Polar Express Update
Santa Cruz and Monterey Bay Railway began operations of Polar Express, a seasonal holiday excursion train, between the Santa Cruz wharf and the North Pole – a location near New Brighton State Beach. Operation was scheduled to begin prior to Thanksgiving, but began on November 26 due to delays in the delivery of passenger cars. Operation continued until early last week, when Polar Express operations were suspended for 10 days. RTC was told that service was suspended because Santa Cruz and Monterey Bay Railway did not notify the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) that the track was recently upgraded to Class 1 status. In addition, inspection by the FRA resulted in a list of track “defects” because the track did not meet their minimum requirements for passenger operations. According to the Railway all of the “defects” noted by the FRA are being addressed and expects all track work and inspections to be completed by December 9, with operations to resume on December 10th.