When Will the Surfliners Take Less Time to Get to San Diego Than the San Diegans?

Commentary By Noel T. Braymer, RailPAC President.

(Note: This article was first written for RailPAC in September, 2001)

In the glory days of the SAN DIEGANS (late 70's), ridership broke one million passengers annually for the first time on six daily round trips that ran the distance in 2 hours and 35 minutes. As part of the "deal" between Amtrak and the Santa Fe for a 7th round-trip, it was agreed to put in a "temporary" extra 10 minutes in the schedule for needed track work to support additional trains. As I remember it this padding was suppose to be removed in 6 months at the next schedule change. That was back on October 26, 1980. We have since spent hundreds of millions of dollars on improved trackage, signals and new rolling stock. Yet most trains on this corridor take between 2 hours 40 minutes up to 2 hours 55 minutes to travel between Los Angeles and San Diego.

By Amtrak's own planning, they should have the running time down to 2 hours and 10 minutes by 2005. By 2020 with running times raised to 110 miles per hour the trains are expected to be run in just under 2 hours. The 2 hour, 10 minutes running time will be possible with the PACIFIC SURFLINER equipment and additional track improvements now planned or under construction with no increases in current top speeds. The biggest improvement in running times will come from track work were the current running speeds are at their lowest. A good example of this is the crossing at Redondo Junction with tight curves and 15 mile per hour top speeds. The new flyover over Redondo Junction which opened July 9,2001 raised speeds up to 40 miles per hour and saves up to 4 minutes in the run out of Union Station.

A major factor in improved running times will be the complete conversion of Amtrak service in this corridor to the SURFLINER equipment. Metrolink is able to run trains between Oceanside and Los Angeles as fast as Amtrak with more stations stops because of the rapid loading of its cars. A commuter railroad usually has stops of 30 seconds or less. Between Los Angeles and San Diego with Amfleet, station stops take 4 minutes or more. On busy days trains are often late cause by delays from loading and unloading with Amfleet equipment. With SURFLINER trains station stops should be 2 minutes or less. With 7 intermediate stations, that is a time saving of at least 14 or more minutes.

The SURFLINER cars were introduced in June 2000. At that time it was expected that the entire fleet would be in use by spring 2001. However some Amfleet/Horizon Car trainsets can still be seen on the corridor. It would seem reasonable to me that by the schedule change in this October Amtrak would be able to run most or all of their trains between Los Angeles and San Diego in 2 and a half hours or less. However the soonest that the schedules could be reduced is next spring and there is no guarantee that it will -4 happen then. Reduced running times have major advantages for passenger trains. The obvious is shorter times will increase ridership because people will be attracted to saving time. The other more ignored reason is faster times increase service efficiency and saves money. Faster trains mean you can get more use out of equipment and personal in a day. It could even mean fewer cars and people for the same level of service.

There are two more stations now than in 1979,and 5 more trains most days. But we also now have railcars designed for corridor service, improved stations with new platforms for faster loading and more double tracking than in 1979. We also have push-pull train operation, which also saves time. There have been numerous track improvements to speed trains up in the corridor since 1979. These hundreds of millions of dollars in improvements were made for the specific purpose of allowing more trains to run faster in the corridor. Yet most of the trains run slower than they did 22 years ago! It is pointless to get worked up over running 110 miles per hour or 150 or even 200 miles per hour when we still can beat the running times of 22 years ago. And once we see real progress on the SURFLINERS, what about the SAN JOAQUINS?


RailPAC Contacts Publications Issues Archives Tehachapi Airports Surfliners Western Corridor Car High Speed Rail Zephyr to LA Revisited Tributes Eagle to Phoenix Meeting Reports Membership Links	When Will the Surfliners Take Less Time to Get to San Diego Than the San Diegans? Commentary By Noel T. Braymer, RailPAC President. (Note: This article was first written for RailPAC in September, 2001) In the glory days of the SAN DIEGANS (late 70's), ridership broke one million passengers annually for the first time on six daily round trips that ran the distance in 2 hours and 35 minutes. As part of the "deal" between Amtrak and the Santa Fe for a 7th round-trip, it was agreed to put in a "temporary" extra 10 minutes in the schedule for needed track work to support additional trains. As I remember it this padding was suppose to be removed in 6 months at the next schedule change. That was back on October 26, 1980. We have since spent hundreds of millions of dollars on improved trackage, signals and new rolling stock. Yet most trains on this corridor take between 2 hours 40 minutes up to 2 hours 55 minutes to travel between Los Angeles and San Diego. By Amtrak's own planning, they should have the running time down to 2 hours and 10 minutes by 2005. By 2020 with running times raised to 110 miles per hour the trains are expected to be run in just under 2 hours. The 2 hour, 10 minutes running time will be possible with the PACIFIC SURFLINER equipment and additional track improvements now planned or under construction with no increases in current top speeds. The biggest improvement in running times will come from track work were the current running speeds are at their lowest. A good example of this is the crossing at Redondo Junction with tight curves and 15 mile per hour top speeds. The new flyover over Redondo Junction which opened July 9,2001 raised speeds up to 40 miles per hour and saves up to 4 minutes in the run out of Union Station. A major factor in improved running times will be the complete conversion of Amtrak service in this corridor to the SURFLINER equipment. Metrolink is able to run trains between Oceanside and Los Angeles as fast as Amtrak with more stations stops because of the rapid loading of its cars. A commuter railroad usually has stops of 30 seconds or less. Between Los Angeles and San Diego with Amfleet, station stops take 4 minutes or more. On busy days trains are often late cause by delays from loading and unloading with Amfleet equipment. With SURFLINER trains station stops should be 2 minutes or less. With 7 intermediate stations, that is a time saving of at least 14 or more minutes. The SURFLINER cars were introduced in June 2000. At that time it was expected that the entire fleet would be in use by spring 2001. However some Amfleet/Horizon Car trainsets can still be seen on the corridor. It would seem reasonable to me that by the schedule change in this October Amtrak would be able to run most or all of their trains between Los Angeles and San Diego in 2 and a half hours or less. However the soonest that the schedules could be reduced is next spring and there is no guarantee that it will -4 happen then. Reduced running times have major advantages for passenger trains. The obvious is shorter times will increase ridership because people will be attracted to saving time. The other more ignored reason is faster times increase service efficiency and saves money. Faster trains mean you can get more use out of equipment and personal in a day. It could even mean fewer cars and people for the same level of service. There are two more stations now than in 1979,and 5 more trains most days. But we also now have railcars designed for corridor service, improved stations with new platforms for faster loading and more double tracking than in 1979. We also have push-pull train operation, which also saves time. There have been numerous track improvements to speed trains up in the corridor since 1979. These hundreds of millions of dollars in improvements were made for the specific purpose of allowing more trains to run faster in the corridor. Yet most of the trains run slower than they did 22 years ago! It is pointless to get worked up over running 110 miles per hour or 150 or even 200 miles per hour when we still can beat the running times of 22 years ago. And once we see real progress on the SURFLINERS, what about the SAN JOAQUINS?
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