Post by bennyp81 on Jun 15, 2005 14:30:12 GMT -8
Bart Reed
User ID: 1606604 Apr 21st 10:56 PM
Stockton Record: Monday, April 21, 2003
ACE to try out midday bus; Train officials hope option will increase daily ridership
By Audrey Cooper
Record Staff Writer
There are lots of excuses commuters use to explain why they can't ride Altamont Commuter Express trains. The need to get home in an emergency usually tops the list. ACE officials hope a new midday return bus will persuade more potential riders to give the train a try.
Beginning April 28, ACE riders will be able to work half-days or return home to sick children.
The bus is the one used by Amtrak to carry its riders between the Bay Area and Stockton, but the stops have changed to accommodate ACE riders.
The bus will leave Stockton's ACE station at 9:05 a.m. and arrive at the San Jose ACE station at 11:25 a.m. The return bus will leave San Jose at 12:01 p.m. and arrive in Stockton around 2:50 p.m.
On both routes, the bus will stop at all ACE stations except Tracy and Fremont. In Tracy, the bus will stop instead at the Wendy's fast-
food restaurant.
"It lets us test out the effect of a midday train without having to pay for a midday train," said Stacey Mortensen, ACE's executive director.
"On the East Coast, nearly all the trains have midday options. The ridership on those trains isn't huge, but they've found that having the mid-day option dramatically increases the number of people taking the regular trains," Mortensen said.
That's because riders are assured they'll be able to get home before the evening train if needed.
Some rail systems have seen overall ridership increase by as much as 50 percent after the addition of a midday return option, according to ACE documents.
The midday bus eventually could be replaced with a midday train if enough people take it, but such an addition could be years away, Mortensen said.
The midday bus is expected to play a significant role in recent marketing efforts that ACE is making in areas such as Livermore.
It's also welcomed by regular ACE riders such as Tom Conway, a sales representative from Lathrop who commutes to the South Bay. Conway uses one car for work and leaves another at the Lathrop/
Manteca station. Leaving work early usually means driving his work car back to Lathrop and driving it west the next day.
"I imagine a lot of people don't have that possi-bility. And for me, a lot of days, if it's a slow day, I could take the bus home and not worry about having two cars at the wrong end of the track," Conway said.
The bus will be operated jointly by ACE and Amtrak, which is paid by the state to operate some
rail systems in California. Department of Trans-
portation spokesman David Anderson said it won't cost the state extra to share the service with ACE.
"It's a natural fit. It's meeting the needs of the commuters in the Bay Area and commuters in the Valley," he said.
In the next fiscal year, ACE will have to pay for any increased mileage costs on the bus. Operating a midday bus separate from Amtrak could have cost as much as $1.2 million for the bus and $91,700 a
year for operations, according to estimates from the San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission, an ACE partner.
To reach reporter Audrey Cooper, phone 209-546-8298 or e-mail: acooper@recordnet.com
Þ--Þ--Þ
Bart Reed
User ID: 1606604 Apr 21st 11:05 PM
Stockton Record: Monday, April 21, 2003
ACE offering free rides
First-time riders have a new reason to give the Altamont Commuter Express a try.
ACE is offering a week of free rides to commuters who usually have to traverse Bay Area freeways to get to work.
Commuters who call ACE at (800) 441-RAIL before any Thursday will get the next week of rides free. The Taste of ACE promotion lasts until the end of June.
Only riders who have never used ACE are eligible for the free passes, worth up to $100.
At the end of the promotion, commuters who tried ACE will be able to buy monthly passes on the commuter train at 50 percent off the regular rate. Depending on the distance commuted, a monthly pass costs $65 to $259.
For more information on ACE schedules, stations, shuttles and fares, go to www.acerail.com.
Þ--Þ--Þ
Bart Reed
User ID: 1606604 May 11th 2:05 AM
Stockton Record: Saturday, May 3, 2003
History not on drivers' minds
By Andy Samuelson
Tracy Bureau Chief
While driving over the hilly Altamont Pass, one notices windmills, railroad crossings and grazing cattle, but few have time to think about such things as they race to their jobs in the Bay Area.
Interstate 580 heading over the Altamont Pass is one of the most used and congested freeways in the region. It's also one of the most historical and scenic routes.
Every day, about 140,000 commuters drive the concrete swath that connects the Bay Area with the
Central Valley. Traffic is known to tie up early in the morning, and many commuters leave their homes before dawn so they can get to work on time.
