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Dear friends of Regional Rail: The next meeting of the Regional Rail Working Group (RRWG) will be held on Wednesday, April 29, 2009, 6-8pm (meeting will start promptly at 6pm) Conference Room, NYPD Downtown Center 104 Washington Street (just north of Rector Street), Lower Manhattan. Please note this is a week later than our usual 4th Wednesday of the month. This is because several of us will be attending the Annual Meeting of NARP in Washington DC next week. Central discussion will continue to focus on our efforts to advance ARC Penn Station First -- a plan for connecting the new Hudson River passenger rail tunnels directly into existing tracks and platforms at Moynihan/Penn Station. This is a central feature of a plan for a truly regional rail system with frequent service, integrated fares and thru-running. A subsequent phase would be to connect Penn Station with Grand Central Terminal, adding many new opportunities for regional transit travel. Time permitting, there will be progress reports on other RRWG initiatives: 1. regional rail equipment compatibility issues 2. Upper Level Loop Alternative for LIRR East Side Access 3. Rockaway Cut-off - one-seat ride Midtown Manhattan-Aqueduct Racino-JFK Airport and Rockaway Peninsula 4. Lower Manhattan Access 5. Light Rail in the Lincoln Tunnel 6. Regional Rail Freight and Intercity rail passenger issues The purpose of the working group is to develop and advance plans for converting the region's commuter rail lines into a regional rail system, with fast, frequent service and affordable, integrated fares. The group also considers changes to rapid transit and light rail transit that are "regional" in scale. Regional Rail issues are discussed on our website: www.rrwg.org The Working Group includes: Empire State Passengers Association NJ Association of Railroad Passengers Lackawanna Coalition Five Towns Rural Transit, Inc. Committee for Better Transit Institute for Rational Urban Mobility Sane Aviation for Everyone, Inc. (SAFE) (our newest participant) Plan to attend the next meeting on Wednesday, April 29, 2009, 6-8pm Also, why not join us at the next Auto-Free New York meeting. This will be held the day before, on Tuesday, April 28, 2009 6-8pm at the same location, 104 Washington St. Joseph Kenas, Staff Engineer with Bombardier Transportation will speak on: "Modern Light Rail Transit - a global perspective" geo George Haikalis Chair, Regional Rail Working Group One Washington Square Village, Suite 5D New York, NY 10012 phone: 212-475-3394 geo@irum.org www.irum.org www.auto-free.org www.vision42.org www.rrwg.org |
