With the National Elections upon us I think I speak for most rail passenger supporters in appreciating the efforts and funding for improving rail passenger service by our elected officials. But I also realize that given the unstable nature of politics that we can’t depend on partisan politics to complete a truly extensive, economical and…

Most if not all High Speed Rail equipment running over 125 miles per hour both tilt and conventional use fixed trainset with articulated cars like Talgo. Weight is a major issue at high speeds both because of the need for quick acceleration and because light weight equipment reduces wear and tear on both the trains…

Amtrak snack bars lost $84.5 million last year; $833 million in 10 years Washington Examiner-Oct 16, 2012 Federal spending over the past 20 years has surged 71 percent faster than inflation, much of it on bloated and wasteful programs and services, …The use of Fully Allocated Accounting by Amtrak opens it to these misleading headlines.…

The diner was operated by a crew of four—two chefs and two waitresses, who, fortunately for the passengers who had paid thousands of dollars for the privilege of riding, worked their tails off to feed everyone. (That is not an exaggeration—the last bedrooms sold for the astonishing price of $1,478 on top of the rail…

Big-rig driver can’t explain how Amtrak crash happened Morris Daily Herald-Oct 3, 2012 HANFORD, Calif. (MCT) — The driver who slammed his big rig into an Amtrak train Monday afternoon in central California wasn’t impaired at … Perhaps what is needed is PTC: Positive TRUCK Control to keep truckers from driving into occupied rail crossings! NB October 8,…

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) on behalf of the departments of transportation from Illinois, Michigan, and Missouri issued a Notice of Intent to Award today to Sumitomo Corporation of America to design, build, and deliver 130 bi-level passenger railcars for use in regional intercity rail corridors in California and the Midwest. The Notice of…

The problem with the current rail route built in the 1870’s is it takes over 4 hours to go from Los Angeles to Bakersfield which takes 2 hours by bus. Also between Mojave and Bakersfield the line is very congested with 2 freight railroads sharing a single track rail line. … Even though the State…

Big Week for Metrolink and Hightlights of the RailPAC/NARP Meeting in Sacramento September 17, 2012 Part 1   September 17, 2012 Part 2 The above copy of this enewletter is on a PDF file and you will not be able to click on to the links in blue. If you would like an emailed copy of…

Why is coordinating the services of these 3 regions so important? In a word connections. For people in California to be able to get around the entire State by rail the trains must be scheduled with good connections to each other. A major part of the connectivity of the existing State Rail Passenger network are…

Amtrak told 3 states have no funding for route                                                                  Sacramento Bee – Aug 31, 2012                …