Despite the beauty, there's an underlying ugliness to the road, according to some.
"I just thank God I don't have to drive it any-more," said Dave Stengel a retired officer from the San Jose Police Department who commuted to work from the Central Valley. "It's just horrible."
Stengel commuted from his home in Placerville to work and had more stress on the freeways than he did on the job, he said.
The commotion probably would seem unimaginable to Spanish explorer Juan Bautista de Anza.
The modern history of the Altamont Pass can be traced to de Anza, who in 1776 crossed the Valley on his way to establishing Mission Dolores in San Francisco. At the time, the area was a clear valley.
Yet de Anza's legacy probably isn't even consid-ered by most drivers. Nor is the legacy of the gold miners who fanned over the hills in the 1850s
on their way to the Sierra Nevada.
The problem is, most people don't have time to think about history or pay attention to the scenery, said Frank Cava of Tracy.
Cava, a retired construction worker, drove to the Bay Area every day for more than 20 years. He said
he didn't see or think about anything, because he left home in the morning before the sun came up and left work at night after the sun had set.
"There's nothing you could see in the morning, and there's nothing you could see at night except taillights," Cava said.
Now that he's not racing to get to work, Cava has time to notice the landmarks. He said he likes the
way the windmills look on the western horizon.
But to lifelong Tracy resident Onalee Koster, the windmills that sprouted along the Altamont Pass hills destroyed the region's scenic beauty.
"It kind of spoils it for me," said the 72-year-old Koster, chairwoman of the Tracy Historical Museum. "To me it makes it look like a pincushion with windmills all around."
To reach Tracy Bureau Chief Andy Samuelson, phone 209-833-1141 or e-mail asamuels@recordnet.com
Þ-®-Þ-®-Þ
Ken T.
User ID: 9635043 Mar 14th 11:27 AM
San Francisco Chronicle
March 14, 2005
TRANSPORTATION
Alternative to driving isn't a reliable one
Altamont 'express' trains have been plagued by delays
Leslie Fulbright, Chronicle Staff Writer
Monday, March 14, 2005
The Altamont Commuter Express, once hailed as a savior for those making the long slog from the eastern reaches of San Joaquin County to Silicon Valley, causes as much frustration as the freeways.
Trains that once whizzed by crawling traffic are often held up for hours, and dozens of commuters are returning to the road.
The latest problem came Friday, when a Union Pacific railroad derailment brought ACE to a halt and forced riders to take buses to San Jose from Fremont. More than half of the trains' daily riders gave up altogether and drove to work.
That's become commonplace as service has deteriorated.
"If it is more than an hour late, I get in my car," said Floyd Cobb, who commutes from Tracy to Santa Clara. "Driving is the only other option."
Cobb moved to Tracy from a small town in Oklahoma just three months ago and already has a litany of ACE horror stories.
There was the time he spent an hour just yards from the Livermore station. On Valentine's Day, the train was delayed nearly two hours because signaling problems reduced it to 5 mph. Last week, vandals stole switching wires, causing an hourslong delay.
"I come from a town of 30,000, so bumper-to-bumper traffic is very nerve- racking," said Cobb. "I can't afford to live closer to work, so sometimes driving is my only choice."
Kathleen Marx, a Fremont nurse, used to take the train five times a week but has cut her rides down to two.
"The hospital can only take so much," she said. "If I relied on ACE every day, I may be out of a job."
Though ACE's Web site says "unwinding is easy when you don't have to drive," many riders say the trains are putting stress back into the commute. ACE officials say there is little they can do.
"The majority of problems we deal with are out of our control," said Gregg Baxter, ACE's director of operations.
The double-decker trains, which carry an average of 2,700 riders a day, use the single Union Pacific track through Altamont Pass, and that is what causes most of the problems, officials said. Storms cause delays and detours. Union Pacific increased the number of freight trains using the line in the past year because of increased demand, so ACE must pass more freight trains at turnouts, said Union Pacific spokesman John Bromley.
Plus, Union Pacific's dispatch system is run from Nebraska and uses aging signaling equipment.
ACE has been popular since service began on Oct. 19, 1998, with many workers who found cheaper housing in the San Joaquin Valley. At one point, the 1,550-seat trains were standing room only.
These days, riders easily find a seat, in part because of the economic slowdown, but also because of the unreliable service. Gas prices crowded the trains at the beginning of the year, but spotty service changed that.
