Quentin Kopp Steps Down from CHSRA Board
Last December, Quentin Kopp’s term on the California High Speed Rail Authority board expired. And as the San Mateo County Daily Journal reports, Kopp decided that he didn’t want to stay on the board:
Quentin Kopp’s term on the board expired in December and he asked Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, not to reappoint him to the nine-member board….
“I wrote Steinberg and told him I didn’t want to be reappointed,” Kopp said. “I am pursuing other opportunities to serve the public.”
Although, the former judge believes the 800-mile project linking San Francisco to Los Angeles will one day be fully realized, he told the Daily Journal sitting on the board was no longer a joy.
“It isn’t fun like it used to be,” Kopp, 82, said.
Kopp’s replacement on the board is Bob Balgenorth, president of the California Building and Construction Trades Council. It’s good to have some union representation on the board. There’s every reason to believe he will be an asset to the project.
But Kopp’s retirement from the board (though not from HSR advocacy, thankfully) is a blow. He was a tireless advocate for the project, and for doing it right. Kopp, like Rod Diridon, took a lot of abuse from HSR opponents who saw in him an easy target. But Kopp wasn’t such an easy target. A fiercely independent figure, whether as a politician, judge, or board member, Kopp refused to give the project’s enemies the satisfaction they wanted. He smacked down critics in the state legislature who had violated the state constitution in waiting over 2 months to pass a budget and yet criticized the CHSRA for not getting the business plan done in time – even though the legislature had failed to give them any funds with which to do it. It was a classic moment and showed Kopp’s passion for the project – and his clever ability to defend it.
Nor did he shrink from criticizing things he thought were wrong, like the placement of the “throat” of the Transbay Terminal or, controversially, the tenure of some board members in apparent violation of state law. And at his last meeting, Kopp turned his eye toward the Ogilvy Public Relations contract:
One of his last official acts on the board was to send Chief Executive Officer Roelof van Ark a letter urging the authority to terminate a $9 million contract with Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide.
Ogilvy, with an office in San Francisco, was awarded the contract to handle the rail authority’s public relations in November, 2009.
“Since Ogilvy’s engagement in February 2010, its inadequate performance can be measured, by among other things, the worsening legislative, media, academic and popular comments in the public domain about our project,” Kopp wrote in the letter to van Ark.
So far, Ogilvy has charged the authority more than $2.4 million for little more than a “plan,” Kopp said.
In the letter to van Ark, Kopp details a long list of invoices from Ogilvy he disapproved of including $1,500 spent for someone to read news clips related to the authority for a little more than three hours in April 2010.
There’s more in the article – it clearly doesn’t reflect well on Ogilvy, although that’s the kind of stuff that you tend to get with this kind of PR contract. And that’s a problem. The HSR project doesn’t need PR – it needs people who can help CEO Roelof van Ark continue to improve the Authority’s outreach to communities. And outreach is distinct from PR.
With Kopp being replaced by Balgenorth, that still leaves Rod Diridon’s seat open. And both HSR backers and critics from the Caltrain corridor agree that Diridon should be replaced by another representative from San Mateo or Santa Clara counties:
The Silicon Valley Leadership Group has previously lobbied the authority to appoint someone from the Peninsula to serve on the board. Burlingame Mayor Terry Nagel hopes the same thing.
“We’ve been asking the authority for years to have someone from the Peninsula on the board,” Nagel said. “There has been an absence of information and it is trouble getting the authority to answer any questions.”…
“It is a good idea to have representative from Silicon Valley on the high-speed rail board because of our population and economic center,” said Steve Wright, spokesman for the Silicon Valley Leadership Group. “It is a very long process, though, and the board will be around for a long time.”
There are a lot of proposals out there for reforming the CHSRA and its board. There’s no need to be hasty or reckless in those reforms. One possible reform option would be to ensure some geographic equity in board members. For the time being, though, it seems entirely reasonable to replace Diridon with someone else from the Caltrain corridor.
