9/30/2015 Print Subject: Metrolink leasing more Locos­Final end for Red Cars?­Caltrain apologizes to 900 passengers From: Rail Passenger Association of California ([email protected]) To: [email protected]; Date: Monday, September 28, 2015 9:31 AM RailPAC Weekly E­Newsletter for September 28, 2015 Edited by Noel T. Braymer Feel free to forward copies of this E­Newsletter to your friends or someone who can use this information. If you would like to subscribe to the E­Newsletter just send me your name and email address to [email protected] If you'd like to see expanded and improved Rail Passenger Service­ Join Us! Membership increases our strength in presenting the case for rail to policymakers at all levels! https://us­mg5.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?action=showLetter&umid=2_0_0_1_1419107_AMu+imIAACDjVglrTQEB0PdG9Qs&box=Inbox&src={src}&.rand=... 1/13 9/30/2015 Print The view from above in San Francisco of the new Transbay Transit Center under construction down below. When finished, it will be the terminal for many cross bay buses, Caltrain and the California High Speed Rail service. Photo by Bruce C. Jenkins METROLINK: Board to consider shelving crash­resistant cabs Press­Enterprise­Sep 25, 2015 Faced with an unspecified problem with the type of train car that derailed in Oxnard in February, the Metrolink board will weigh Friday whether to spend an estimated $19 million on leased locomotives or cut daily commuter rail service in six Southern California counties by about half... “It’s all sort of shrouded in mystery,” said Paul Dyson, president of Rail Passengers Association of California and Nevada. “If it’s a safety issue, if it’s a serious safety issue, why are they still running them?” Metrolink: Will it lease locomotives or cut service? OCRegister­Sep 25, 2015 Leasing 40 locomotives from freight operator Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Co., Millhouse said, “is being considered to err on the side of conservatism.” The Rotem cars would remain as passenger cars, with locomotives in front of them. A staff report lays out an alternative of installing existing Metrolink locomotives in front of the Rotem cars. But lacking a sufficient number of locomotives, that option would require Metrolink to cut daily service from 165 trains to 80 or 90. Metrolink to lease locomotives amid cab car safety questions OCRegister­Sep 26, 2015 LOS ANGELES – The board of the Southern California commuter railroad voted unanimously Friday to spend an estimated $19 million on leased locomotives as a stop­gap solution to an undisclosed problem with the type of cab car that derailed in Oxnard earlier this year. https:M//us­omrge5. mcaoil.nyadhoeom.comn/anetoi/olaunnsch ?aahctieona=dsh oiwnL eFtterre&usmnido=,2 _V0_0a_l1l_e14y19 1f0o7_rA Mhui+gimhI­AsApCDejeVgdlr TrQaEiBl0 rPodGu9tQes&box=Inbox&src={src}&.rand=... 2/13 9/30/2015 Print More condemnations ahead in Fresno, Valley for high­speed rail route Fresno Bee­Sep 22, 2015 The latest action brings to 282 the number of resolutions that the Public Works Board has adopted since December 2013, totaling more than 960 acres – either entire parcels or portions thereof – in Madera, Fresno, Kings and Tulare counties, home to the first stages of construction of the statewide project. The heads of the state’s General Services, Transportation and Finance departments comprise the Public Works Board, which oversees the acquisition of land for state projects. High­Speed Rail Authority asks permission to drill under Angeles National Forest The San Gabriel Valley Tribune­Sep 25, 2015 The California High Speed Rail Authority has asked permission to test­drill deep beneath the Angeles National Forest to determine the feasibility of digging a rail tunnel through the rugged San Gabriel Mountains near Santa Clarita. If allowed to perform its tests, the rail authority will drill down 900 feet to 2,500 feet below the surface in up to eight locations of the northwestern portion of the Angeles, a federally protected wilderness. Borings will only be allowed on existing forest roads, according to the U.S. Forest Service. High­speed rail takes Henry Perea to Spain Sacramento Bee­Sep 23, 2015 Post­session legislative travel season has arrived for California lawmakers, with Assemblyman Henry T. Perea, D­Fresno, heading to Spain this week for a high­speed rail study trip alongside business and labor representatives... Joining Perea will be his father, Fresno County Supervisor Henry R. Perea, the head of the local Building and Construction Trades Council, the president of the Fresno County Economic Development Corporation, and representatives of other businesses and agricultural groups. Attendees are paying their own way out of private funds while Assemblyman Perea will use campaign funds, his spokeswoman said. Term limits will force Perea out of his Assembly seat at the