ACE recently started alerting passengers to long delays via e-mail or cell phones and dispatched officials to talk to passengers about alternatives, such as buses and carpools.
That has done little to satisfy frustrated commuters.
Carol Ritchie, who takes ACE five days a week from her home in Valley Springs to work at Challenge Butter in Dublin, said service started slowing down last summer and has yet to improve.
"It's maddening," said Ritchie, who relocated to Calaveras County thinking she could depend on the train to get to work. "My husband and I moved so we could get a brand-new house.
"Now we are paying the consequences."
Ritchie, who is usually home by 7:15 p.m., didn't arrive until 9:20 p.m. on Valentine's Day.
"My husband was waiting with sandwiches, but he had eaten his by the time I got there," she said. "We had to celebrate on a different day."
ACE's on-time record was so bad last month that the system will offer a 10 percent discount on fares for two months starting Tuesday to make it up to passengers.
February trains were on time at only 68 percent of stops, and ACE officials say the service lost more than 100 riders.
"There are only so many times your wife will let you blame it on the train," said Guy Jones of Tracy. "I had to buy an old car to leave in San Jose in case there is an emergency and I have to get home. But I still prefer not to drive."
Harry Weiner asks friends to pick him up if he knows there will be delays. Once, his wife met him in Livermore, and they had dinner and a glass of wine -- and still beat the train home.
"I can drive faster than the train, but I would have to buy a new car every three years," he said. "Plus, driving is not productive time. I am fortunate -- I can do some work on the train and at home."
The commute across the Altamont Pass and over the Sunol Grade is among the region's worst. An estimated 36,000 people commute across the Altamont, an increase of almost 500 percent since 1980.
A recent report by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission showed that three of the Bay Area's 10 worst traffic bottlenecks were along Interstate 580 in Alameda County between Pleasanton and the San Joaquin County line.
"Everyone says the train is better than driving," Ritchie said. "But it's not like it's free; we are paying for this."
A round-trip ticket from Stockton to San Jose runs $18, and a monthly pass is $259. Riders say those high prices should guarantee a timely arrival.
But the service is so bad that even traffic reporters joke it: "ACE on time," a radio host said early Thursday morning. "Those are magic words."
John
User ID: 9921013 Mar 14th 11:59 AM
Wow! A monthly pass for $259 and delays, delays, delays? If ridership on such a system weren't dropping, one would certainly wonder why!
Robert
User ID: 9092003 Mar 14th 12:24 PM
From Stockton to San Jose is over 70 miles. It cost over 25 cents per mile to drive a car which includes the cost of gas, oil, maintenance, insurance and depreciation.
70 x 2 x $.25 = $35.00
I would say the train is economical, but Union Pacific is at it again to hurt passenger service.
Until we get the Federal Government to care about passenger rail service, these problems will only escalate.
-=†‡÷«{(: ßÔß }»÷‡†=-
crzwdjk
User ID: 0122954 Mar 14th 9:26 PM
It's pretty obviously Union Pacific's fault, and Union Pacific equally obviously just doesn't care. They don't like the idea of passenger trains, and are "strongly opposed" to the idea. This is why there is no LA-Palm Springs or LA-Las Vegas train. Also, they are having a major crisis with respect to capacity, and passenger trains get the lowest priority. Look at the Sunset Limited, which has an on-time arrival rate of 0% for the past year. That's right, not a single one on time. I think the solution is either some sort of sanctions against UP, or just building more and longer sidings, or a second track.
Robert
User ID: 9092003 Mar 14th 10:59 PM
We had the same problem with Metrolink's Riverside Line a couple of years ago with UP, UP is to give Metrolink trains priority, per their agreement, during rush hours. SCRRA (Metrolink) threaten to take UP to court and that seemed to resolve the issue.
-=†‡÷«{(: ßÔß }»÷‡†=-
Michael M.
User ID: 0310794 Apr 13th 7:29 PM
How much freight traffic is there through Altamont Pass? If the answer is not much, couldn't whatever agency operates ACE simply buy the route from UP and then lease trackage rights back to UP (obviously, at ACE's convenience regarding scheduling, priority for passenger trains, etc.)?
Bart Reed
User ID: 9523443 Apr 13th 8:34 PM
The theme is clear: Union Pacific. There are certainly capacity issues. And competency issues with UP dispatchers. The statewide rail revival and progress is threatened by the UP attitude.
If the public starts demanding solutions from their elected officials, UP can be backed into a corner. But, this will take a lot of work.