As for Quentin Kopp, he has been a crucial leader for the HSR project. He is stepping down, but he says he’ll stay involved. Which is good. We still need all the allies and strong, smart, sensible voices we can get. There’s still a lot of work left to do to build high speed rail in California, and it’s good to know that Kopp will still be there to help us do it.
Wasn’t there some hand wringing on this very board concerning that pr firm? Whereas, they had close ties to the old governor?
Robert Cruickshank Reply:
April 6th, 2011 at 9:37 pm
That was the original winner of the contract, Mercury. After the outcry about that, Ogilvy was given the contract instead.
So “fiscal conservative” Kopp doesn’t lose sleep for $1 billion blown on the SFO BART boondoggle (bankrupting Caltrain and local bus service in the process), doesn’t lose sleep over CBOSS and other Caltrain insanity, doesn’t lose sleep over looming CHSRA cost overruns, and yet gets worked up over $1500 invoice on a PR contract.
If CHSRA has a PR problem, it probably isn’t the fault of the PR firm. The phrase Legatus non violatur comes to mind.
joe Reply:
April 5th, 2011 at 11:42 pm
Vae victis!
VERY off topic: Where at Newark Penn Station would be a good place to meet someone who does not have a cell phone (refuses to learn to get or use one), and who has never been there before? This person will be arriving from New York Penn Station probably on NJT. Any help would be greatly appreciated…
Donk Reply:
April 5th, 2011 at 10:35 pm
It really is amazing that people were able to figure out how to meet at train stations for a hundred years before the proliferation of cell phones. How did they do it?
Peter Reply:
April 6th, 2011 at 10:44 am
It wouldn’t be a problem, but this is my mother we’re talking about, so…
adirondacker12800 Reply:
April 5th, 2011 at 10:44 pm
Under the main arrivals/departure board. It’s in the center of the waiting room at the end of the main concourse to the tracks. Well maybe not directly under it, there’s a risk of trampling. The Wikipedia article on it has a decent shot of the waiting room with the board and information booth visible in it.
Peter Reply:
April 6th, 2011 at 10:45 am
Awesome, thank you very much!
thatbruce Reply:
April 6th, 2011 at 11:31 am
Just have her freeze in place.
Nadia or Elizabeth for the open seat. They claim that want HSR done right. Let’s put them to the test then.
joe Reply:
April 6th, 2011 at 11:00 am
Maybe they can help get funding for HSR to improve the shared corridor with Caltrain, improve rail service and reduce traffic along the Peninsula.
Schizophrenic NIMBY cities’ policies have hurt rail and subsequently Menlo Park demands more money for abating automobile traffic.
THIS ..
“Caltrain to halt trains, close stations, raise fares, slow express service” “It’s not the level of service that we need for Caltrain, and it’s not a long-term solution,” said Palo Alto Councilman Pat Burt, who has been critical of the agency. “We have a major issue on the Peninsula with this vital part of our transportation system.”
IS RELATED TO THIS:
“Stanford should pay Menlo Park more than $2 million up front and another $3.6 million over the next 51 years to help it cope with traffic problems an expansion of the university’s medical center is expected to create, according to a letter Menlo Park council members agreed on Tuesday to send to Palo Alto.”
Sorry if this is a bit OT, I thought it might interest many of you.
The success of Spain’s AVE is continuing. The latest casualty is the ultra low-cost airline Ryanair which is comletely withdrawing from the Madrid – Valencia route. Competition from HSR is cited as the reason.
Source: http://www.tranvia.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=17928&mode=&order=0&thold=0
(registration possibly required, I am pasting the text below in Spanish)
El AVE Madrid-Valencia se cobró ayer su primera víctima. La hora y media de viaje en tren entre las dos ciudades es algo a lo que Ryanair no podrá hacer frente. Ayer, su presidente, Michael O’Leary, confirmó que abandona la ruta entre las dos ciudades.
