Seattle Post-Intelligencer staff photographer Jeff Larsen recently took his first trip on Amtrak. Here is his account of the experience:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/getaways/150895_shorttrips04.html

Here's a proposal by Bay Area transit writer Stanford M. Horn. To inexpensively expand the BART system, Horn suggests the use of dual gauge cars. The cars could be used on both the BART line to Fremont and on the Amtrak line from Fremont to San Jose. The extension also could serve Santa Clara:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/12/03/EDG5U 3EN3K1.DTL

Amtrak handled a record 600,000 passengers over the long Thanksgiving Day Weekend. Here are details:

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Business/ap20031203_1508.html

...That is all.

Dave

As for the BART extension ideas, they would certainly eliminate the need for dedicated ROW, but the complexities of multi-level doors for different platforms, trains with multi-gauge wheels, and the ability to run on dual power systems would be a very costly investment in equipment. Not the "next to nothing" stated in the headline. The cheapest route of all would be to add frequencies to the Capitol trains, which is already being done with much success.