Taking pictures on most pueblos has been prohibited for decades. And that has prompted Rail Runner officials to ask its riders turn off their cameras on pueblo land. [...]
The train conductor lets riders know to put their cameras away on Santo Domingo and San Felipe land. Rail Runner officials say the pueblos made that request.
The Isleta and Sandia pueblos have not asked the conductor to have riders put away their cameras.
"I think it goes back years and years ago when a lot of folks from other parts of the country would come in and take photos of the pueblos and then the photos would be published in national publications all over the country and I think they felt violated," said Lawrence Rael of the Rail Runner.
This month, the French company Alstom Transport is testing its brand new “very high speed” train, the AGV (or Automotrice à Grande Vitesse), on live tracks in Eastern France. Unlike most trains, which have a single engine car in the front or back, the AGV has a series of distributed motors underneath the passenger carriages, which saves space and allows the train to carry 20% more passengers.The new French AGV is rumored to be the top choice for the new California high-speed rail system that was recently approved by voters.
The AGV is being tested over 12 nights this month on the Eastern high-speed line, between the Champagne-Ardenne and Lorraine stations, at its ideal speed of 224 mph. In comparison, the American high speed Acela train travels at a top speed of 150 mph.
He has travelled to Washington by train. He chose to do so, primarily, because Abraham Lincoln had also come by train, along the same route from Philadelphia, in 1861. But in addition, Mr Obama, unlike President Bush, has always supported and championed the railroad.
Whereas President Bush constantly tried to reduce, or even scrap, the federal subsidy to the American train company, Amtrak, Barack Obama has voted to support state reinvestment in the railway system. Chicago and its commuter territory in Illinois -- Mr Obama's electoral base and adopted hometown -- is a hub for train services which have recently undergone a revival in the mid-west. [...]
For the world's train enthusiasts -- and for environmental campaigners -- the Obama Express was a brilliant example of gesture politics.
Politicians all around the world should be seen more often using the train. [...]
...last year saw the beginnings of a train renaissance in the US.
California was said to be spearheading a rail revival with "soaring passenger numbers", and Amtrak reported that overall ridership rose by 12.3pc from the previous year, while ticket sales rose 15.6pc.
In 2007, Amtrak carried 26 million passengers: in 2008, that increased to over 28 million.
This was despite the Bush White House threatening to veto legislation to fund Amtrak.
Several trends are stimulating the return of the train: the volatility of petrol prices, the vexation of traffic congestion on the roads, the stress of air travel with ever-increasing security measures, and the "green agenda": a short air flight produces more than three times C02 per passenger than rail travel.
And now comes Obama's practical and romantic insistence on a symbolic train journey.
Let's see him more frequently alighting from the Iron Horse when going about the business of government.
(my emphasis)
It's a big problem the Rail Runner doesn't necessarily mind having, but would still like to resolve. So many people are packing trains to Santa Fe, some passengers are forced to stand for the whole ride.
A massive game of musical chairs is how a lot of passengers start their ride. Open seats are rare during some morning rides to Santa Fe.
The unlucky, and there have been many, have to stand for more than an hour.
"They need to add more cars for starters," said one rider. [...]
This past Saturday, 5,500 passengers rode the Rail Runner. That’s up 1,000 from the previous weekend.
Lawrence Rael of the Rail Runner says the crowds prove the need for the train and he says it’s even more of a reason for service to Santa Fe to expand.
"If folks will be patient with us, give us a couple of more months, we'll get together and see what we can put together," Rael said.
Rael says that could even mean Sunday routes to Santa Fe. He says it's possible they could announce that sort of service before the end of this year.
People in the North Valley sounded off Thursday over how the Rail Runner keeps sounding its horn morning, noon and night.Once the noisy bird is quited, I'm sure they'll feel a little differnt about the Rail Runner coming through their neighborhood.
Residents were told in 2005 they would get a "quiet zone" where the train couldn't blast its horn. But people like Rick Gallegos say the racket is almost non-stop.
"When you're trying to watch TV shows, and trying to watch a movie and stuff like that, they honk. It is pretty long, it can get pretty annoying," he said.
Neighbors just north of Paseo said they've been waiting too long for the state to change crossings on their side of town.