El presidente de Ryanair, Michael O’Leary, aseguró ayer en Alicante que la aerolínea de bajo coste “ha dejado de operar” la ruta entre Valencia y Madrid y “no volverá a operarla en el futuro”, debido a que “no puede competir con el AVE”.
Preguntado en un desayuno informativo por los planes de la compañía para su ruta entre Valencia y Madrid, el presidente de Ryanair explicó que esta “no empezará otra vez”. “La ruta entre Valencia y Madrid, no, porque ahora no se puede competir en una ruta corta con el tren de alta velocidad”.
YesonHSR Reply:
April 6th, 2011 at 8:24 am
O the anti-HSR mouths would just say its killing jobs!! like any airline pays the full cost of ATC, runways and upkeep of airports
joe Reply:
April 6th, 2011 at 2:28 pm
Look at all the phone maintenance jobs Cisco killed.
http://www.uh.edu/engines/nycandwires.jpg
Alon Levy Reply:
April 6th, 2011 at 11:40 am
O’Leary probably just wants more state subsidies.
Andre Peretti Reply:
April 6th, 2011 at 4:37 pm
By the way, O’Leary’s adventures in Marseille have a happy end. He is back, reopening 22 lines from there but not Marseille-Paris. This proves that up to 500 miles low-cost airlines can’t compete. On a shorter distance like LA-SF Ryanair wouldn’t even have tried.
Loren Petrich Reply:
April 6th, 2011 at 12:29 pm
I ran the text through some autotranslators: http://translate.google.com http://babelfish.yahoo.com http://www.freetranslation.com The first paragraph:
The Madrid-Valencia AVE yesterday claimed its first victim. The hour-and-a-half trip by train between the two cities is something that Ryanair can not cope with. Yesterday, its president, Michael O’Leary confirmed that he is abandoning the route between the two cities.
In the next two paragraphs, he stated that he will not be restarting that route, and also that it is not possible to compete with high-speed trains on short routes. I think that it says something about high-speed trains that they can successfully compete with low-cost airlines like Ryanair.
Donk Reply:
April 6th, 2011 at 12:35 pm
I really don’t understand how these sort of articles aren’t enough to convince everyone in America that HSR here is a no-brainer. The “yeah but America is different” people probably haven’t even been outside of America.
Richard Mlynarik Reply:
April 6th, 2011 at 12:50 pm
On the contrary, its the monophone anglophone fanboys who insist that HSR done at triple the cost, with transparently fraudulent route and business case justifications, and going down a route of American Exceptionalism (which is all they know this side of Google Earth tourism) in public transportation engineering will result in anything but massive public policy failure and set back cause for decades or more.
CHSR doesn’t look anything like Madrid-Valencia. (San Jose doesn’t look much like Madrid either, for that matter.)
Those who have lived extensively outside the US, were born outside the US, or are careful and thoughtful comparative observers of non-US practices, are the ones raising alarm bells about the route — a historically proven route of fiscal and environmental disaster — being bulldozed for CHSR implementation by the proven fraudulent, proven incompetent, proven rent-seeking consultant mafioso who completely control the CHSRA process.
If you haven’t seen things done remotely competently, and if you screw your eyes shut really tightly, and if you chant your mantra sufficiently loudly and continuously, I guess it might be possible to hallucinate that “America isn’t different” in the field of public works and public transportation.
But, hey, forget that, because … NIMBY! DENIALIST! NON-IPHONE-USER! BANANA! NO-BRAINER!
Jack Reply:
April 6th, 2011 at 1:13 pm
Banana?
Richard Mlynarik Reply:
April 6th, 2011 at 1:37 pm
Banana
joe Reply:
April 6th, 2011 at 2:25 pm
Wheee!!!
Who knew when we brought successful, 40+ old HSR technology to the US it was a conspiracy to dupe the ignorant, fools.
a “massive public policy failure and set back cause for decades or more.”
Whee!!! Ride the Richard Ferris wheel of FUD.
