California

Orange County balks at Anaheim streetcar plan

Plans for a $319 million, 3.2-mile streetcar in Anaheim, Calif., are meeting resistance from the Orange County Transportation Authority, even though OCTA has set aside $13 million for engineering and planning purposes.

Caltrain Board reviews budget, ridership growth

Caltrain said Thursday its staff offered a preliminary report to the Joint Powers Board indicating the rail service’s Fiscal Year 2014 budget will be balanced, but warning that FY15 could produce a budget shortfall that might trigger fare increases and service cuts.

SPRINTER stopped in its tracks indefinitely

San Diego County’s North County Transit District (NCTD) suspended SPRINTER diesel light railway transit (DLRT) service Saturday “in order to perform necessary maintenance repairs”—repairs that some observers say could take months.

Monterey County eyes extended Capitol Corridor

Monterey County, Calif., is considering a proposal to extend rail service roughly 60 miles south of San Jose, in Santa Clara County, to Salinas, Calif.—in essence adding to the heavily used Capitol Corridor intercity rail service area.

Airport link eyed for SMART rail startup

Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) rail operations, to serve its namesake counties north of San Francisco, may add an airport/rail station stop at Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport, according to local officials.

BART explores express, split/merge service

BART officials have begun reviewing system operations with a eye toward offering both express services and split/merge operations, where a train is divided or joined en route to or from two different terminal points.