News & Commentary
NARP joins Amtrak in celebrating Black History Month
February 19, 2014
Written By Lessie Henderson Thomas J. Gray of Chicago, Pullman Porter (1923–1968). Photo courtesy: Thomas Gray family NARP is joining Amtrak in honoring Black History Month. The railroad will be hosting with a wide variety of contests, promotions and events throughout the country. The events highlight Amtrak employees and others that have demonstrated excellence and having a positive impact on the job and in their communities. Amtrak is also partnering with theroot.com to sponsor an onl
More Evidence That Millennials are Turning Their Back on Autos
February 11, 2014
Written By Ross Capon The Financial Times reported this week that “the average age of a new car buyer in Germany rose to a record 52.2 years in 2013, three years older than the average a decade ago, reflecting a trend observed in other industrialised countries.” This follows on a report from Edmunds.com in June, 2012, that 18-34 year olds “accounted for nearly 30 percent less of new cars bought in 2011 than in 2007, according to new car registration data from Polk. Yet, this group's sh
The Olympics Ride the Rails
February 10, 2014
Written By Colin Leach Regional trains wait at Sochi station. Photo: Dmitri Selivyorstov via Wikimedia Foundation Whether in their summer or winter variations, hosting the Olympics give national and local governments an opportunity to showcase the best they have to offer—not just in athletics, but also in the supporting transportation infrastructure. What good, after all, is building an Olympic Village, complete with new stadiums, if there’s no way to get there? That’s why in most Oly
NARP Greets New Cities Sprinter
February 7, 2014
Written By Jenna Jablonski Amtrak's "Cities Sprinter" dazzled as it rolled into Union Station in the late afternoon sunlight. Today it took its inaugural revenue run from Boston to DC, even boasting a VIP passenger: Vice President Biden. It was greeted by a conglomerate of media attention including Abe Zumwalt and Jenna Jablonski of the National Association of Railroad Passengers. NARP Vice President Sean Jeans-Gail attended the launch ceremony yesterday at Philadelphia 30th Street Station. W
Proposed cuts will strand rural Canadians
February 6, 2014
Written By Colin Leach CN Railway Network While NARP traditionally focuses on issues of relevance to U.S. passenger rail, we are also firm supporters of passenger train service in our neighbor to the north. Last week, we sent a letter to Canadian Ambassador Gary Doer protesting the proposed discontinuation of passenger train service between Sault Ste. Marie and Hearst, Ontario. In the same letter, we also warned the Ambassador of the possible discontinuation of service between Montréal, Que
"First Transit Super Bowl" Overwhelmed By Passenger Demand
February 3, 2014
Written By Sean Jeans Gail Parking infrastructure and transit infrastructure at the MetLife Stadium. Image via Google Maps. Organizers dubbed it “the first transit Super Bowl,” but the agencies involved were unprepared for the more than 27,000 attendees who took that to heart. Add in heightened security creating additional chokepoints, and the end result was a completely overwhelmed transit infrastructure. USA Today provided details about the flood of passengers that led to people wait
Pueblo Rally shows strong support for Southwest Chief
January 28, 2014
Written By Jenna Jablonski Saturday marked another step in the fight to save Amtrak’s Southwest Chief. A crowd of 100 Pueblo residents, politicians, and regional supporters showed up to a press conference in Pueblo Colorado to hear State Representative LeRoy Garcia’s solution for the train which is threatened to be rerouted outside of Colorado or discontinued altogether. Standing on a historic locomotive behind the Union Depot, Rep. Garcia explained his newly introduced bill that would no
Transportation problems require real solutions, not the rule of cool
January 27, 2014
Written By Colin Leach Opponents of California’s high speed rail line are fond of labeling the project “unrealistic,” arguing that while connecting the state’s major cities via a zooming 220 mph train would be fantastic, Californians simply cannot afford to do so right now. However, noted tech entrepreneur Elon Musk has found an interesting way to spin this narrative by opposing the project for not being fantastic enough. Last summer, the founder of both SpaceX and Tesla Motors propo
New ARP Takes Root in Missouri and Illinois
January 24, 2014
Written By Jenna Jablonski MIRPA already has 140 members, a quarter of which also belong to NARP. Fifty passenger rail advocates gathered at the Kirkwood Amtrak Station on January 11 for the inaugural meeting of the Missouri-Illinois Rail Passenger Association (MIRPA). Of the fifty guests, 35 were MIRPA members and 15 were visitors. Seven members from western Missouri traveled in on Amtrak. NARP member Rich Eichhorst led the meeting, introducing Missouri Representative Rick Stream to add
2014 Kicks Off With Huge Week for Trains
January 16, 2014
Written By Sean Jeans Gail With the 92nd annual meeting of the Transportation Research Board in Washington, D.C., two critical transportation hearings in Congress, and a $1.1 trillion federal budget in the final stages of negotiations, the stars were aligned to ensure a hectic week in transportation. For transportation advocates, events didn’t let them down. Here’s a roundup of Washington’s action-packed transportation week: Passenger Trains in the Big Appropriations Bill: The dominan