TrainBlog by Marcel Marchon

Service between Albuquerque and Sandoval will start July 14 - here’s the schedule. Note that not all stations will be in service right away. There will be 3 roundtrips in the morning, one midday roundtrip and three RTs in the evening.

Also, service will be completely FREE for the first 3 months, then after that a flat fare of $2 will be in effect until the end of the year.

Service from Albuquerque south to Belen starts in “Late Summer”.

Or: Who asked for an overnight train from the Bay Area to Los Angeles - we already have one, just take the Star”late” …

Recent delays of the southbound Coast Starlight, Amtrak #11 into Los Angeles:

Sunday, June 25: 15 hours, 28 minutes - arrived 12:28pm on Monday

Monday, June 26: 15 hours, 32 minutes - arrived 12:32pm on Tuesday

Tuesday, June 27: 8 hours, 17 minutes - arrived 5:17am on Wednesday

Wednesday, June 28: delay as of 11:02pm - 10 hours, 13 minutes - estimated to arrive 6:15am on Thursday

amtrak

amtrak

SNCF - the French National Railways - have published the provisional timetables for the TGV Est Europeen service that is scheduled to start June 10, 2007 over the new eastern High Speed line (Paris - Metz/Nancy - Strasbourg). The timetable features (almost) hourly trains between Paris and Strasbourg, some of which continue onwards to Mulhouse-Basle-Zurich or Stuttgart-Munich. Services between Paris and Luxembourg as well as those between Paris and Frankfurt will also utilise the new high speed line.

TGV Est Europeen provisional timetables

tgv, tgv est, high speed rail

The FRA (Federal Railroad Administration) released a press release today about a just completed study that indicates that push-pull passenger trains are no less safe that trains operated locomotive forward:

A comprehensive federal study of accident data found that push-pull passenger rail service has an excellent safety record and that a train being pushed has virtually no greater likelihood of derailing after a highway-rail grade crossing collision than one with a locomotive in the lead, Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph H. Boardman announced.

In the letter accompanying the report, FRA Administrator Boardman writes:

Both intercity passenger and commuter rail service are very safe, and are becoming safer. They are much safer than use of personal motor vehicles (the likely alternative for commuters in large urban areas). Therefore, FRA recommends continued emphasis on progressive improvement of passenger rail safety as a whole, rather than abandonment of push-pull service.

Read the FRA Press Release and the full report.

This press release arrived just in time for tomorrows hearing in the California Senate Transportation and Housing Committee about AB 1699, the bill introduced by Assemblyman Frommer after the recent Metrolink accident in Glendale. The bill aims to outlaw operating commuter trains in push-mode.

I hope the esteemed Senators on the committee are all reading the FRA’s report …

[california | fra | caltrain | metrolink | amtrak | coaster | ace]

Just seen on Getting There - U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta has announced his resignation … I wonder who the Bush Administration will come up with as his replacement.

Norman Mineta, U.S. Secretary of Transportation just announced his resignation.

[Getting There: US DOT Sectretary Resigns]

This forum post are a couple of pictures of the first trial runs that have just started on the new Paris-Strasbourg high speed rail line in France.

While trial runs have started on certain sections of the new line, construction is still ongoing in other sections. The first scheduled trains should be running in June 2007.

[ tgv | highspeedrail ]

This is very cool - follow the High Speed Rail alignments for Northern California proposed by Architecture 21 on Google Earth - you can literally “fly” along the proposed routes.

Fly California is the motto of the California High Speed Rail Authority. Now with Google Earth, you can fly over the alignmments proposed by Architecture 21.

[ Architecture 21 ]

Click here to load the routes into Google Earth (KML file) - then select one (in the “Places” sidebar) and select “Play Tour” from the “View” menu (or press F10).

Today and tomorrow (June 22 and 23) are the first two “Spare the Air” days of the season.

How it Works
Simply arrive at your preferred transit operator and board for free – there is no need for tickets, passes, or tokens. Bus drivers, train conductors, ferry operators, and station personnel will be notified in advance that a Spare the Air day has been called and will be opening the fare gates or covering the fareboxes so that you can ride for free. All you have to do is board your bus, train, or ferry and enjoy the free ride!

Stay Informed
Register for AirAlerts to be notified of Spare the Air Days in advance so you can protect your health and the environment. Learn more about Bay Area air quality and what you can do to help protect it at sparetheair.org.

Plan your Trip
Visit the 511 Transit page to find schedules and route maps, and to plan your trip using the TakeTransit Trip PlannerSM. You can also call 511 to be directly transferred to any Bay Area transit agency for free. Just say “Transit Agencies” at the Main Menu and then the agency you’d like.

[511.org - Spare the Air ]

It’s been up for a while, but in case you haven’t seen it yet - it’s a good read:

California High-Speed Rail • Do we really need a bullet train?