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Life after “Death” for Rail in LA.
By Noel T. Braymer In 1998 the future of rail transit, particularly subway construction looked bleak in Los Angeles. Construction of the Red Line subway from downtown Los Angeles to North Hollywood was a mess. The Red Line construction had created a huge sink hole in east Hollywood. Many buildings were damaged because of ground…
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What’s the Plan for LOSSAN?
By Noel T. Braymer LOSSAN’s goal should be to increase ridership by providing better rail passenger service with faster trains serving more destinations.This is done with coordination of the different services to feed both local and express trains. By doing so all the trains on LOSSAN will improve their efficiency and be more economical for…
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LOSSAN to Arizona?
By Noel T. Braymer LOSSAN originally stood for LOS Angeles-SAN Diego for the route of the San Diegan Trains back in the 1980’s. Since then rail service on this corridor has expanded to Santa Barbara and later to San Luis Obispo. With the introduction of Metrolink and Coaster service sharing parts of the LOSSAN corridor…
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Why I am Thankful for California High Speed Rail
By Noel T. Braymer I was never a big fan of the planning for the California High Speed Rail Project. I have long wanted State Wide High Speed Rail service in California. But what was originally planned by the California High Speed Rail Authority was often long on glitz but short on substance. Much of…
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Orange County Transportation Authority gets the LOSSAN Administration Contract
By Noel T. Braymer I was able to attend the LOSSAN Board meeting on August 23rd in San Diego at the Board Room of SANDAG. The final selection of an agency to take care of the administration of the reorganized LOSSAN Joint Powers Authority was the main order of business and took up most of…
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The Fallacy behind Hyperloop
By Noel T. Braymer The problem with Hyperloop, like most attempts to “reinvent the wheel” is that the promoters of such ideas ignore the fundamentals of how transportation works. The fundamentals are feeders and distribution networks and the travel time from origin to destination. When looking at any airport you will find lots of flat…
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What’s the Good News for Rail Passenger Service in California?
By Noel T. Braymer Over the last 35 years or so there have been many ups and downs to expanding Rail Passenger Service in California. While things may seem rocky now, the future is very promising. Just look at how far things have come in Los Angeles since 1990 when the first 22 miles of…
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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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Pinching Penny’s while Blowing Bucks
By Noel T. Braymer I went to the Metrolink Board meeting in Los Angeles on June 14th largely because I had the day off. I expected the Board to approve the 5% Fare increase on the agenda. Still, going to this meeting was an educational experience. I caught Metrolink 607 at 6:36 AM with a…