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"High Speed 2" UK Rail Link Gets Go-Ahead
2012-01-10 15:42:00 Why anyone would want to get from London to Birmingham in 49min is open to debate... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16-478954
Coming attactions: Redbox movie vending kiosks at CTA rail stations
2011-12-20 14:34:00 After topping off their Chicago Card at CTA vending machines, riders at some rail stations can rent a DVD movie at a Redbox kiosk. The first of two kiosks were installed recently at the Wellington Station on the Brown Line and UIC-Halsted station on the Blue Line. And nine more will be installed at the... Read more »
A Complete Guide To China's High-Speed Rail.
2011-12-12 12:38:00 Train aficionado, David Feng (and author of China Travel 2.0), recently wrote a very helpful piece for CNNgo on China's high speed rail, entitled, "A complete guide to China's high-speed rail: Four expert tips and 5 top lines travelers shouldn't miss." If you will be traveling on China's high-speed rail or even if you are just contemplating doing so, I recommend you check out David's piece.
By: China Law Blog
RIP, American High Speed Rail
2011-12-09 15:58:00 From Latest Items from TreeHugger: Obama's $8 billion effort to kickstart high speed rail development across the nation, beloved by cleantech and transit enthusiasts everywhere, has more or less collapsed. Two weeks ago, Congress voted to strip most of that funding from the budget, leavi
Cleaning Molten Sulfur Rail Cars
2011-12-07 18:22:00 Rail tank cars are used to haul molten sulfur. How are these tank cars cleaned for use with a different product? Steam cleaning? Sand blasting?
CTA rail cameras paying off with arrests
2011-10-17 14:42:00 The dramatic increase in security cameras and police presence at CTA rail stations is probably the biggest public relations success the transit agency since Rahm Emanuel took over as mayor in May. And Mayor Emanuel on Saturday stood on the Loyola Red Line platform and announced that cameras there and elsewhere led to two arrests... Read more »
CTA's bus, rail fares among highest in country in cents per mile
2011-07-06 09:52:00 CTA bus riders are paying the highest fare in cents per mile in the United States compared to other big cities. And rail riders pay nearly the highest fare in cents per mile. These not-so-fun facts were crunched and published recently by Geoff Dougherty at Chicago Current. The CTA bus fare per mile was 32...
CTA, police unite in rail safety effort; more cameras, more cops
2011-06-21 14:15:00 You may have read that the CTA and Chicago Police are stepping up patrols and installing more cameras on rails lines in the wake of a murder at Fullerton and an increase in muggings this year. Here's the 411 on the details, or should I say, 911:The CTA's plans: About 3,000 cameras will be installed at rail stations by the end of the year, doubling the number currently installed. Each station typically will have between 10 and 30 cameras. Installation will happen more quickly by "accelerated bidding process with pre-certified technology vendors," according to a press release. The first cameras are going up at Jarvis, Morse, Granville, Bryn Mawr and Argyle, says a Tribune report. Cameras will be retrofitted to older rail cars,...
CTA rides numbers game: Ridership up slightly overall, but rail rides rule
2011-06-10 14:00:00 After the first four months of 2011, CTA ridership has increased slightly over the same period of 2010, with rail riders accounting for the increase. Ridership through April was 169 million, almost 1 million rides better than last year, according to the April financial report. Rail ridership rose by 2.7 million rides, while bus rides dropped 1.9 million through April.Average weekday ridership rose by almost 1% compared to last year, while average Saturday ridership dropped by 0.15%. Sunday riders increased the most this year - almost 2.5%.So what does it all mean? I'll take a stab, and of course this is just a guess. The economy is a little better than last year, with more people working, and thus getting...