Þ--Þ--Þ
User ID: 1606604 Apr 21st 10:56 PM
Stockton Record: Monday, April 21, 2003
ACE to try out midday bus; Train officials hope option will increase daily ridership
By Audrey Cooper
Record Staff Writer
There are lots of excuses commuters use to explain why they can't ride Altamont Commuter Express trains. The need to get home in an emergency usually tops the list. ACE officials hope a new midday return bus will persuade more potential riders to give the train a try.
Beginning April 28, ACE riders will be able to work half-days or return home to sick children.
The bus is the one used by Amtrak to carry its riders between the Bay Area and Stockton, but the stops have changed to accommodate ACE riders.
The bus will leave Stockton's ACE station at 9:05 a.m. and arrive at the San Jose ACE station at 11:25 a.m. The return bus will leave San Jose at 12:01 p.m. and arrive in Stockton around 2:50 p.m.
On both routes, the bus will stop at all ACE stations except Tracy and Fremont. In Tracy, the bus will stop instead at the Wendy's fast-
food restaurant.
"It lets us test out the effect of a midday train without having to pay for a midday train," said Stacey Mortensen, ACE's executive director.
"On the East Coast, nearly all the trains have midday options. The ridership on those trains isn't huge, but they've found that having the mid-day option dramatically increases the number of people taking the regular trains," Mortensen said.
That's because riders are assured they'll be able to get home before the evening train if needed.
Some rail systems have seen overall ridership increase by as much as 50 percent after the addition of a midday return option, according to ACE documents.
The midday bus eventually could be replaced with a midday train if enough people take it, but such an addition could be years away, Mortensen said.
The midday bus is expected to play a significant role in recent marketing efforts that ACE is making in areas such as Livermore.
It's also welcomed by regular ACE riders such as Tom Conway, a sales representative from Lathrop who commutes to the South Bay. Conway uses one car for work and leaves another at the Lathrop/
Manteca station. Leaving work early usually means driving his work car back to Lathrop and driving it west the next day.
"I imagine a lot of people don't have that possi-bility. And for me, a lot of days, if it's a slow day, I could take the bus home and not worry about having two cars at the wrong end of the track," Conway said.
The bus will be operated jointly by ACE and Amtrak, which is paid by the state to operate some
rail systems in California. Department of Trans-
portation spokesman David Anderson said it won't cost the state extra to share the service with ACE.
"It's a natural fit. It's meeting the needs of the commuters in the Bay Area and commuters in the Valley," he said.
In the next fiscal year, ACE will have to pay for any increased mileage costs on the bus. Operating a midday bus separate from Amtrak could have cost as much as $1.2 million for the bus and $91,700 a
year for operations, according to estimates from the San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission, an ACE partner.
To reach reporter Audrey Cooper, phone 209-546-8298 or e-mail: acooper@recordnet.com
Þ--Þ--Þ
Bart Reed
User ID: 1606604 Apr 21st 11:05 PM
Stockton Record: Monday, April 21, 2003
ACE offering free rides
First-time riders have a new reason to give the Altamont Commuter Express a try.
ACE is offering a week of free rides to commuters who usually have to traverse Bay Area freeways to get to work.
Commuters who call ACE at (800) 441-RAIL before any Thursday will get the next week of rides free. The Taste of ACE promotion lasts until the end of June.
Only riders who have never used ACE are eligible for the free passes, worth up to $100.
At the end of the promotion, commuters who tried ACE will be able to buy monthly passes on the commuter train at 50 percent off the regular rate. Depending on the distance commuted, a monthly pass costs $65 to $259.
For more information on ACE schedules, stations, shuttles and fares, go to www.acerail.com.
Þ--Þ--Þ
Bart Reed
User ID: 1606604 May 11th 2:05 AM
Stockton Record: Saturday, May 3, 2003
History not on drivers' minds
By Andy Samuelson
Tracy Bureau Chief
While driving over the hilly Altamont Pass, one notices windmills, railroad crossings and grazing cattle, but few have time to think about such things as they race to their jobs in the Bay Area.
Interstate 580 heading over the Altamont Pass is one of the most used and congested freeways in the region. It's also one of the most historical and scenic routes.
Every day, about 140,000 commuters drive the concrete swath that connects the Bay Area with the
Central Valley. Traffic is known to tie up early in the morning, and many commuters leave their homes before dawn so they can get to work on time.
