Dear friends of Regional Rail:

The next meeting of the Regional Rail Working Group (RRWG) will be held
on Wednesday, August 26, 2009, 6-8pm (meeting will start promptly at 6pm)
Conference Room, NYPD Downtown Center 104 Washington Street (just north
of Rector Street), Lower Manhattan.

Three key items will be discussed:

-- Review of drafts of MTA Capital Program 2010-2014 and MTA Twenty Year
Capital Needs Assessment 2010-2029. Both documents are available at MTA's
website. Regional Rail, thru-running at Penn Station and
"interoperability" are key investments discussed in these plans.

-- Outline of continuing efforts to halt NJ Transit's deep cavern dead
end terminal station 175 feet below 34th Street and 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 critical moment and we must devise a winning strategy!

-- Report by IRUM's intern Jack Massey on assembling a regionwide data
base on Regional Rail equipment, plant and operations.

Time permitting, there will be progress reports on other RRWG
initiatives:

1. moving forward on the Penn Station Metro-Hub plan
2. Rockaway Cut-off - one-seat ride Midtown Manhattan-Aqueduct Racino-JFK
Airport and Rockaway Peninsula
3. regional rail equipment compatibility issues
4. Upper Level Loop Alternative for LIRR East Side Access
5. Lower Manhattan Access
6. Light Rail in the Lincoln Tunnel
7. 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, August 26, 2009, 6-8pm

Also plan to attend the next Auto-Free New York's walking tour:

- Tuesday, August 25, 2009 6-8pm
"Broadway Boulevard: Herald Sq.-Times Sq."
Meet promptly at 6pm, Macy's front door
Broadway between 34th St. and 35th St.
Manhattan

Both tours: rain or shine.
No reservations needed


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