News & Commentary
From the RIARP Blog: May Amtrak Report
July 10, 2014
Today we are featuring a blog post from the Rhode Island Association of Railroad Passengers. This post was originally published July 10, 2014 on the RIARP blog. Steve Musen, NARP Council Member, reviews Amtrak's reports each month, and more of his posts can be found on the RIARP blog. (This piece reflects the opinions of the writer and not necessarily of NARP or RIARP.) Steve Musen, NARP Council Member, wrote: May Amtrak Report These are the things I found interesting in this month's report
Investment: the logic behind Amtrak’s Acela RFP
July 9, 2014
By William Dunn and Abe Zumwalt Amtrak recently issued an RFP for new Acela train sets, expanding capacity for the service. Those of us with a national perspective might find it easy to criticize the move given the average age of equipment system-wide has climbed to more than 28 years, while the Acelas are only a little more than half that age. However, the move can be justified when considering the amount of revenue at stake. FY2014 is on course to be the best year to date for the Acela. As
Europe Is Committed to Developing its Railways Even Further
July 8, 2014
This blog post was written by NARP intern Karl Haljasmets, who is European (Estonian) himself. Eurail railway map Quick facts about trains in Europe: · Rail carries about 10% of all freight traffic across Europe, with estimated revenue of €13 billion (about $17,7 billion). · 6% of Europe's passenger journeys are by rail annually. That's 8 billion people who are not adding to city traffic jams or heavily congested roads. · The Rotterdam Genoa freight corridor runs approximately 130,00
With First Phase Under its Belt, DC Eyes Future Streetcar Expansion
June 26, 2014
Written By Maxime Devilliers NARP policy intern Max Devilliers, a longtime resident of the Washington, DC-metropolitan area, attended an open house meeting on Washington's future North-South streetcar line on June 12. Streetcars were once the lifeblood of the Nation’s Capital, much like many other U.S. cities. The last streetcar ride in D.C. on January 28, 1962 marked the end of an era. The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) implemented a plan several years ago to bring streetca
Shovels in the Ground for California's High Speed Rail Line
June 25, 2014
Written By Sean Jeans Gail After six years of hard work by advocates and state leaders, crews have begun construction work on California’s high speed rail line. Contractors are currently building a test piling near Madera, which will be anchored 80 feet below ground and secured with cement. This structure will not actually be part of the line; rather, the piling will be stressed until it breaks, providing necessary load-bearing data for engineers to safely design the viaduct system to supp
NARP Welcomes New Intern Karl Haljasmets
June 16, 2014
Written By Karl Haljasmets NARP is pleased to welcome Karl Haljasmets as a new summer intern. Karl is a public policy graduate student from Estonia and a Louis and Aldona Wos Scholar with the Fund for American Studies program. Hello! My name is Karl Haljasmets and with great joy I will have the opportunity to intern with NARP from June to August this summer. I am from Estonia and received my bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Tartu last summer. In September I sta
Train Wars: The Passengers Strike Back
June 12, 2014
Written By Sean Jeans Gail As you probably read in NARP's blog post yesterday, the House attached several anti-passenger train amendments onto the House transportation funding bill at the last second. NARP needs your help to let the House know America’s passengers are paying attention. We’re also asking you to help us turn back these awful amendments in the Senate. The amendments in question would cut the lowest-performing long distance route—the Sunset Limited—and eliminate food an
House Lands Sneak Attack on Amtrak
June 11, 2014
Written By Sean Jeans Gail In a flurry of after-hours activity, the U.S. House of Representatives tacked on several anti-Amtrak amendments to the House Transportation Appropriations bill yesterday. As we reported on Monday, Rep. Paul Broun's (R-GA) two attempts to eliminate funding were rebuffed in a bipartisan fashion. Last night, an extreme amendment offered by Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) to kill six long distance routes was also shot down. However, late in the evening, three anti-rail amen
Young Advocates Testify in Support of California High Speed Rail
June 11, 2014
Written By Logan McLeod Bianca Rodriguez of Fresno State I Will Ride (Photo by US High Speed Rail Association) Updated 6/12/2014 at 9:20am EDT In the debate surrounding the California High Speed Rail Project, one perspective that hasn’t been given much weight is that of younger generations. Stepping back, this is strange. After all, they’ll be the ones who get the most use from the train. They’ll be the ones paying back the infrastructure bonds that California’s voters approved in 2
Amtrak Bicycle Task Force: Bringing Bikes on Board
June 9, 2014
Written By Sean Jeans Gail Photo by Orin Zebest, courtesy of Skift As a leader in intercity passenger rail development, NARP has long understood that transportation works best when different modes work well together. By smoothing the seams between transportation systems, you showcase the strengths and minimize the weaknesses of each individual mode. So NARP was very excited when we were invited to join the Amtrak Bicycle Task Force, a coalition of passenger, cyclists and industry representat