Despite the beauty, there's an underlying ugliness to the road, according to some.
"I just thank God I don't have to drive it any-more," said Dave Stengel a retired officer from the San Jose Police Department who commuted to work from the Central Valley. "It's just horrible."
Stengel commuted from his home in Placerville to work and had more stress on the freeways than he did on the job, he said.
The commotion probably would seem unimaginable to Spanish explorer Juan Bautista de Anza.
The modern history of the Altamont Pass can be traced to de Anza, who in 1776 crossed the Valley on his way to establishing Mission Dolores in San Francisco. At the time, the area was a clear valley.
Yet de Anza's legacy probably isn't even consid-ered by most drivers. Nor is the legacy of the gold miners who fanned over the hills in the 1850s
on their way to the Sierra Nevada.
The problem is, most people don't have time to think about history or pay attention to the scenery, said Frank Cava of Tracy.
Cava, a retired construction worker, drove to the Bay Area every day for more than 20 years. He said
he didn't see or think about anything, because he left home in the morning before the sun came up and left work at night after the sun had set.
"There's nothing you could see in the morning, and there's nothing you could see at night except taillights," Cava said.
Now that he's not racing to get to work, Cava has time to notice the landmarks. He said he likes the
way the windmills look on the western horizon.
But to lifelong Tracy resident Onalee Koster, the windmills that sprouted along the Altamont Pass hills destroyed the region's scenic beauty.
"It kind of spoils it for me," said the 72-year-old Koster, chairwoman of the Tracy Historical Museum. "To me it makes it look like a pincushion with windmills all around."
To reach Tracy Bureau Chief Andy Samuelson, phone 209-833-1141 or e-mail asamuels@recordnet.com
Þ-®-Þ-®-Þ
Ken T.
User ID: 9635043 Mar 14th 11:27 AM
San Francisco Chronicle
March 14, 2005
TRANSPORTATION
Alternative to driving isn't a reliable one
Altamont 'express' trains have been plagued by delays
Leslie Fulbright, Chronicle Staff Writer
Monday, March 14, 2005
The Altamont Commuter Express, once hailed as a savior for those making the long slog from the eastern reaches of San Joaquin County to Silicon Valley, causes as much frustration as the freeways.
Trains that once whizzed by crawling traffic are often held up for hours, and dozens of commuters are returning to the road.
The latest problem came Friday, when a Union Pacific railroad derailment brought ACE to a halt and forced riders to take buses to San Jose from Fremont. More than half of the trains' daily riders gave up altogether and drove to work.
That's become commonplace as service has deteriorated.
"If it is more than an hour late, I get in my car," said Floyd Cobb, who commutes from Tracy to Santa Clara. "Driving is the only other option."
Cobb moved to Tracy from a small town in Oklahoma just three months ago and already has a litany of ACE horror stories.
There was the time he spent an hour just yards from the Livermore station. On Valentine's Day, the train was delayed nearly two hours because signaling problems reduced it to 5 mph. Last week, vandals stole switching wires, causing an hourslong delay.
"I come from a town of 30,000, so bumper-to-bumper traffic is very nerve- racking," said Cobb. "I can't afford to live closer to work, so sometimes driving is my only choice."
Kathleen Marx, a Fremont nurse, used to take the train five times a week but has cut her rides down to two.
"The hospital can only take so much," she said. "If I relied on ACE every day, I may be out of a job."
Though ACE's Web site says "unwinding is easy when you don't have to drive," many riders say the trains are putting stress back into the commute. ACE officials say there is little they can do.
"The majority of problems we deal with are out of our control," said Gregg Baxter, ACE's director of operations.
The double-decker trains, which carry an average of 2,700 riders a day, use the single Union Pacific track through Altamont Pass, and that is what causes most of the problems, officials said. Storms cause delays and detours. Union Pacific increased the number of freight trains using the line in the past year because of increased demand, so ACE must pass more freight trains at turnouts, said Union Pacific spokesman John Bromley.
Plus, Union Pacific's dispatch system is run from Nebraska and uses aging signaling equipment.
ACE has been popular since service began on Oct. 19, 1998, with many workers who found cheaper housing in the San Joaquin Valley. At one point, the 1,550-seat trains were standing room only.
These days, riders easily find a seat, in part because of the economic slowdown, but also because of the unreliable service. Gas prices crowded the trains at the beginning of the year, but spotty service changed that.
ACE recently started alerting passengers to long delays via e-mail or cell phones and dispatched officials to talk to passengers about alternatives, such as buses and carpools.