Muslims Rail Against Baseball Team's Jewish Heritage Night
2011-04-19 23:00:00 -By Warner Todd Huston Apparently the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is not happy that the Oakland A's have scheduled its first Jewish Heritage night. In fact, CAIR thinks that the mere fact that the A's even have a night to recognize Jewish fans is somehow evidence that America is out to get Muslims. It must be emotionally draining to be a Muslim. After all, they seem to spend every waking minute finding new things to get outraged over, their every breath seems dedicated to finding people giving them slight. And that's not to mention the suicide bombings, death threats, and murderous riots! The delusion must be all consuming and tiring. I know it's tiresome, anyway... Read the rest...
A dose of reality for true believers: China is braking its high-speed rail
2011-04-14 22:09:00 Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley is enthralled by China's growing high-speed rail system, but China is becoming less enthralled. As reported in the Wall Street Journal: BEIJING--China will begin forcing its growing fleet of high-speed trains to operate at slower speeds, the country's railways chief said in an interview with state-run media, in the latest sign of trouble for the country's most vaunted transportation project. This is a big deal in China, and it should be watched by high-speed rail ideologues in America, where high-speed rail has become a prohibitively expensive and favorite project of President Barack Obama and many starry-eyed greens. Some of the problems that China is experiencing:...
CTA crime: bus stare down leads to shooting; 2 guilty in third rail death
2011-03-15 14:23:00 Two stories about crime on and around the CTA popped up in the news in the last day or so.Don't stare down guys getting off the bus. The Trib reports: "A 17-year-old boy was shot in the back this afternoon after encountering a stare-down with three men getting off a South Side bus, Chicago police said."Two guilty in electrocution death at Roosevelt station. "Separate juries found two men guilty of murder today in the electrocution death of a Chicago man who fell onto the tracks during a melee on a CTA Red Line platform....
CRAZY Man EATS Smoke Pipe!! Double Rail FAIL
2011-03-13 01:58:00 FULL VIDEO: www.youtube.com WIn a FREE Xbox360/PS3: www.youtube.com FACEBOOK FAN PAGE: www.facebook.com SECOND CHANNEL: youtube.com TWITTER: twitter.com MUSIC: www.youtube.com www.youtube.com "Double Rail Jump FAIL" fails failblog funny wtf pain "Double Rail Jump FAIL" fails failblog funny wtf pain "Double Rail Jump FAIL" fails failblog funny wtf pain "Double Rail Jump FAIL" fails failblog funny wtf pain "Double Rail Jump FAIL" fails failblog funny wtf pain "DoubleRead more ...
By: Brainwashing
Open letter to CTA board: Change new rail car seating
2011-03-09 14:00:00 Photo by Ben MeyersonTwo weeks ago I reprinted a letter a from a self-admitted obese guy to the CTA, regarding the seating on the new Series 5000 rail cars currently being tested on the Red Line. The guy asked that the CTA:Remove the metal bars that run from the seat edge to the ceiling, andReplace the "molded seat" design with a flat bench design such as what New York City and other longitudinal-seating subway systems use.Then I posted a click poll for you readers to have your say n the subject. The majority of 300 poll takers agree that the CTA should switch to bench seating without confining poles.I promised to share these thoughts with the CTA board. Today is...
Museum offers daylong behind-the-scenes look at CTA rail lines, yards
2011-03-04 14:00:00 Transit geeks and fans of the soon-to-be-retired Series 2200 rail cars may enjoy the Snowflake Special Excursion set for Sunday, March 27, departing at 9 am from the Forest Park Blue Line station.Sponsored by the Illinois Railway Museum, this all-day ride will cover almost every rail line, plus lots of non-revenue and yard trackage. The six car train will consist of Chicago's oldest cars in revenue service, the 2200 series cars built by Budd in 1969-70 and scheduled for replacement by the 5000 series cars now being tested by the CTA. Photo by Joe Testagrose via chicago-l.orgThe Snowflake Special Excursion is a fundraiser to preserve a pair of 2200 series cars at the museum. Tickets cost $42, and include entry through...
