Today
| This section requires expansion. |
Southern Pacific was purchased by Union Pacific and acquisition was finalized in 1996. Prior to the purchase, a 175 mile portion of the Southern Pacific network in southern California (Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura Counties) were purchased by the Southern California Regional Railroad Authority, the parent organization of Metrolink. Ownership allowed the public agency the opportunity to set priorities on the usage of the lines, giving passenger schedules priority over freight schedules. With the ATSF-BN merger, the two major railroads in California are now Union Pacific and the BNSF. Amtrak serves California with the Coast Starlight, the California Zephyr, the Southwest Chief, and the Sunset Limited. Amtrak California runs the Capitol Corridor, San Joaquin and the Pacific Surfliner. Also, Caltrain, Altamont Commuter Express, SPRINTER, COASTER and Metrolink all provide commuter rail service. The future of passenger rail in California looks promising, with funding being implemented for transit in Los Angeles and the Bay Area, as well as for a high-speed rail system.
Read more about this topic: History Of Rail Transportation In California
Famous quotes containing the word today:
“Not too many years ago, a child’s experience was limited by how far he or she could ride a bicycle or by the physical boundaries that parents set. Today ... the real boundaries of a child’s life are set more by the number of available cable channels and videotapes, by the simulated reality of videogames, by the number of megabytes of memory in the home computer. Now kids can go anywhere, as long as they stay inside the electronic bubble.”
—Richard Louv (20th century)
“In communist society, where nobody has one exclusive sphere of activity but each can become accomplished in any branch he wishes, society regulates the general production and thus makes it possible for me to do one thing today and another tomorrow, to hunt in the morning, fish in the afternoon, rear cattle in the evening, criticize after dinner, just as I have a mind, without ever becoming hunter, fisherman, shepherd or critic.”
—Karl Marx (1818–1883)
“What we’re saying today is that you’re either part of the solution or you’re part of the problem.”
—Eldridge Cleaver (b. 1935)