D. P. Lubic Reply:
April 6th, 2011 at 6:35 pm
And what’s interesting is that the original HSR system in Japan had a lot of USA practice in it. Much has been superseded since then, but it’s not entirely alien to American practice; indeed, we were leaders in HSR before the term was coined, and did with steam engines!
The first daily, regularly scheduled 100 mph operation was the Milwaukee’s Hiawatha services, and that went back to 1934!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cph7KwNMon8&feature=related
As the Hiawathas looked later on:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWJO8Wv2C5g&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPk4gn_yl7Q&feature=related
joe Reply:
April 6th, 2011 at 6:58 pm
“The first daily, regularly scheduled 100 mph operation was the Milwaukee’s Hiawatha services, and that went back to 1934! ”
We’re supposed to mock 100 MPH service as moving backwards to the 1930′s.
D. P. Lubic Reply:
April 6th, 2011 at 7:22 pm
Well, I have to admit I am a nostalgia hound, and am real retro anyway.
At the same time, we have a lot of “back to the future” in this effort, and truthfully, even the idea of semi-high speed services is better than most of what we have now. David Gunn, former Amtrak president, even once said he wanted to “go back 100 years” to 100 mph operation, recognizing this was better performance than he could offer today.
My real point, though, was to refute the idea that fast trains are so alien or foreign to America. They are very much a part of our heritage, and in the improved forms you and I both want to see, could be a part of our future. We have a huge demand for something better than driving, and flying is not much to write about as well.
I have been wondering for some time now what our passenger trains of today would look like, and how fast they would run, if we hadn’t been so foolish to throw all this away in the last 60 years or so. As they were for Japan, those–our–American streamliners would have been but the first generation for today’s bullet services.
We need to admit it–we made a colossal blunder, and it will take a colossal effort to correct it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kvy3CSkO2QE
I just hope we have the time. . .
Andre Peretti Reply:
April 6th, 2011 at 5:09 pm
Aren’t companies supposed to bid for public works? Spanish companies win bids in France, French companies build highways in Germany, etc… By pitting Airbus against Boeing the USAF got its tankers 40% cheaper than Boeing’s original offer. Won’t CHSRA do the same?
Maybe there are things I don’t understand, but you seem to know in advance who is going to do the work.
mike Reply:
April 6th, 2011 at 12:35 pm
Silly Michael O’Leary. What does he know? He just runs Europe’s largest low-cost airline. If he talked to the folks at Reason or the PAMPA NIMBYs, he would learn that trains can’t compete with planes, no one is going to take HSR when low-cost airlines exist, and he should stick with that Madrid-Valencia route.
One correction. Rod’s seat was filled (http://www.calhsr.com/uncategorized/out-with-the-old-and-in-with-the-new-new-appointees-to-the-rail-authority-board/ )
Since Kopp’s record isn’t one of caring about $9 million PR contracts, the real question is why he’s out. I suspect, but do not know, that it’s for the same overarching reason of Diridon, i.e. the current environment of van Ark has no place for people like him on the board. Most likely, the adults in charge ignored him until it was no longer “fun like it used to be.”
joe Reply:
April 6th, 2011 at 2:22 pm
Uh; He’s 82 years old.
Alon Levy Reply:
April 6th, 2011 at 3:37 pm
82-year-olds retire because “It isn’t fun like it used to be”? Right…
joe Reply:
April 6th, 2011 at 3:53 pm
82 year-olds retire.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q37xJtuQ24w
Castle Expert Reply:
April 6th, 2011 at 10:48 pm
Kopp is a good man and his common sense will sorely be missed. I only wish his seat was filled by someone from Silicon Valley. This project could use the marketing and product developement skills of someone from Apple, Goggle or Facebook. Imagine the advertising revenue and apps these companies could come up with on a high tech, high speed train.
Donk Reply:
April 6th, 2011 at 11:06 pm
…unless they put Merced on hold till later and/or select another maintenance site instead of Castle. If that happens that BURN THE PROJECT TO THE GROUND!!!!!!!!!