CTA rail slow zones increase dramatically in 2011
2011-03-02 14:00:00 Those pesky slow zone on CTA rail lines just won't go away.In fact, this year slow zones have grown almost 61% from February of 2010 - 108,405 feet of track are covered by slow zone as shown on the Feb.16 map, vs. 67,398 feet on the Feb. 24, 2010 slow zone map. About 2,700 feet of slow zones were added in the State Street subway last June when an electrical arc ignited curve greases used to reduce the screeching noise of wheels on the metal track. The fire burned some of the track that was previously repaired in 2008.A bystander captured this dramatic video showing smoke billowing out of the tunnel during the June fire.The CTA could not say when...
CTA's least walkable rail stations
2011-03-01 14:00:00 Creative Commons Attribution: Zol87 at en.wikipedia Last summer I wrote about using Carfree Chicago's train stop guide to measure the "walkability" of your own CTA rail station.Based on his own guide, now Lee Crandell has named the CTA's least walkable train stations. Based one the walk scores for each train station, which "give a sense of whether the station has lots of people and activity within convenient walking distance," here are Lee's least walkable stations, with walk scores:47th Street Station (Red): 46 Cicero Station (Blue): 48 Garfield Station (Red): 49 69th Street Station (Red): 52 51st Station (Green): 55 43rd Station (Green): 57 95th Street Terminal (Red): 57 Pulaski Station (Pink): 58 California Station (Green): 60 Kostner Station (Pink): 60...
Theory proved: Nothing good comes from those crossing between rail cars
2011-02-24 14:00:00 As I've written before, only trouble walks between cars.This time, it happened to be one of the new Series 5000 prototype rail cars on a trial run on the Red Line. It was rush hour and the train was packed with people.A middle-aged guy came hustling through the door at the end of the car. He took a seat that had just been vacated. I looked at him and saw that his zipper was down on his pants. Was he urinating between the cars, I wondered? He nonchalantly pulled up his zipper. He waited till the car emptied at Loyola, and then lit up a cigarette. I was at the other end of the car, but smelled it right away....
Survey: What do you think about seating on new Series 5000 rail cars?
2011-02-22 14:15:00 Today I reprinted the letter that a regular Tattler reader wrote to the CTA, pleading that they change the seating arrangement on the Series 5000 rail cars.Photo by Ben MeyersonWhy? Because he's fat and can't comfortably sit down in the seats. And I agree with him. The CTA should change the seating configuration. Right now, nearly all the seats are place "longitudinally" along the windows, with riders facing each other across a wider aisle. The wider aisle will allow more people to board, and make it easier for people enter and exit the train.I get that, and I support that seating concept.What I don't like is that the CTA is using the same molded plastic seats we currently have on...
Plea from obese guy: Fix the seating on the new rail cars
2011-02-22 12:00:00 A regular reader of CTA Tattler wrote me last week to share this letter that he wrote the CTA after riding on the new prototype Series 5000 rail cars. I agree with his assessment and his proposed solution. His letter:************************-***********I have been a rider of the CTA every workday for nearly 13 years. Today, I had my first opportunity to ride the new subway cars that the CTA ordered and are now testing out on the Red Line. Photo by Ben MeyersonI beg you to carefully read this comment, as my statement is a problem that a very large number of Chicagoans are going to encounter. And not only do I state the problem, but I offer a solution, one...
Public's view of "high-speed" rail: snore
2011-02-15 18:14:00 The public's view of the highly touted, outrageously expensive and totally cost-ineffective "high-speed" rail is as passionate as President Barack Obama, environmentalists and assorted ideologues want us to believe. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that, overall, 41% of Likely Voters favor the plan and 46% are opposed. (To see survey question wording, click here.) But when you break down the numbers, what emerges that most of its backing comes from the "political class," a slice of Americans that look to government for most of its answers. Said Rasmussen: By a 57% to 28% margin, voters believe that cutting government spending would do more to create jobs than building a high-speed rail network. As on many issues, there...
