Decades ago, Amtrak had the opportunity to purchase the Phoenix West Line for $1. Yep! $1. In their infinite wisdom, which always seems to make the wrong decision, they said no as it would cost a few million dollars to improve it. So instead of doing that and being able to lease trackage rights to the freight operators, they bypassed the largest stop between LA and New Orleans, Phoenix, and took a bigger chunk of their income out of the equation. The utter incompetence that rises to the top of the corporation is truly mind boggling. Let’s hope that they now have a better core of actual forward thinking people that understand how a business is supposed to operate. Don’t get me wrong. I love taking the trains whenever I can. I was a Train Attendant and a Conductor for twenty years. As employees, we would watch all the unbelievable decisions management would make and just shake our heads. They almost never asked for our opinions before they did anything and when we did offer advice, it was usually taken as a threat to some incompetent manager’s authority and ignored. So here’s hoping they’re finally getting a core leadership team (that isn’t trying to run a railroad like an airline!) that can see past their own egos and make solid business decisions that enhance passenger rail travel from now on.
If I remember looking an article talking about passenger train service in the South Bay, the Capitol Corridor is also planning to run 2 round trips a day to and from Salinas. Caltrain also plans to run some trains that way as part of the proposal for restoring other passenger rail service in Monterey County.
Amtrak has been extremely clear, the San Diego corridor will not survive without a route change around the cliffs. All the millions spent so far are to delay the inevitable.
2035 is the date sandag is aiming for in san diego county to get the train off of the del mar bluffs by digging a tunnel under del mar, this would make the line safe from climate change sealevel rise and just normal erosion, in orange county it is possible to tunnel but octa has been dragging their feet, the state and federal goverment is finally forceing them to care hence the 100mil grant to reinforce the track in san climente
@@japanamericacar427octa hasn’t been dragging it’s feet, it’s the local cities causing a storm in our board meetings and whining about the beach and sand and tourism
This past week Amtrak failed twice. It abandoned hundreds of passengers in D.C. the day after Christmas. It reneged on the agreement to bring service to Miami International Airport. The MIA deal had been inked in 1997 and Florida had spent millions to build an Amtrak station at the site.
The current Florida government doesn’t want Amtrak there. It’s not Amtrak’s fault that they have a governor who only cares about picking fights with the federal government
Good video 👍 Glad to see the Los Angeles Las Vegas rail line is going to be revived. Wondering if there are plans for an Amtrak route to South Lake Tahoe, CA or maybe out to Reno, NV then south to Las Vegas NV and further to Phoenix, AZ?
Brightline West will eliminate the need for Los Angeles Las Vegas route. BNSF and Union Pacific will fight it all the way too. Barstow to Los Angeles is one of the busiest freight corridors in the United States.
@@Dweller415 : It’s a nice medium-sized station, though I’d love to see the nearby development efforts move forward a little faster. I hear an MLS team was considering building a stadium?
The video was informative, but I rate it with a B grade. Most videos covering California passenger rail rate no more than a D. The most prevalent problem is that no one wants to explain the Bakerfield to LA (B to LA) gap. I live on the East Coast, I don't understand this. Why didn't the CHSRA chose the B to LA corridor for the first leg of the CAHRS project? Why is there no Amtrak service in that gap now? I understand that there is some tunneling needed to close the gap. What is more expensive tunneling or litigation? I say tunneling. It is now 15 years after the referendum was adopted and just now CHSRA has acquired 119 miles of Central Valley ROW that goes from nowhere to nowhere, not from Bakerfield to Merced (171 miles). - What I don't understand is that Amtrak already goes from Emeryville to Bakersfield, so what is CHSRA doing? Litigation is disastrous. It took me 14 years to divorce my first wife in two filings. With the second filing I was in a court hearing nearly every month for 48 months. She didn't want a divorce. The court did not adhere to the recommendations of the court appointed divorce master, who was a court employee. My wife was given 100% ownership of a very nice large house in one Philadelphia's better neighborhoods. The mortgage was paid down to 25% LTV. She died penniless. That's what I know about litigation. Mountains don't file lawsuits. I think the model is not CHSRA but what Virginia did in northern Virginia, buying ROW from the Class I railroad and then triple tracking and quad tracking the ROW. It is not the way to 200 mph, but the Shinkansen started many years ago at 130mph. The Shinkansen at 130mph was wildly popular.
