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LA Busy Building over 35 Miles of New Rail Transit over the Next 10 Years.
Report by Noel T. Braymer with illustrations from LA METRO Los Angeles County has two major Light Rail extensions under construction now that are planned to be finished by 2015 which will be added to its existing 87.8 miles of rail transit. There is the 6.6 mile extension of the Expo Line using an old…
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The Mission of LOSSAN
Analysis and Photos by Noel T. Braymer LOSSAN started out as a loose coalition, a network really of local elected officials, mostly city council members and mayors along the route of the San Diegans in the early 1980’s. Most of these elected officials were from cities that had or were planning to build or improve…
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Rail Improvements in California over the Next 5-7 Years
Story and Photos by Noel T. Braymer With all the talk about High Speed Rail and 130 miles of new construction in the San Joaquin Valley by 2018, what can we expect between Los Angeles and San Diego? The projects we can be sure of have been in the works for years. In San Diego…
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What is the Future of the Pacific Surfliners?
Opinion by Noel T. Braymer With the Governor’s signing of SB 1225, LOSSAN now has the legal authority to reorganize itself into a Joint Powers Authority. This will give it administrative control over the Pacific Surfliners instead of Caltrans as well as financial responsibility for those trains. Since the legislation allows but doesn’t mandate the…
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Coaster and San Diego Trolley June 2012 Trip Report
Report and Pictures by Noel T. Braymer I amazed myself by getting up and out the door before 9 AM on my day off to catch the 644 Coaster out of Oceanside at 9:22 AM. This gave me almost 4 hours in San Diego so I could still get home early enough to take care…
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How to run the Surfliners Faster
Opinion by Noel T. Braymer The experiment with running the morning Surfliner Express from San Diego to Los Angeles isn’t going well. The train has a poor on-time record and ridership is lower than the train it replaced. What would be better is to run all Surfliners between San Diego and Los Angeles in 2…
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Trip Report to ride the Expo Line May 31, 2012
Report and Photos by Noel T. Braymer After waiting 32 years to ride the old Pacific Electric Line on Exposition Blvd, waiting one more month after it opened to finally ride it when I had some time seemed typical. I was able to get up early and even out the door by 7AM. I like…
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Santa Clarita to the Green Line to Orange County by Rail?
Opinion by Noel T. Braymer The Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) is currently conducting a study of what to do with what is left of about 20 miles of what was the Pacific Electric’s West Santa Ana Branch. This right of way has been publicly owned by the Counties of Los Angeles and Orange…
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LAUS River Annex: An Idea You May Hate or Like
Opinion by Noel T. Braymer Building run-through tracks at Union Station to eliminate the need to back trains in or out of the station is a long held dream. This will be critical for High Speed Rail service for travels from Orange County to points north of Los Angeles. Construction is now underway to put…