New CTA rail cars move back to Red Line
2011-02-10 21:56:00 The CTA announced today it will move its new rail cars from the Purple and Yellow Lines to the Red Line for testing, starting Monday. The 10 rail cars have now been tested on each line.CTA president Rich Rodriguez said the agency is still "going through and working out the bugs." The cars were first tested on the Red Line last year.Here is a recent "Going Public" column about complaints about the rail cars.Here is a gallery of rail car features....
CTA year in review - Q2: New rail cars, "train tracker," subway f
2010-12-28 14:00:00 My CTA year in review continues with a look at what happened in April, May and June of 2010.April: This was a month of new technology introduced on the Chicago Transit Authority. Early in April the CTA rolled out "Train Tracker" at Brown Line stations. It still hasn't worked out all the kinks and made Train Tracker more widely available. Later in the month the CTA put its new rail cars to the test, first on the Red Line. The debate began on the aisle-facing seating configuration. We also saw a couple of criminals making headlines in April. A convicted sex offender was arrested for indecent exposure. And an exploded dye pack in a robber's loot bag was blamed for...
New rail cars move to Pink Line
2010-12-22 20:08:00 The CTA announced today it will move its new rail cars from the Brown Line to the Pink Line for testing, starting Monday. The 10 rail cars will be tested on each line before the CTA receives the remaining 396 cars.The cars have previously been tested on the Orange, Green, Red and Blue Lines.Here is a recent "Going Public" column about complaints about the rail cars.Here is a gallery of rail car features....
New rail, bus schedules go into effect next week
2010-12-10 14:00:00 New schedules for all CTA rail lines will go into effect on Monday. And the winter bus schedule will be effective on Sunday, Dec. 19, for the routes listed on the continuation. Most of the bus routes will continue to have the same frequency and span of service, but arrival times may change up to a few minutes.Visit the CTA website for more details.CTA Tattler Holiday Train outing this Saturday. And did I mention that we're riding the CTA's Holiday Train Saturday? If you want to meet-up with, we're going to start at the Roosevelt station to catch the Holiday Train heading north on the Orange Line. It is scheduled to arrive at 5:55 pm. If you can't make it...
New rail cars moving to Brown Line
2010-11-21 22:34:00 The CTA continues testing of the new Series 5000 prototype rail cars on the Brown Line starting Tuesday.Read what I like and dislike about the cars, also, some potential problems for the handicapped....
European Rail Strike Update: Which trains are affected?
2010-10-27 16:38:00 By Nicky Gardner and Susanne Kries— Europe has enjoyed or endured, depending on how you view these matters, a festival of rail strikes this past week or two. And yet, by and large, business and social life continues. The impact of rail strikes varies enormously from country to country. Nationwide standstill in Belgium When a Greek rail strike takes place, as one is this week, the entire network shuts down and virtually no trains run at all. And so in Belgium, where rail strikes are happily less frequent, but where a strike generally means a total network shutdown. Belgium had a one-day strike on October 18, 2010, the first nationwide stoppage since a one-day strike in November 2009, and that did lead to the cancellation of all trains. Even Eurostar, which has famously managed to maintain a full service from London to Paris during the recent extended wave of French strikes, was defeated by Belgium. Brussels-bound trains from London ran only as far as Lille, with passengers heading...
By: EuroCheapo Blog
New CTA rail cars to move to Orange Line
2010-10-22 23:15:00 The CTA announced today it will move its new rail cars from the Blue Line to the Orange Line for testing, starting Monday. The 10 rail cars will be tested on each line before the CTA orders the remaining 396 cars.The cars have previously been tested on the Green and Red Lines.Here is a recent "Going Public" column about complaints about the rail cars.Here is a gallery of rail car features....
