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May-June 2002

After celebrating its 10th anniversary

in December, the Amtrak Capitol Corridor

plans to expand service and position itself

as the preferred way to travel between

Sacramento and the Bay Area.

In its moves to enhance service, Gene

Skoropowski, the managing director of

Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority

(CCJPA), announced the agency's plans to

introduce Business Class sometime this

summer. "Business Class will work much like

the differences in classes of service on a

plane or ship, or on most trains in the rest of

the world." Skoropowski wrote in a recent

message to the EastBay train email list.

According to the CCJPA, one car on

each train would be designated as a Business

Class car, and

a d v a n c e

r e s e r v a t i o n s

would be

required for

passengers. In

return for the

higher fare,

Business Class

passengers would receive free newspapers

and coffee. Skoropowski said the idea of

Business Class came from passengers, many

of whom said they would be willing to pay a

higher fare for reserved seating on the trains.

The Capitol Corridor also recently

designated one car per train as the quiet car,

based on the success of such a program on

the Boston-Washington corridor.

Besides introducing Business Class

and quiet cars, the agency also has focused

on improving speed and reliability, as well

as increasing frequency. Currently the CCJPA

is working with Caltrain and Union Pacific to

add a fourth track between Santa Clara and

San Jose. They plan to extend three more

round trips to the Silicon Valley from

Sacramento and the East Bay.

At the same time, the Capitol Corridor

plans to raise the prices of monthly passes

by 10% and 10-ride tickets by 5% on May

14. "Capitol Corridor monthlies are, I believe,

the most heavily discounted monthlies in the

country," wrote Skoropowski. He stated that

higher fares were necessary to expand train

service.

To BayRail Alliance members and friends:

Board of Directors Election: BayRail Seeks Candidates

BayRail Alliance will be holding its annual election for Board of Directors at

the July 8 general meeting.

If you are interested in being a candidate for the BayRail Board of

Directors, please notify election chair Dan Krause of your intention to run, by

phone or e-mail (see below), as soon as you can. To be a candidate, you must be

a currently paid BayRail Alliance member, and submit a statement of 200

words or less on your qualifications and desire to serve on the board, along

with the signatures of five currently paid BayRail Alliance members by

Monday, June 10. You may request names of current members for this purpose.

With your statement, please include your city of residence, occupation, and

employer. Please send these to the following address (e-mail preferred):

BayRail board election, c/o Dan Krause

415 Paul Avenue

San Francisco, CA 94124

(415) 656-0999

dan@bayvillagebuilders.com

A ballot will be mailed to all BayRail voting members in mid-June. If this

newsletter was mailed to you, your BayRail membership expiration date is on

the attached address label. If your expiration date is before July 8, 2002, then you

must renew your membership in order to be a candidate or vote in this election.

Senate Bill 1856, introduced by State

Senator Jim Costa (D-Fresno), would place

on the November 2002 statewide ballot a

bond issue to fund High Speed Rail between

Northern and Southern California. If the

legislature and then the voters approve the

plan, the state will start issuing bonds to

finance right-of-way acquisition,

engineering, and construction. Also the state

will begin the process of seeking federal and

local funds to supplement state funding.

While the details have yet to be

decided as of this writing, the initial plan for

the bill is to partially fund a high speed rail

line between San Jose and Los Angeles. The

bond issue may raise $6 billion for this

purpose. The remaining portions of the

proposed 700-mile HSR system serving

Sacramento, San Francisco, and San Diego

would be built in future phases.

Concerns have been raised by the

cities and areas not served by the "phase

one" HSR system, such as San Francisco.

Supporters of the bill argue that, due to the

economic downturn, costs must be kept to a

minimum. At the same time, they see an

opportunity in the current political climate:

High Speed Rail Bond May Go Before Voters

Capitol Corridor

Plans to Introduce

Business Class

voters who desire new travel alternatives,

especially after 9/11.

Past HSR planning studies have found

that if the HSR line from Southern California

terminated in downtown San Francisco, it

would attract significantly more riders than

if it terminated in San Jose or Oakland.

Nevertheless, some HSR proponents believe

that Los Angeles to San Jose service is likely

to generate an operating profit, and that

would help pay for constructing the rest of

the system. In this way, the starter line would

also provide the momentum needed for

building the complete system.

At present, various upgrades are

underway to enable HSR passengers from

San Jose to reach San Francisco via the

Caltrain line. Passengers could transfer to

Caltrain's new express service (slated to begin

in late 2003). Also, Caltrain is anticipated to

be electrified by the time HSR reaches San

Jose from the south, and thus could allow

HSR trains to continue to San Francisco at

slower speeds.

These and other issues are likely to be

raised when the Senate Transportation Com-

mittee debates SB 1856, scheduled for May 7.