Dear friends of regional rail:

The next monthly meeting of the Regional Rail Working Group sponsored by:

Empire State Passengers Association
NJ Association of Railroad Passengers
Committee for Better Transit
Institute for Rational Urban Mobility

will be:

Wednesday, October 20, 2004 6-8pm
Conference Room, NYPD Downtown Center
104 Washington Street (just north of Rector Street), Lower Manhattan.

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 Penn
Station Metro-Hub plan sets the stage for doing this. Subsequent steps
are access to Lower Manhattan and the Penn Station-Grand Central link.
The group also considers changes to rapid transit and light rail transit
that are "regional" in scale.

Regional Rail issues are discussed on the website: www.auto-free.org

Agenda for the October 20, 2004 meeting

1. special guest -- Jack Kanarek -- Senior Director, Project
Development, NJ Transit
who will discuss "Planning for NJ Transit's' Future"
2. MTA's Capital and Operating Budgets -- fare hikes and service cuts!!!
3. progress reports on RRWG initiatives:
-- Penn Station Metro-Hub plan
-- Rockaway cut-off/Kennedy Airport Access
-- PATH-Lex Connection
-- streamlining LIRR access to Grand Central - update
-- Access to the Region's Core - Penn Station-Grand Central link
-- Regional Rail to Lower Manhattan
-- regional rail freight issues -- update on freight tunnel and
alternatives
-- intercity rail passenger issues
4. organizational issues and website

If you cannot make this meeting please send us you comments!

Save the dates for future meetings (third Wednesday of each month):

Note -- this effort continues to require substantial resources -- both
human and financial.
Join ESPA or NJ-ARP and also make a contribution to IRUM!

Mail check made out to IRUM to the address shown below or bring to the
meeting.

Hope to see you Wednesday!

geo

George Haikalis
Manhattan Coordinator
Empire State Passengers Association (ESPA)

President, Institute for Rational Urban Mobility, Inc.
One Washington Square Village, Apt. 5D
New York, NY 10012 phone: 212-475-3394 fax:212-475-5051
geohaikalis@juno.com www.auto-free.org www.vision42.org