Dear god please buy the right of way for Capitol Corridor. Trains get screwed so much because of guy it’d be nice to increase some of the segments in the valley up to 90 mph
Up until the pandemic on of the Surfliners originated in Los Angeles and terminated in San Luis Obispo. This was supposed to eventually become the Coast Daylight extending all the way to San Francisco. What held it up were track and signal improvements between San Luis Obispo and San Jose, or the money needed to do them. The great recession and other rail priorities within CalTrains Division of Rail at the time shelved the Coast Daylight.
We need the federal government, working with the states, to finance the purchase and electrification of the actual rails and lease trackage rights to freight operators and passenger operators similar to Italy. We also need to build actual capacity to directly build and maintain the rails and systems like is done in Spain instead of everything being a one off private contract. Then higher speeds can be increased by straightening routes, grade separation, and adding bypasses. The problem is that to get 63 billion for rail the infrastructure law also included 630 billion for highways, and most of the 63 billion is going to replacing Amtrak rolling stock plus the NEC. Twenty billion of the 63 goes to replace one existing tunnel to NYC. This was basically just enough to keep rail on life support. Imagine a world where rail got 630 billion and highways got 63 instead.
this will take years if it happens at all.i'd like to see them fix the track between Jacksonsville and new orleans so floridians can go west and not have to go north first.
Before covid one living in Central Ca I had the choice of leaving Hanfordzat 5:30 in the am getting off in Stockton and boarding a bus to San Jose. The other choice wich I called the scenic route traveled to Oakland. I got off in Emeryville and waited for the train that would stop at Santa Clara or end of trail at San Jose. The ride back to Hanford was the same in reverse. I could choose to leave at 9:30in the am. And arrive in the afternoon. I have ridden your new train. It's nie but it has no cafe. If this train should begin running north on the 711 train route I would definitely buy my breakfast at McDonald's. As I do this now as the cafe service is non existent due to breakdowns in that car. As for those of who may be physically affected entering and exiting the train , the steps are to getting on or off, the built in drop steps are still to high to manage I was helped on board with the use of a hand cranked platform. Upon arriving in Hanford the platform wasn't in place so it took two conductors and a third person to help me get down. Foolish me. I assumed because they helped me ontatthey would help me get off the same way. I now know to remind them Im going to need help when I arrive in Hanford.
It is shame Los Angeles and San Diego is not connected by railroad! You cannot ride from North to South California non stop and government still doesn't rush tk fix this problem! Yes! You can ride from Los Angeles to San Diego but it is a turtle ride and then you have to use thr bus to ride to San Bernardino to get to rail station in North California direction! How come we live in always praised the best state but it is like living in middle ages
What do you mean? The Pacific Surfliner connects LA and San Diego; LA and Bakersfield are the cities not connected by rail, meaning you have to take a bus to Bakersfield if you want to take a train from Bakersfield to the rest of Central California
I'm confused by this. San Diego and LA are connected. But maybe I'm reading it wrong and you mean they aren't connected to other corridors in a better way?
I cannot describe in words how necessary an Amtrak TRAIN service to San Francisco PROPER is absolutely needed
Decades ago, Amtrak had the opportunity to purchase the Phoenix West Line for $1. Yep! $1. In their infinite wisdom, which always seems to make the wrong decision, they said no as it would cost a few million dollars to improve it. So instead of doing that and being able to lease trackage rights to the freight operators, they bypassed the largest stop between LA and New Orleans, Phoenix, and took a bigger chunk of their income out of the equation. The utter incompetence that rises to the top of the corporation is truly mind boggling. Let’s hope that they now have a better core of actual forward thinking people that understand how a business is supposed to operate.
