BJORK@SU-SCORE.ARPA (Steven Bjork) (01/10/86)
I think the railroad list is general enough to include rail transit; after all, most of us will never ride a freight train. As for rapid transit, I beleive that Amtrak runs the fastest rail passenger trains in this country (in the Northeast corridor). I am interested in hearing about the status of the various light rail projects started in the last few years. In California, the San Jose line has had it's groundbreaking (in 84...?), and the Los Angeles project likewise. The San Diego line is working on an extention to it's popular line, and I think the Sacramento line is getting under way also. BART is getting a yard in Daly City, and there was news- paper speculation about an extention into San Jose. I have seen much work being done on the Southern Pacific commuter line into San Francisco recently. In paticular, track alignment work in the area where I live has dramatically changed the sound of the trains (>50/day!) that go past my apartment! There is a long curve with welded rail (on the high side only) on the southbound track at this location; I used to be able to tell what part of the track the train was on by the sound--but not any more! The track work in conjunction with the new equipment (locomotives and cars) has allowed tightening of the schedules slightly (~5 minutes into SF). --Steve -------