That has done little to satisfy frustrated commuters.
Carol Ritchie, who takes ACE five days a week from her home in Valley Springs to work at Challenge Butter in Dublin, said service started slowing down last summer and has yet to improve.
"It's maddening," said Ritchie, who relocated to Calaveras County thinking she could depend on the train to get to work. "My husband and I moved so we could get a brand-new house.
"Now we are paying the consequences."
Ritchie, who is usually home by 7:15 p.m., didn't arrive until 9:20 p.m. on Valentine's Day.
"My husband was waiting with sandwiches, but he had eaten his by the time I got there," she said. "We had to celebrate on a different day."
ACE's on-time record was so bad last month that the system will offer a 10 percent discount on fares for two months starting Tuesday to make it up to passengers.
February trains were on time at only 68 percent of stops, and ACE officials say the service lost more than 100 riders.
"There are only so many times your wife will let you blame it on the train," said Guy Jones of Tracy. "I had to buy an old car to leave in San Jose in case there is an emergency and I have to get home. But I still prefer not to drive."
Harry Weiner asks friends to pick him up if he knows there will be delays. Once, his wife met him in Livermore, and they had dinner and a glass of wine -- and still beat the train home.
"I can drive faster than the train, but I would have to buy a new car every three years," he said. "Plus, driving is not productive time. I am fortunate -- I can do some work on the train and at home."
The commute across the Altamont Pass and over the Sunol Grade is among the region's worst. An estimated 36,000 people commute across the Altamont, an increase of almost 500 percent since 1980.
A recent report by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission showed that three of the Bay Area's 10 worst traffic bottlenecks were along Interstate 580 in Alameda County between Pleasanton and the San Joaquin County line.
"Everyone says the train is better than driving," Ritchie said. "But it's not like it's free; we are paying for this."
A round-trip ticket from Stockton to San Jose runs $18, and a monthly pass is $259. Riders say those high prices should guarantee a timely arrival.
But the service is so bad that even traffic reporters joke it: "ACE on time," a radio host said early Thursday morning. "Those are magic words."
John
User ID: 9921013 Mar 14th 11:59 AM
Wow! A monthly pass for $259 and delays, delays, delays? If ridership on such a system weren't dropping, one would certainly wonder why!
Robert
User ID: 9092003 Mar 14th 12:24 PM
From Stockton to San Jose is over 70 miles. It cost over 25 cents per mile to drive a car which includes the cost of gas, oil, maintenance, insurance and depreciation.
70 x 2 x $.25 = $35.00
I would say the train is economical, but Union Pacific is at it again to hurt passenger service.
Until we get the Federal Government to care about passenger rail service, these problems will only escalate.
-=†‡÷«{(: ßÔß }»÷‡†=-
crzwdjk
User ID: 0122954 Mar 14th 9:26 PM
It's pretty obviously Union Pacific's fault, and Union Pacific equally obviously just doesn't care. They don't like the idea of passenger trains, and are "strongly opposed" to the idea. This is why there is no LA-Palm Springs or LA-Las Vegas train. Also, they are having a major crisis with respect to capacity, and passenger trains get the lowest priority. Look at the Sunset Limited, which has an on-time arrival rate of 0% for the past year. That's right, not a single one on time. I think the solution is either some sort of sanctions against UP, or just building more and longer sidings, or a second track.
Robert
User ID: 9092003 Mar 14th 10:59 PM
We had the same problem with Metrolink's Riverside Line a couple of years ago with UP, UP is to give Metrolink trains priority, per their agreement, during rush hours. SCRRA (Metrolink) threaten to take UP to court and that seemed to resolve the issue.
-=†‡÷«{(: ßÔß }»÷‡†=-
Michael M.
User ID: 0310794 Apr 13th 7:29 PM
How much freight traffic is there through Altamont Pass? If the answer is not much, couldn't whatever agency operates ACE simply buy the route from UP and then lease trackage rights back to UP (obviously, at ACE's convenience regarding scheduling, priority for passenger trains, etc.)?
Bart Reed
User ID: 9523443 Apr 13th 8:34 PM
The theme is clear: Union Pacific. There are certainly capacity issues. And competency issues with UP dispatchers. The statewide rail revival and progress is threatened by the UP attitude.
If the public starts demanding solutions from their elected officials, UP can be backed into a corner. But, this will take a lot of work.
Þ--Þ--Þ