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Train To Christmas Town Coming To Watsonville
Author: Howard
Date: 09-21-2013 - 09:29
This past Thursday I attended the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission (SCCRTC) policy workshop. Debra Goodman, Special Events Director at Iowa Pacific Holdings and Jeffery Weeks, Santa Cruz and Monterey Bay Railway General Manager presented and answered questions for the commissioners and the public. In addition to what was already in the published agenda the following items were disclosed.
- The Train to Christmas Town will consist of the Spirit of Washington passenger cars that will arrive next month.
- The average ticket price for coach will be $20. The dome car will be an upgrade from coach, but pricing was not provided.
Debra Goodman had an opportunity to hi-rail the route for this season’s Train to Christmas Town the day before the meeting and she is very excited about the potential for this segment of the line. She stated going forward the Train to Christmas Town would operate out of Watsonville instead of Sana Cruz. I personally favor the segment of the branch line from Harkins Slough to Capitola and hope the dinner train will operate out of the Seascape Beach Resort.
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Brian Peoples, resident of Aptos, spoke in opposition to the RTC spending grant money to study future passenger service and suggested the line be railbanked and Iowa Pacific sent packing. He descended into a rant about how Iowa Pacific is not your friend and they are only there to extort money from the SCCRTC and residents. He went on to say the people who live in the South County, Watsonville and Salinas, could barely afford the cost of a Christmas tree let alone a $20 ticket and the Train to Christmas Town should be cancelled.
But the mayor of Watsonville told the commission that the residents in his community splurge on purchases outside of the county and that it would be nice to see them spend their money in the county. They would have no problem spending $20 per ticket on a special family event and he was very pleased that Iowa Pacific was bringing the Train to Christmas Town to Watsonville.
I found Brian Peoples comments about South County residents offensive and demeaning and those in attendance looked like they were enduring a root canal procedure when he spoke. He also implied he would manufacture a horn protest to further his agenda.
- The Train to Christmas Town will consist of the Spirit of Washington passenger cars that will arrive next month.
- The average ticket price for coach will be $20. The dome car will be an upgrade from coach, but pricing was not provided.
Debra Goodman had an opportunity to hi-rail the route for this season’s Train to Christmas Town the day before the meeting and she is very excited about the potential for this segment of the line. She stated going forward the Train to Christmas Town would operate out of Watsonville instead of Sana Cruz. I personally favor the segment of the branch line from Harkins Slough to Capitola and hope the dinner train will operate out of the Seascape Beach Resort.
[www.westcoastrailforums.com]
Brian Peoples, resident of Aptos, spoke in opposition to the RTC spending grant money to study future passenger service and suggested the line be railbanked and Iowa Pacific sent packing. He descended into a rant about how Iowa Pacific is not your friend and they are only there to extort money from the SCCRTC and residents. He went on to say the people who live in the South County, Watsonville and Salinas, could barely afford the cost of a Christmas tree let alone a $20 ticket and the Train to Christmas Town should be cancelled.
But the mayor of Watsonville told the commission that the residents in his community splurge on purchases outside of the county and that it would be nice to see them spend their money in the county. They would have no problem spending $20 per ticket on a special family event and he was very pleased that Iowa Pacific was bringing the Train to Christmas Town to Watsonville.
I found Brian Peoples comments about South County residents offensive and demeaning and those in attendance looked like they were enduring a root canal procedure when he spoke. He also implied he would manufacture a horn protest to further his agenda.
Train To Christmas Town Coming To Watsonville