Metrolink CEO Stephanie Wiggins. Photo courtesy of USC/Brian Morri A Metrolink Ventura County Line train arrives at the Burbank Airport station on Feb. 12, 2019. TRAINS: David Lassen The Trains Interview with Metrolink CEO Stephanie Wiggins in the June 2019 issue is, unavoidably, significantly abridged from the conversation in February at Metrolink’s headquarters in downtown […]
Side-by-side Tunnel Boring Machines begin their work from the La Brea station site on LA Metro’s Purple Line Extension on Oct. 15, 2018. Photo courtesy LA Metro LOS ANGELES — Sometime in June, the first of two giant tunnel boring machines will be lifted out of the ground under Wilshire Boulevard, having chomped through almost […]
A Southern Pacific piggyback train of modified conventional flatcars with company trailers negotiates Cuesta Grade above San Luis Obispo, Calif., in June 1957. Robert Hale photo […]
OAKLAND, Calif. — Union Pacific has joined with the maritime industry in expressing concerns over the proposed location of a new ballpark for the Oakland Athletics, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The ballpark would be built at the current site of the Charles P. Howard Terminal, a container facility on Oakland’s Inner Harbor. One side […]
SAN JOSE, Calif. — San Jose’s transit agency, the Santa Clara Valley Transit Authority, is proposing the closure of a little-used light rail line as part of a series of budget cuts. The 2-mile Ohlone/Chynoweth-Almaden branch would be replaced by bus service under the authority’s New Transit Service Plan, which will go before the authority […]
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — After a year of turmoil capped by Calif. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s pledge in February to scale back California’s high-speed rail project, CEO Brian Kelly says he will unveil a new construction plan May 1 designed to restore flagging public confidence in the project. The plan was devised by DB Engineering & Consulting, […]
Work continues on the first phase of LA Metro’s overhaul of its Blue Line, oldest in the light rail system. This work is near the Pacific Coast Highway station in Long Beach. LA Metro LA Metro’s overhaul of its Blue Line is taking place in two phases, each closing half the system. Work is scheduled […]
Indio, Calif. Google Maps PALM SPRINGS, Calif. — Funding has been awarded to establish passenger rail service for two high-profile California music festivals. The Desert Sun newspaper reports that the California State Transportation Agency granted $5.9 million to fund temporary Amtrak service to Indio, Calif., to benefit those attending the Coachella Valley Music and Arts […]
SAN FRANCISCO — Bay Area Rapid Transit engineers are conducting “a comprehensive forensic evaluation” to determine what caused a shutdown of the BART system on Saturday. The Saturday morning outage began about 6 a.m.; service was not fully restored until about 11 a.m., the San Francisco Chronicle reports. BART’s preliminary report is that the closure […]
SAN FRANCISCO — Caltrain, the San Francisco-area commuter rail service, will institute a bikes-board-first policy at all stations on Monday, March 11. The procedure allows riders with bicycles to board first on designated bike cars after exiting passengers have disembarked. Other passengers are encouraged to board at non-bike cars to avoid having to wait. Caltrain […]
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California High Speed Rail Authority responded strongly on Monday to a Federal Railroad Administration intent to cancel funding and seek the return of federal grants, calling it “unwarranted, unprecedented, and harmful” to the state and nation. Those were the words of Brian Kelly, CEO of the authority, in a statement accompanying the […]
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – “A new statewide train system, over 700 miles in length, capable of travel at speeds up to 200 mph,” reads a 2005 brochure published by the California High Speed Rail Authority. The system will “carry as many as 68 million passengers annually by 2020.” Those dreams are stalled somewhere in the arid […]
