Amtrak California San Joaquin

Everything gets a thorough (and exhaustive) inspection; standard practice.

At least 20 injured in California train crash
By GOSIA WOZNIACKA, Associated Press – 11 minutes ago
HANFORD, Calif. (AP) — Two cars and the locomotive of an Amtrak train carrying about 169 passengers derailed Monday after colliding with a big rig truck in California's Central Valley, authorities said.

At least 20 passengers suffered minor to moderate injuries, authorities said.

The 12:25 p.m. crash occurred when the driver of the tractor-trailer carrying cotton trash failed to yield and hit the train, authorities said. The impact pushed the two passenger cars and the locomotive off the tracks south of Hanford, a farming town.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/art ... 13bc5c76c3

There was mention of this accident in the New Bi-Level Corridor Coach thread,the driver of the raw cotton truck has some
explaining to do!!
The crossing involved has working lights/gates,regreatably this is farm country and drivers make their money on
how many loads they get to the cotton gin/mill.
Not sure if it was UP or BNSF,about 10 miles away there was a freight train/big rig accident as well

Fortunate to see no one was seriously hurt or killed! Thank god the engine and cars remained upright, can't imagine what was going through those people's minds.... I just don't get it with these truck drivers, there is no effin excuse!

Well fortunately the train hit a cotton truck instead of one that carrying I-beams or heavy equipment. Couldn't hope for much better except possibly a pillow or mattress truck. Surprised the Amtrak train even derailed.

Jersey_Mike wrote:Well fortunately the train hit a cotton truck instead of one that carrying I-beams or heavy equipment. Couldn't hope for much better except possibly a pillow or mattress truck. Surprised the Amtrak train even derailed.

The train didnt hit the truck, the truck hit the train.

Driver yelling "Git outta my cotton pickin way!!!"

Thanks goodness this wasn't another tanker truck. Let's start a lobby calling for the installation of Silent Witness and Positive Truck Control technology on our rubber wheeled friends!

ThirdRail7 wrote:Thanks goodness this wasn't another tanker truck. Let's start a lobby calling for the installation of Silent Witness and Positive Truck Control technology on our rubber wheeled friends!

My employer has most of its trucks and cars equipped with cameras that record video clips both forward and of the driver activated for 15 or 20 seconds when the vehicle abruptly swerves, brakes heavily or the driver activates it to record a scene. The system has exonerated many employees when complaints were filed by the public, and has resulted in a better driving safety record. Perhaps a requirement for all CDL vehicles does make sense.

Modesto Bee

Lame headline but there's a nice graph in here. I don't really have a catch-all topic for the SJ, so we'll just talk about this here.

Amtrak losing money despite ridership

FRESNO -- Amtrak's San Joaquin line, the valley's only passenger train service, posted record ridership in 2012, attracting more than 1.1 million passengers last year.

The number of people riding the rails comes even as controversy continues to boil over plans to run high-speed trains through the region from San Francisco to Los Angeles.

The Amtrak San Joaquins — six daily trains northbound and six southbound between Bakersfield and the Bay Area and Sacramento — also saw revenue from ticket sales rise in the 2012 fiscal year to about $38.7 million. That's a boost of about $3 million, or 8.3 percent, over 2011.

...

Yet despite the rising ridership and revenue from ticket sales, the San Joaquins — along with Amtrak's other California lines and many others across the country — remain money-losing propositions. In its 2013 budget projections, the National Railroad Passenger Corp., the formal name for Amtrak, estimated a loss of $5.79 for every passenger riding on the San Joaquin trains.
Of 45 Amtrak passenger train lines across the United States, only five make money. Among the money-losers, only three lose less per passenger than the San Joaquins.

The San Joaquins, along with the Pacific Surfliner and Capitol Corridor trains, are run by Amtrak under contracts with Caltrans' Division of Rail, which subsidizes the service. Caltrans supports the San Joaquin Corridor to the tune of about $90 million a year.

...

I hate it when they don't provide a little perspective. So what if Amtrak loses $5.42/passenger on the line? What is the per-person subsidy for air or road?

I wonder which 5 lines make money ?
I thought only the auto train and the Acela came close to breaking even .

David Benton wrote:I wonder which 5 lines make money ?
I thought only the auto train and the Acela came close to breaking even .

My guess would be Auto Train, Acela, Northeast Regional, Virginia Service, and either Empire Service (NYP-ALB) or the Carolinian.

David Benton wrote:I wonder which 5 lines make money ?
I thought only the auto train and the Acela came close to breaking even .

Last year the Acela, Northeast Regionals, Lynchburg and Newport News lines had passenger revenue that exceeded fully allocated costs. The Carolinian came close. Amtrak made money on the route only because of North Carolina's subsidy. The Auto Train had a direct cost recovery in 2011 of 104.9% but the fully allocated cost recovery was only 71.2% once all the non-operating costs were added in.
http://www.amtrak.com/ccurl/676/676/PRI ... trak,0.pdf page 14

Tadman wrote:I hate it when they don't provide a little perspective. So what if Amtrak loses $5.42/passenger on the line? What is the per-person subsidy for air or road?

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