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President’s Commentary – Key RailPAC priorities for 2020
By Steve Roberts – RailPAC President [Originally published in Steel Wheels, 1st Quarter 2020] Greetings! In early January, members of the RailPAC Board developed options and came to a consensus on RailPAC’s policy priorities for 2020. The two major ground rules were that the priorities had to be focused and actionable in 2020. A list…
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RailPAC submits comment letter on Connect SoCal – The 2020-2045 Regional Transportation Plan/Sustainable Communities Strategy
The Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) regional transportation plan is nearing completion. As described by SCAG’s Connect SoCal website: “Connect SoCal – The 2020-2045 Regional Transportation Plan/Sustainable Communities Strategy is a long-range visioning plan that balances future mobility and housing needs with economic, environmental and public health goals. Connect SoCal embodies a collective vision…
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Our Most Important RailPAC Steel Wheels Conference Ever
2018 has become a critical year for passenger rail in California. The threat to the interstate network trains, California Zephyr, Sunset Limited, Southwest Chief and Coast Starlight, puts them on the brink of fading into history barring radical action by Amtrak management and the Federal government. Two decades of under-investment would have been enough to…
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Amtrak’s Accounting – George Chilson
Amtrak’s Route Accounting: Fatally Flawed, Misleading & Wrong August 23, 2018 The Rail Passengers Association (RPA) strongly believes that the ongoing debate concerning the future shape of Amtrak’s national network has been distorted by its use of fully allocated costs rather than avoidable costs as required by statute. The adverse outcome of using fully allocated…
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RPA Staff Fact Check of Amtrak Statements re Southwest Chief
Fact Checking the Amtrak Proposal to Replace the Southwest Chief with Bus Service in Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico The Southwest Chief would effectively cease to exist if the proposed bus bridge from Dodge City, KS or La Junta, CO to Albuquerque is implemented. While presented as a decision based in concern for passenger…
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California Integrated Travel Conference 2018 at UC Davis May 1and 2
RailPAC Board members Doug Kerr and Steve Roberts attended this event, and their report follows. Chad Edison and State staff have been working hard to bring together the many State rail and transit agencies to make travel easier for the passenger, a long standing RailPAC goal. On May 1 and 2 Steve Roberts and I…
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Passenger Rail Investment Priorities – RailPAC View
I was recently asked by a member about our policy towards investments, particularly regarding High Speed Rail versus conventional incremental improvements. Below is my attempt at a brief answer. I’d be interested to hear from you, and let me know if I have your permission to post your comments. Thank you for raising a…
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Electrolink North – RailPAC’s vision for ACE and the Mega Region Of Northern California
By Steve Roberts, RailPAC Vice President – Policy and Research ACE – Well short of its potential to move more people – Photo By Arne Brown More Frequent Service Faster Trains Better Connectivity Electrification This post is being updated with new statistics and information and will be republished soon.
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Ventura – Santa Barbara “Commuter ” Service off to rocky start – the punctuality problem
LOSSAN retimed the morning train (761) from LAUS to San Luis Obispo to make it a “commuter” train from Ventura County to Santa Barbara and Goleta. (See Surfliner schedule effective 4.1.18). Various efforts were made to try and stop the last train to Goleta at Oxnard and start the morning train from there but none…
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RailPAC Responds to LOSSAN Business Plan 2018
One of RailPAC’s missions is to respond to the Business Plans of the State Rail Corridors. We have concerns about many of the policies adopted and hope that our experience is useful in pointing these Boards in the right direction. The reality is that RailPAC has a longer history of attendance at these meetings, and…