Passengers Travel By Rail More Than Air In 2010
2010-10-21 18:57:00 Amtrak reported that they showed an overall increase in passenger travel of 5.7% for their fiscal year ending in September 2010. Passengers chose Amtrak overall for long distance and short distance rides. The biggest gains in ridership were in the Northeast corridor of the United States. With the airlines reporting varying declines, we now know ...Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!Passengers Travel By Rail More Than Air In 2010
By: Travel Lady Blog
Zoran Starcevic, Muris Varajic, Emir Hot: the old rail
2010-10-17 23:14:00 Zoran Starcevic, Muris Varajic, Emir Hot - Stara Pruga (The Old Rail) - live4guitar.com
Rick Sanchez And The Showbiz Third Rail
2010-10-03 18:09:00 -By Warner Todd Huston Bob Parks of Black&Right is talking about that "third rail" of the entertainment industry: them Joooos. Bob is a bit mystified as to why it's such a no-no to say that the entertainment industry is filled with folks of the Talmud? Unless Jews are hired into the business based primarily on their ethnicity and not relevant prior experience (and there's no proof of this), I don't see why people are canned for making an observation that any other group would be proud of? I can see Bob's point, actually. Jews fill the entertainment industry at every level and always have, at least since the days of film and radio began. Their particular aptitude for understanding the...
CTA is testing LED lighting - one rail car at a time
2010-09-02 14:00:00 CTA Tattler correspondent Dan noted last week that car 3295 on the Orange Line seemed brighter: "It appears that either there are whiter bulbs in the lighting fixtures or the light covers have been replaced. Nice change. Know anything about that?" I asked a CTA spokesperson about that, and she confirmed that the rail maintenance staff is indeed testing new LED lighting on that particular rail car. Such lighting is brighter than the fluorescent lights currently used on rail cars. And she helpfully reminded me: "The CTA continually evaluates new products for possible use in operations." Excellent. More and better lighting has proven to increase safety. Has anyone else noticed the CTA testing other new products?...
New CTA rail cars moving to Blue Line
2010-07-30 02:43:00 The CTA announced Thursday that its new prototype rail cars will move to the Blue Line for testing starting Monday.The rail cars have previously been on the Green Line and the Red Line.Click here to learn about the features of the cars....
CTA pulls new rail cars from service after finding potential brake problem
2010-05-28 14:00:00 After discovering a potential braking problem with the new Series 5000 rail cars, the CTA Thursday pulled the prototype cars from service on the Green Line.While there have been no reported cases of brake failure, the CTA found that "under certain conditions a component was found to be affected by vibrations, which over time could result in a temporary loss of friction brake," according to press release.The CTA expects to resume live passenger testing on the Green Line in a few weeks. The Series 5000 rail cars were first tested for about a month on the Red Line.Here's my review of the new Bombardier cars -- the good and the bad.(Photo by Max T-M)...
CTA pulling new rail cars from service
2010-05-27 20:41:00 The CTA said Thursday it's removing the new 5000-series prototype rail cars being tested on the Green Line from service so engineers can install and test a modification to the braking system.The 10 prototype rail cars were tested out-of-service since last fall and began in-service testing April 19 on the Red Line and moved to the Green Line on May 17, according to a CTA press release.According to the press release: "Bombardier, the rail car manufacturer, has been working on a modification that will improve the operation of the brakes. Although the test trains have not experienced any failure, under certain conditions a component was found to be affected by vibrations, which over time could result in a temporary loss...
First 5000-series rail car reviews: smooth, quiet, "dated"
2010-04-20 14:00:00 I missed the first run Monday of the new 5000-series, but other CTA Tattler readers gave their first reviews. Loop Worker said the trains had "more of a modern feel" and the "floor seems softer." He doesn't mind the aisle-facing seats, and noted the plus of having space under the seat for seat hogs to place their bags.Max T-M noted the quiet and smooth ride, but disagreed with Loop Worker about "modern feel." On his blog, Max opined: "The exterior looks nearly identical, and so does the interior. The problem is that it's already kind of dated looking and not very interesting. The interior is especially disappointing. The seats look pretty bad in their arrangement. They need to ditch the...