Don’t get me wrong. I love taking the trains whenever I can. I was a Train Attendant and a Conductor for twenty years. As employees, we would watch all the unbelievable decisions management would make and just shake our heads. They almost never asked for our opinions before they did anything and when we did offer advice, it was usually taken as a threat to some incompetent manager’s authority and ignored.
So here’s hoping they’re finally getting a core leadership team (that isn’t trying to run a railroad like an airline!) that can see past their own egos and make solid business decisions that enhance passenger rail travel from now on.
Informative video! 👍
Thanks :) Cheers!
You’re welcome! Happy New Year 🥳 ! Cheers!
If I remember looking an article talking about passenger train service in the South Bay, the Capitol Corridor is also planning to run 2 round trips a day to and from Salinas. Caltrain also plans to run some trains that way as part of the proposal for restoring other passenger rail service in Monterey County.
Amtrak has been extremely clear, the San Diego corridor will not survive without a route change around the cliffs. All the millions spent so far are to delay the inevitable.
2035 is the date sandag is aiming for in san diego county to get the train off of the del mar bluffs by digging a tunnel under del mar, this would make the line safe from climate change sealevel rise and just normal erosion, in orange county it is possible to tunnel but octa has been dragging their feet, the state and federal goverment is finally forceing them to care hence the 100mil grant to reinforce the track in san climente
@@japanamericacar427octa hasn’t been dragging it’s feet, it’s the local cities causing a storm in our board meetings and whining about the beach and sand and tourism
It will require tens of billions of dollars to do these so-called fantasy plans. Show me the money.
MMT
@@stevenelson7781 TNT
This past week Amtrak failed twice. It abandoned hundreds of passengers in D.C. the day after Christmas. It reneged on the agreement to bring service to Miami International Airport. The MIA deal had been inked in 1997 and Florida had spent millions to build an Amtrak station at the site.
The current Florida government doesn’t want Amtrak there. It’s not Amtrak’s fault that they have a governor who only cares about picking fights with the federal government
Good video 👍 Glad to see the Los Angeles Las Vegas rail line is going to be revived. Wondering if there are plans for an Amtrak route to South Lake Tahoe, CA or maybe out to Reno, NV then south to Las Vegas NV and further to Phoenix, AZ?
Brightline West will eliminate the need for Los Angeles Las Vegas route. BNSF and Union Pacific will fight it all the way too. Barstow to Los Angeles is one of the busiest freight corridors in the United States.
Too slow for such a rich country.
Amtrak is not a business. It’s. A political bureaucracy.
There is a Northeast Corridor, but I don’t think there is such a thing as an Amtrak “Western Corridor”. At least not any time soon.
Surfliner is the second highest ridership Amtrak corridor but you’re right there’s a big gap between the Surfliner corridor and the Cascades corridor
Sacramento has the 7th busiest train station in the country.
@@Dweller415 : It’s a nice medium-sized station, though I’d love to see the nearby development efforts move forward a little faster. I hear an MLS team was considering building a stadium?
The video was informative, but I rate it with a B grade. Most videos covering California passenger rail rate no more than a D. The most prevalent problem is that no one wants to explain the Bakerfield to LA (B to LA) gap. I live on the East Coast, I don't understand this.
Why didn't the CHSRA chose the B to LA corridor for the first leg of the CAHRS project? Why is there no Amtrak service in that gap now?
I understand that there is some tunneling needed to close the gap. What is more expensive tunneling or litigation? I say tunneling. It is now 15 years after the referendum was adopted and just now CHSRA has acquired 119 miles of Central Valley ROW that goes from nowhere to nowhere, not from Bakerfield to Merced (171 miles). - What I don't understand is that Amtrak already goes from Emeryville to Bakersfield, so what is CHSRA doing?
Litigation is disastrous. It took me 14 years to divorce my first wife in two filings. With the second filing I was in a court hearing nearly every month for 48 months. She didn't want a divorce. The court did not adhere to the recommendations of the court appointed divorce master, who was a court employee. My wife was given 100% ownership of a very nice large house in one Philadelphia's better neighborhoods. The mortgage was paid down to 25% LTV. She died penniless. That's what I know about litigation.
