At the beginning of the meeting David Schonbrunn,, President of Transportation Solutions Defense and Education Fund (TRANSDEF) will make a brief presentation about the challenges facing rail advocates seeking more sensible rail solutions in the Bay Area and statewide in California.

Following will be a discussion of NEC Future — a plan for the Northeast Corridor to be developed by the USDOT. Written comments on the Scoping Document for the Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact for this plan are due September 14, 2012.

Copies of scoping materials are available at the USDOT FRA website.

The discussion at the meeting will focus on outlining a “coordinated” written response that rail advocacy organizations can enter into the record

This response could include many of the concerns that have been raised at RRWG meetings over the past few years such as near-term regional rail coordination issues including through-running at Penn Station (with frequent service, integrated fares and a one-seat ride to JFK Airport) and longer term issues like the Penn Station-Grand Central Connection, routing options for a new Hudson River passenger rail tunnel, options for the Portal Bridge, and the status of the LIRR East Side Access project.

The Regional Rail Working Group is an informal forum for rail advocates who would like to remake the commuter rail lines serving the NY-NJ-CT metropolitan area into a regional rail system, with frequent service, integrated fares and through-running at Penn Station.