Riders test new CTA rail cars
2010-04-19 18:24:00 The CTA began testing its new rail cars with riders today on the Red Line. The first eight-car train left the 95th Street Red Line stop at 7:40 this morning. "Going Public" rode that train, which is still in test mode, to the Howard stop and back down to 95th Street.The maiden voyage was supposed to begin at 7:30 a.m. Riders and rail enthusiasts with cameras piled onto the train. And then ... nothing. The brakes in one of the cars wouldn't release so the riders shuffled off and got onto a regular Red Line car.The train took off about 10 minutes later with a new set of riders. Riders remarked favorably on the smoother ride and the new features...
Thwarted on attempt to ride maiden voyage of new rail cars
2010-04-19 14:00:00 I really had the best intentions of being on the maiden vogage of the new 5000 series rail cars. At least one report noted that the first run with regular passengers would be Run 806 out of Howard on the Red Line at 6:12 this morning. So I woke up extra early today, wolfed down some breakfast headed out of the house to my Morse stop at 6:10. And at 6:14, I saw it rounding the bend, its chrome shining proudly and front lights all bright and promising. As the train got nearer, that promise fizzled. The front destination sign read "Not in Service." And the eight-car beauty came whistling past, blaring its warning to stand away from the platform....
Old Chicago rail maps
2010-04-19 14:00:00 Late last year Chicagoist compiled in a post a bunch of old rail maps from Chicago-l.org. It's certainly worth a look if you're interested in how the CTA came to be what it is today.Here are just five of the 26 maps Chicagoist posted from Chicago-l....
CTA debuts new rail cars
2010-04-15 22:34:00 At a press conference Thursday, the CTA announced it would start running its new 5000-series cars next week. One eight-car train is expected to run Monday morning on the Red Line with CTA passengers.The cars are still undergoing testing and won't be available until at least 2011. They are expected to replace the oldest rail cars on the Blue, Green and Purple Lines.The total cost for 406 rail cars is $603.6 million, which is being paid for by capital funding and revenue bonds. Some of the amenities include seven security cameras per car and better door sensors."Going Public" got to ride in one of the new cars Thursday, and posted one of the photos of the seating arrangement on Twitter....
Want High Speed Rail to Fail? Don't Fund Local Transit
2010-04-08 13:00:00 High Speed Rail running through Chicago--or anywhere for that matter--will fail unless there is adequate local transit.
Garden on flat bed rail car put off for a year
2010-03-23 17:11:00 The CTA mobile garden -- dreams of a fertile island of green cruising the elevated and subway tracks on a flat-bed rail car -- have been dashed for one more year as the organizer tries to meet insurance mandates and gain more funding.While Joe Baldwin didn't make his goal of hitting the rails in April, he deserves kudos for his passion and stick-to-it-tiveness.Here's the announcement to his Facebook followers:The current status is that the CTA has approved the mobile garden project to move forward - this means we'll be focusing on fulfilling the insurance & funding requirements. This means the launch of the mobile garden onto the L tracks will be set for Spring 2011 - pushing it back was...
Fryin' the L? Bike tossed on third rail causes fire, stops Red Line
2010-03-23 17:00:00 From the CTA news of the weird file comes this story from late last week: CTA Red Line trains were stopped for about 30 minutes by a fire on the tracks early Friday morning, just north of the Morse station. The Sun-Times story reported that "a bicycle fell or was thrown or somehow ended up on the train tracks, and it hit the third rail and it caused an explosion-type fire," [police] said."I've heard that some folks call this "fryin' the L" -- throwing some type of metal on the third rail to cause an explosion or fire. A rite of passage for kids.Now, don't get any ideas out there, you degenerates!...
