAIL PASSENGER SERVICE Dear President Peevey: The Rail Passenger Association of California is a non-profit, 501c3 California Corporation active since 1977 in promoting passenger rail. I am writing to request that…
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RailPAC President writes Caltrans about the Surfliners becoming Coasters
NOTE: This letter from Paul Dyson and Noel Braymer’s article below express the RailPAC opinions on this subject. 8th April, 2013 Mr. William D. Bronte, Chief, Division of Rail Department of Transportation 1120 N Street MS 74 Sacramento, CA 95814 Surfliner: Degrading Intercity Schedules to cover gaps in Commuter Service a bad policy and contrary…
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Amtrak plans to stop Surfliners at Coaster stations too
Report and Comments by Noel Braymer, RailPAC 3-newsletter Editor Amtrak has already listed all the Coaster Stations in the latest April 1, 2013 Surfliner Schedule . It has the footnote : (21) Service begins at a date to be announced. That won’t confuse anyone will it? This is a really bad idea from North County…
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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…
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A Business Analysis of the San Diego Metroliners
By Andrew C. Selden NOTE: This article appeared as the first article in the first issue of the “RailPAC Quarterly Review,” in September, 1984. What Mr. Selden said then bears close resemblance to the situation facing the Amtrak “experiment” with a morning limited stop train on the same corridor in 2013. Mr. Selden is President…