SACRAMENTO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The California State Assembly last night approved AB 3034 (Gagliani/Ma) by a vote of 60-3. The legislation improves existing California High Speed Train Bond Act by strengthening provisions for financial controls, environmental findings and construction implementation. The technical amendments in AB 3034 clarify construction and financing requirements for the $9.95 billion dollar bond measure,

Urban decay meets modern today.  After years of debate, with the sweep of a pen, the Fruit and Produce building built in 1929 to house refrigerated goods coming off the trains before being loaded onto trucks for distribution to the area was demolished.  The judge signed the order, the area was then protected by the

With higher prices for fuel, I wonder if public transportation will come back.  Sure, there are still some bus lines and a few subways in this country, but in general, there is little in the way of public transportation.  We live in the age of the automobile, and people want to drive themselves anywhere they

I’m back in Japan!  Everything is exactly like I remember it. The journey was difficult….as air travel usually is.  My first flight didn’t leave Bismarck until about 9:50…my next flight was scheduled to leave at 10:18.  I didn’t make that one.  I did make the 11:20.  I had about 15 to run to the other side

Friday night I headed to Hakone (箱根) to meet an old friend and colleague. We hadn’t been in contact for 16 years. Several weeks ago she tracked me down through my account on LinkedIn. Had we not been connected through business, it may not have been possible to find each other. Hakone has been on my

6/2/08 5:30 AM Dear Diary, I’m on the Amtrak Accella. Everyone around me is drinking coffee or sleeping. Me, I just polished off a hash brown, a bacon, egg and cheese McGriddle, and now I’m going to wash it down with this orange juice… wait, did I say juice… you know I meant soda. The only

39. John Candy If I had to get fat, I mean, if I HAD to get fat, I’d try to be just like John Candy. His resume has more ridiculously funny movies on it than anyone’s. Summer Rental, Splash, Uncle Buck, Planes Trains and Automobiles. Plus, name one other fat guy in history who could pull

Trains are funny things. Having grown used to getting the poverty express to Dublin (i.e. the Citylink Bus) I found myself one Friday evening running late for a pressing engagement (seeing Pam). I had no option but to spend the GDP of a small African country to be transported by the wondrous Iron Horse. The train

I love ‘The Railway Children’. It’s so well-made - it’s innocent, charming, trusting: it’s a child’s view of the world around itself, a vulnerable child’s view that wants to believe the world, despite its faults, is basically trustworthy and that people are basically decent. It’s lovely to look at it - the colours vibrate

Whilst travelling on the train the other day, I had a quick conversation with a stranger. He went on to point out that he could spot 3 strippers sitting in our carriage. When questioned over the validity of his observations, he actually had quite a strong case for himself. His case was made up of