Mountains don't file lawsuits.
I think the model is not CHSRA but what Virginia did in northern Virginia, buying ROW from the Class I railroad and then triple tracking and quad tracking the ROW. It is not the way to 200 mph, but the Shinkansen started many years ago at 130mph. The Shinkansen at 130mph was wildly popular.
Dear god please buy the right of way for Capitol Corridor. Trains get screwed so much because of guy it’d be nice to increase some of the segments in the valley up to 90 mph
Why are there no surfliners all the way to SanJose?
Because it will be crazy long trip for that kind of a train line, it needs 7 hours to reagh san luis obispo from sd
Up until the pandemic on of the Surfliners originated in Los Angeles and terminated in San Luis Obispo. This was supposed to eventually become the Coast Daylight extending all the way to San Francisco. What held it up were track and signal improvements between San Luis Obispo and San Jose, or the money needed to do them. The great recession and other rail priorities within CalTrains Division of Rail at the time shelved the Coast Daylight.
Amtrak should connect Phoenix to LA via Palm Springs via Hiway 10 straight to Phoenix not down through Yuma
We need the federal government, working with the states, to finance the purchase and electrification of the actual rails and lease trackage rights to freight operators and passenger operators similar to Italy. We also need to build actual capacity to directly build and maintain the rails and systems like is done in Spain instead of everything being a one off private contract. Then higher speeds can be increased by straightening routes, grade separation, and adding bypasses. The problem is that to get 63 billion for rail the infrastructure law also included 630 billion for highways, and most of the 63 billion is going to replacing Amtrak rolling stock plus the NEC. Twenty billion of the 63 goes to replace one existing tunnel to NYC. This was basically just enough to keep rail on life support. Imagine a world where rail got 630 billion and highways got 63 instead.
Electrification?
On certain routes. The new Airo trainset has a dual mode, hybrid setting.
this will take years if it happens at all.i'd like to see them fix the track between Jacksonsville and new orleans so floridians can go west and not have to go north first.
Before covid one living in Central Ca I had the choice of leaving Hanfordzat 5:30 in the am getting off in Stockton and boarding a bus to San Jose. The other choice wich I called the scenic route traveled to Oakland. I got off in Emeryville and waited for the train that would stop at Santa Clara or end of trail at San Jose. The ride back to Hanford was the same in reverse. I could choose to leave at 9:30in the am. And arrive in the afternoon. I have ridden your new train. It's nie but it has no cafe. If this train should begin running north on the 711 train route I would definitely buy my breakfast at McDonald's. As I do this now as the cafe service is non existent due to breakdowns in that car. As for those of who may be physically affected entering and exiting the train , the steps are to getting on or off, the built in drop steps are still to high to manage I was helped on board with the use of a hand cranked platform. Upon arriving in Hanford the platform wasn't in place so it took two conductors and a third person to help me get down. Foolish me. I assumed because they helped me ontatthey would help me get off the same way. I now know to remind them Im going to need help when I arrive in Hanford.
This is ai slop people!
AI slop script. Yawnnn
It is shame Los Angeles and San Diego is not connected by railroad! You cannot ride from North to South California non stop and government still doesn't rush tk fix this problem! Yes! You can ride from Los Angeles to San Diego but it is a turtle ride and then you have to use thr bus to ride to San Bernardino to get to rail station in North California direction! How come we live in always praised the best state but it is like living in middle ages
What do you mean? The Pacific Surfliner connects LA and San Diego; LA and Bakersfield are the cities not connected by rail, meaning you have to take a bus to Bakersfield if you want to take a train from Bakersfield to the rest of Central California
I'm confused by this. San Diego and LA are connected. But maybe I'm reading it wrong and you mean they aren't connected to other corridors in a better way?
I found out the world will end for real on May 21, 2025. Sorry!
Troll!
Lies🤡