You are seriously bipolar.
Donk Reply:
April 6th, 2011 at 11:07 pm
then not that
Jack Reply:
April 7th, 2011 at 12:29 am
Build it My Way or Not at All. BIMWNA!!??
More changes http://www.calhsr.com/business-plan/more-changes-on-high-speed-rail-board/
synonymouse Reply:
April 6th, 2011 at 12:34 pm
The presence of union heavies on the board will confirm the likelihood of the BART-style management mode at the hsr. Politicized management and militant unions in place. I cannot see how that will play with the notion of private operation. And it certainly undermines the profitability customarily associated with private investment.
joe Reply:
April 6th, 2011 at 2:20 pm
Trolling : Anti-union, BART, Profitability, Private investment yada yada.
Andre Peretti Reply:
April 6th, 2011 at 5:33 pm
I don’t kow if there exists unions more militant and strike-prone than SNCF’s. Yet the TGV is run like a private company and makes a profit. It’s true that SNCF is managed by people with corporate experience, not politicians. But why should American rail companies be run by politicians?
joe Reply:
April 6th, 2011 at 7:01 pm
Yeah, Why some politician when we can pay a Captain of Industry.
• Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman took home a $2.65 million in salary, $11.25 million in bonus, and $70.45 million in stock options for total compensation of $84,469,515. That’s up 148 percent since 2009.
• Stanley Black & Decker CEO John Lundgren received total compensation of $32,570,596, up 253 percent from two years ago.
• Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg got $17,901,396, a mere 5.2 percent increase over 2009.
• U.S. Bankcorp CEO Richard Davis was paid a total of $16,104,276, a 143 percent increase. But then he triples as President and Chairman of the Board.
• Adobe Systems CEO Shantanu Narayen also increased his compensation by 143 percent, for a total of $12,228,214.
All told, these 175 Americans selected by USA Today made $1.84 billion in 2010. The median compensation was $8.8 million, a 26 percent rise over 2009.
Andre Peretti Reply:
April 7th, 2011 at 3:00 am
SNCF’s CEO Guillaume Pepy gets €260,000 ($364,000). In 2010, he took responsibility for the decrease in train punctuality and refused his bonus.
He had been offered a top executive post at Kesa Electricals Plc (a British multinational), with a far higher salary+stock options+bonus, but he opted for SNCF. Less money but probably more fun…
If this type of captain of industry exists in France, it must also exist in the US.
I’m sure Van Ark’s salary as president of Alstom Transportation Inc was higher than what CHSRA is now paying him.
Do you think greed was what motivated men like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs?
adirondacker12800 Reply:
April 7th, 2011 at 9:18 am
Do you think greed was what motivated men like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs?
Yes
Alon Levy Reply:
April 8th, 2011 at 9:20 am
American (and British) executive salaries re just higher than French ones. The idea is that it’s supposed to attract better people. The practice is that it attracts Ken Lays and Carly Fiorinas.
YesonHSR Reply:
April 6th, 2011 at 8:23 pm
As far as I can recall Amtrak has never had a strike against it by its workers.. there are not millionaires manning the sleeping cars.. if they actually made good money its do to the fact they probably work 45 hours straight on a run so of course your check is larger.. the union bashing the last couple years is just pathetic.. even in San Francisco they have stupid articles like this in the paper about how much people are paid by the city… When you want something to run and they’re not enough people to cover the positions overtime is required.. compared to these people above that make millions of dollars for sitting at a stupid desk most union workers do physically work.. because a police officer or fireman or nurser makes $110,000 a year is because they probably put in 60 hour weeks when most people work 40… try working round-the-clock all holidays etc. etc. that’s what I do ..work in a medical center whenever I heare people whinning about nurses or medical people making too much I ask when was the last time your computer ever shit or threw up on you… and no I’m not in a union
YesonHSR Reply:
April 6th, 2011 at 8:37 pm
The reply above was to synonmouse.. and his constant degrading and whining about people in unions and acting like they’re taking a baseball bat and beat beating people in the head… no that would be the owners of these companies.. remember in the 1920s.And today’s current far right wing Republicans would probally mind not the least bit doing the same thing
jimsf Reply:
April 6th, 2011 at 9:56 pm
I hate it when my computer throws up on me. Seriously, this nonsense about wages…
conductors hourly rate is 20 something, and they are completely number one responsible for the safety of 400 + passengers.