More lights, more signs, and more gates would mean a federally recognized quiet zone—then the horns would be silenced.
The above video (note: it's in Taiwanese), demonstrates a rather interesting concept by Taiwanese inventor Peng Yu-Lun for a train that never stops. He correctly points out that trains would be far more efficient (and on-time) if they didn't have to go through the trouble of, you know, stopping to pick up passengers, Unfortunately, at present not stopping for passengers would mean, well, no passengers. Yu-Lun's design solves that problem with a kind of "top-mounted boarding shuttle that is scooped up when the train passes one station and automatically deposited when it reaches the next stop." See the video to get a better sense of how it would work.
A Massachusetts company is suing the state and the Mid-Region Council of Governments over the use of the name “Rail Runner” for the commuter train here.Hmmm, well, if they have to change the name, might I suggest... Sol Train.
RailRunner N.A. Inc., the developer of a truck-and-rail system, is seeking a permanent injunction to stop any further use of the Rail Runner name by the Department of Transportation and MRCOG. It’s also seeking treble damages for compensation of what it says is a trademark infringement. [...]
RailRunner N.A. has been using “RailRunner” since 1995 for its railroad products, technology and services and it established its Web site, www.railrunner.com, in 1998. The company was granted a trademark registration in 2005 and said it notified MRCOG of the trademark issue that same year.
...a Road-Ready Bi-modal Rail system, a railcar, trailer and container chassis system that is bringing container-based intermodal transportation service to the huge market of manufacturers, farmers, shippers, wholesalers and retailers who are not located near traditional intermodal hubs.Wow, people will really be confused differentiating between a New Mexico non-profit passenger train service and a rail container transport system designed to move freight around.
After a successful series of weekends featuring free service to Santa Fe, the New Mexico Rail Runner Express has issued a new regular schedule that will now have trains running on the tracks between Belen and Santa Fe on Saturdays. A full service schedule has been designed to provide passengers wishing to take the train on Saturday with a wide variety of times from which to choose.Here's >>> the new Saturday Rail Runner schedule.
The wild popularity of the Rail Runner's Santa Fe extension has caused other New Mexico cities to want to hop on board. Espanola’s mayor is now pushing for an extension to his city.As a resident of Socorro NM, that already has rails linking it to Belen, I'd like to see this community be next in line for service.
Espanola's mayor says his town has always been a railroad town since the Chile Line passed through in the 1800s. [...]
Maestas says extending the line would make sense, not only because it could bring in out-of-town dollars like it has in Santa Fe, but also because of the huge commuter base between Santa Fe and Espanola.
Rail Runner officials agree. They say corridor between the two cities is very congested and they say it would benefit from some kind of rail project.
Two thousand eight may have been a bad year for the economy, but it was a great year for the United States' passenger railroads, notwithstanding the horrific crash in Chatsworth, Calif., on Sept. 12 that killed 25 people. [...]Hopefully, the large turnout for the Rail Runners' service to Santa Fe indicates continued success for the Railway.
Gasoline prices increased rapidly through July, accounting for much of this, of course, but ridership did not decline along with the gasoline price collapse that began in mid-July. This upholds the conventional wisdom that once people try the train, they stick with it.
Imagine passengers encapsulated within a shiny, new train car, gazing out on an industrial and often decayed desert landscape. It's a lush and uniquely New Mexican juxtaposition of prosperity and poverty, modernity and the pastoral—an experience possible via the state's roadrunner-themed commuter train.Personally, I think the views are all good.
And while the Rail Runner is the little engine that could run at night, Santa Feans are worried it won’t—at least not enough.I agree. Someway they have to find a way to accommodate the evening cultural commuters. I think it'd be a win - win situation for all involved.
That’s why Reddick, along with her husband, film editor Giuseppe Quinn, launched a Facebook campaign to pressure the state to expand the train’s hours to allow for evening cultural events. [...]
Reddick and Quinn don’t have specific demands, but they suggest a single late night train, perhaps timed for when the bars close or in sync with the last flight arriving into the Albuquerque airport.
“If you build it, they will come,” Quinn says, referring to the night-rider market. “When you live in a community that has trains, you know when that last train is, you know how long you have to get to that train or else you’re stranded. You build your life around it.”