Charter train tour to visit track nooks and crannies, benefit rail museum
2010-02-26 17:00:00 True rail enthusiasts and train buffs in general will jump at the chance to ride nearly every CTA train line on the CTA's oldest cars in revenue service -- the 2200-series cars built in 1969-70. You'll get that chance at 9 am on Sunday, March 28, starting at the Rosemont/River Road station on the Blue Line.This opportunity to ride these cars all day before they are finally replaced beginning next year is provided by the Illinois Railway Museum. The $42 ticket will help the all-volunteer museum purchase indoor storage space for CTA cars already at the museum, located in Union.The IRM's Snowflake Special will take riders over just about every rail line and through plenty of non-revenue and yard trackage. ...
CTA authorizes spending $550 million on 406 new rail cars; $674 million tot
2010-02-11 13:00:00 I admit it. I'm suffering from CTA service cuts burnout. So it was great that the CTA board met Wednesday and acted on a couple topics near and dear to my heart -- the new train cars and CTA safety. Next week we'll discuss safety.But first, the board approved an ordinance to issue revenue bonds that will allow the CTA to buy 406 new rail cars. Put in another context, 406 train cars would be enough to make up about 50 eight-car train runs, and about 101 four-car train runs.The total cost is $674 million, or almost $1.7 million per rail car. Yeow! And the CTA has options to buy another 300 from the manufacturer, Bombardier Transit Corp. in Bensalem,...
Dulles Airport In Virginia Gets Rail Link
2010-02-04 00:47:00 Dulles Airport is located in Northern Virginia just about 20 miles from Washington DC. It has been a continually growing domestic and international airport since it opened in the 1960’s. One thing that has been a staple at the airport are it’s unique airport buses. These buses have been known as Dulles ‘mobile lounges’ for ...Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!Dulles Airport In Virginia Gets Rail Link
By: Travel Lady Blog
Light Rail Inching Closer to Los Gatos
2010-01-20 14:23:00 The San Jose Mercury News reports that light rail is inching forward towards a connection with Los Gatos. The proposed station would be an extention of the Campbell line and be located near Winchester and 85 (close to Netflix). The Valley Transportation Agency, or VTA, has been trying to move this forward for years and with the ongoing recession and budget issues, it's been a huge challenge. This is such a case of "what is old shall become new again". About 1900, there was a gentleman named Albert August Vollmer who wanted the Southern Pacific train to do a flag stop near his property, about 1.5 miles north of downtown Los Gatos, so that his daughter could take the train from there (rather than downtown Los Gatos) to downtown San Jose, where she worked. The SP granted his wish and allowed him to name the stop. He named it after his childhood pony back in Germany - gave it the name "Vasona". Hence the name of the park. This was later t...
Rail operators now required to make extra "doors closing" announc
2010-01-19 13:00:00 Though we suspected it, we've now confirmed it: The CTA is requiring its motormen to issue an additional manual announcement before closing the train doors. Since Dec. 31, all rail operators have been instructed to make the following announcement over the public address system, said a CTA spokesperson:"Attention customers: Please do not attempt to board, the doors are closing." The spokesperson also said: "The additional procedure maintains and reinforces that all CTA rail operators are required to visually confirm all customers are clear of the doors and that all doors are closed before proceeding and increases awareness for riders that they should stay clear of the doors as they close."But not all operators are making the additional announcement, or they...
Bus, rail cutbacks will test patience
2010-01-19 05:30:00 If you ride the CTA, chances are you will have to wait longer for a bus or train starting Feb. 7....
CTA releases bus, rail service cuts list
2010-01-17 01:23:00 The CTA posted this week its list of bus and rail service cuts. Go here to check out the changes to your bus and train, which will take effect Feb. 7.Nine express routes will be eliminated, while 41 buses will see their start and/or end times change and less frequent service. An additional 77 buses will see less frequent service.Here's a list of the buses that are safe from cuts -- for now.On the train, all rail lines except the Yellow Line will see more wait times for trains.How will you be affected by these cuts?... |
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