The train/sleeper/dining car attendants, on board, … I started on board in 2001 at 11 and some change per hour. Now they start around 15 bucks. The on board staff has to work up to 20 hours per shift with NO overtime pay. Thats right. Ticket accounting clerks, I started at 15 and some change, per hour, in 2003, and you do all the station font and back office accounting/bookkeeping as well as reservations and sales and if you make mistake you have to write the company a check to cover it.
If there is a money problem in this nation’s economy it sure as hell doesn’t have anything to do with the working class and synonymouse is just running out of things to say.
VBobier Reply:
April 7th, 2011 at 12:30 am
He’ll find something, Even if there is more brain power here that’s against Him…
He’s too stubborn, Too dismissive of something New, too much of a stick in the mud, Of course when there’s a pyroclastic flow, that stick will be ash and that will be that.
Jack Reply:
April 7th, 2011 at 12:33 am
15 bucks an hour! That’s more than a new airline pilot makes, omg OVERPAID. lol
Thank you for recognizing the differences between PR and outreach. I believe you are correct in saying that more outreach is needed on this project and less PR. Hiring a well paid PR firm isn’t the solution, focusing on local companies that provide leadership and outreach support are!
GinaCucina Reply:
April 6th, 2011 at 11:07 pm
As a PR professional, I frequently have to shake my head when I read how little people know about what we do. I have no knowledge or opinion about Ogilvy in this case, so I’m not going to criticize or defend them. However, I do take issue with people who think that outreach and PR are not the same thing. In fact, outreach comes under the PR umbrella. Public relations is, literally, how you relate to your public. It’s not — as I’ve heard people say — all about taking lies and making them sound like fact. It’s not about manipulating people. It’s not about being slick or fast and loose with the facts. It’s quite the opposite.
Properly implemented, PR includes delivering a client’s message or position, listening to what constituents have to say and taking their concerns seriously, being honest with news (including bad news), building a client’s good reputation, and many other issues. Good PR people ensure that outreach is practiced as a matter of good business. The two — PR and outreach — are so tightly related that you cannot have one without the other.
I’m glad to see Kopp go. He waited until a whole week had gone by after 2008′s Prop 1a was approved by voters to suddenly and out of nowhere announce that the plan voters had just approved after literally decades of planning, should be amended to remove the SF terminus.
Bait and switch much Quentin? Good riddance.
Among the bids for the $2.4 billion in federal high-speed rail money are:
California: $2.4 billion, to extend the first segment of a planned high-speed line in the Central Valley. When complete, it will link San Francisco to Los Angeles.
Missouri: $1 billion, to upgrade service between St. Louis and Kansas City and begin planning for a high-speed line between the cities.
North Carolina: $624 million, to improve service between Raleigh and Charlotte, upgrade stations and begin work on a new, faster route between Raleigh and Richmond, Va.
New York: $517 million, for several projects, including upgrades to the Northeast Corridor, the New York-Albany-Buffalo Empire Corridor and the Moynihan Station in Midtown Manhattan.
Maryland: $415 million, to replace aging bridges on the Northeast Corridor, add new track and redevelop the station at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.
Wisconsin: $150 million, to reduce travel times between Chicago and Milwaukee to an hour from 90 minutes, add new trains and build a maintenance facility for the equipment.
Washington state: $120 million, to add two daily round trips on the Cascades Corridor between Seattle and Portland, Ore., and improve track and signal systems.
Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/04/06/111645/states-vie-for-money-from-floridas.html#ixzz1InrOWIg5
YesonHSR Reply:
April 6th, 2011 at 8:42 pm
I think we will be getting 1 to 1.2 billion… Missouri will get nowhere near what they want, North Carolina will not get that either,, New York wil lget some of this and so will Maryland probably about 250.. Wisconsin may get the train sets because Democratic Milwaukee .. and I don’t think Washington state is going toget what they want as they got in the last stimulus about 160 million rejected from Ohio/ Wisconsin.. the Northeast corridor is going to be our major competitor.. probably also getting almost half.. and hopefully the 2011 money will be able to help us out also because I don’t think Republicans are going to be able to have it stripped out
VBobier Reply:
April 7th, 2011 at 12:36 am
Wisconsin, Shouldn’t get that, But since the state is important, I guess a small bone could be thrown, But It wouldn’t surprise Me If Wisconsin just got a letter from a very Cheesed off DOT telling Gov. Scott, No.
AlanF Reply:
April 6th, 2011 at 10:13 pm
The Wisconsin application is to buy rolling stock and upgrade a maintenance facility, from what I have read. Doesn’t do anything to speed up the Hiawatha service beyond what is already funded which is modest. To upgrade the Milwaukee to Chicago corridor to 110 mpd speeds will take a lot more than they are asking for.
Winconsin is also teamed with IL, MI, MO on a joint $806 million dollar application to buy 100 bi-level cars and 31 locomotives which is apparently contradictory to their application to buy 2 Talgo train sets. But haven’t seen enough details to see how WI is playing it.
CT is asking for $227 million for the New Haven to Springfield MA corridor.
Amtrak as has been widely publicized is asking for $1.3 billion for 5 NEC projects. The total of the requests is close to $10 billion from Amtrak, DC, and 24 states according to the US DOT press release. Few easy to reject applications this time around from what I have seen..
O/T: After the earthquake in Japan, no high-speed rail viaducts, bridges, or tunnels collapsed. The Tohoku Shinkansen’s earthquake early-warning system detected substantial shaking 50 km away from the tracks and automatically activated the brakes of all the trains on the line 10 seconds before the first tremors were felt on the railway itself (reportedly). The heaviest shaking wasn’t until a full minute later. No trains derailed. The full line is scheduled to be re-opened by the end of this month.
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/05_31.html
http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201103290189.html
And BTW, if you haven’t seen the new super-first-class seating on the newly-christened Hayabusa service that premiered a mere 6 days before the big earthquake brought it to a halt, then you are missing possibly the most luxurious HSR ride available today.
Whether Prop 1A had failed or not, Mylnariakrik, Tolmach, Clem, et al. would still be screaming about this poor design and that consultant mafia, but because of Quintin Kopp, their criticisms actually matter.
Joey Reply:
April 6th, 2011 at 11:51 pm
Tolmach would be whining no matter what. The other two understand value engineering.
Jack Reply:
April 7th, 2011 at 12:36 am
I don’t know how you lump Clem in with those guys. Clem just really wants Altamont, but I have the feeling he want’s an HSR line more. The other two are just swinging at windmills.
Spokker Reply:
April 7th, 2011 at 12:41 am
It doesn’t matter who I lump into the pile. It could be anyone who has a criticism of the project.
The point is that the project is closer than ever to breaking ground, so criticisms actually mean something. Otherwise, we would be talking about a fictional project anyway.
synonymouse Reply:
April 7th, 2011 at 10:45 am
The campaign for BART Ring the Bay is definitely alive on the Peninsula:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/04/07/EDIC1IQJNQ.DTL
Meantime Muni drivers show how to to be militant:
http://www.ktvu.com/news/27461268/detail.html
The tv story was more complete – the driver kicked the complainers off the bus. Now she would be perfect for shop steward at the hsr.
Jim Hartnett, former Redwood City Councilman and former Caltrain board member joins High Speed Rail board.
http://redwoodcity.patch.com/articles/former-redwood-city-mayor-appointed-to-high-speed-rail-board