end of 2016. AVE high­speed rail network reaches Leon and Palencia Spanish News Today­Sep 22, 2015 The new AVE service will reduce the travelling time between Madrid and León by 45 minutes to two hours, while the trip to and from Palencia will take only 1 hour 20 minutes, twenty minutes less than hitherto... The AVE high­speed rail network now serves more than 30 cities throughout Spain, with over 3,000 kilometres of track making it the second longest in the world, behind only that of China. New high­speed rail route may serve Arlington, DFW Airport Fort Worth Star Telegram­Sep 26, 2015 A proposed high­speed rail route cutting through Dallas­Fort Worth would go slower than previously planned but would include a station south of DFW Airport, according to a newly unveiled plan. The proposal, which is being studied by a state­appointed commission, would bring passengers from downtown Fort Worth to Arlington along the Interstate 30 corridor, then cut north roughly along the Texas 360 corridor to the CentrePort­Dallas/Fort Worth Airport area. From there, rail passengers could connect with other transportation to the airport to catch flights. An unlikely saviour: China invests in America's high­speed rail The Economist Sep 23, 2015 “It definitely speaks to the fact that our government is dragging their feet,” says Andy Kunz, head of the US High Speed Rail Association. Mr Kunz is happy to take the money where he can get it. And the American economy will benefit from https://us­mg5.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?action=showLetter&umid=2_0_0_1_1419107_AMu+imIAACDjVglrTQEB0PdG9Qs&box=Inbox&src={src}&.rand=... 3/13 9/30/2015 Print improved transportation infrastructure, regardless of funding source. Commuters, too, will appreciate the convenience of an 80­minute train ride from Victorville to Las Vegas, considering the drive can take up to four hours. Still, American industry is missing out. No one thinks the investment in the rail line will be a big money spinner for China Railway International USA. “Transportation isn’t supposed to make money,” says Mr Kunz. Instead, China is taking a strategic step to boost its own industry. After investing in more miles of new high­speed rail than any other country in the world, it has developed the engineering know­how to build tracks and trains—which it now hopes to export to overseas markets. The United States is one of more than 20 countries where China aims to build a market for its rail industry. Britain courts Chinese investors for high­speed rail line Deutsche Welle­Sep 24, 2015 UK Foreign Minister George Osborne has opened bidding on contracts to build a high­speed rail line connecting London and the north. Osborne is aiming to draw in Asian investors during a trip to China...The HS2 high­speed line aims to boost the economy in the Midlands and the north of England by linking the British capital initially with Birmingham and eventually expanding to Manchester and Leeds. The total value of the project is expected reach 43 billion pounds. The railway line, however, is still waiting for the final parliamentary approval. Indonesia reinitiates high­speed rail project bidding WantChinaTimes­Sep 25, 2015 Indonesia has reinitiated plans for its first high­speed rail train, after previously scrapping them in early September, snubbing bids from China and Japan, which competed for months to secure the promised US$5 billion deal in the Southeast Asian nation, Shanghai­based The Paper reports, citing several Japanese media reports. Japan worried China will beat it to US high­speed rail projects WantChinaTimes­Sep 16, 2015 Central Japan Rail Company (JR­Central) had also submitted a tender for the project. While the Japanese bid was more competitive in terms of durability and the country's experience in operating high­speed rail systems, China's price made it a stronger competitor, the report said, citing sources familiar with the matter... What concerns Japan most is that China's entry to the US rail industry will trigger a domino effect on several other high­speed rail projects in the US, including one to connect Los Angeles with San Francisco along the California coast, the paper said. DB ICx begins mainline testing International Railway Journal­Sep 25, 2015 HIGH­SPEED test running started on the German Rail (DB) network on September 25 of the first of a fleet of ICx trains being built by Siemens... DB ordered 130 trains from Siemens in 2011 as part of a framework contract for up to 300 trains. The initial batch, comprising 85 12­car and 45 seven­car 230km/h trains, will be used to replace locomotive­ hauled coaches dating from 1971 operating on Intercity and Eurocity services. 230 kilometers per hour is 143 miles per hour. NB https://us­mg5.mail.yahoo.com/neo/launch?action=showLetter&umid=2_0_0_1_1419107_AMu+imIAACDjVglrTQEB0PdG9Qs&box=Inbox&src={src}&.rand=..