News & Commentary
NARP defends Amtrak's rural routes
October 28, 2013
Written By Colin Leach Amtrak's westbound Southwest Chief near Trinidad, CO. Photo credit to Steve Wilson via the Wikimedia Foundation. Readers of our blog know that one of the most common criticisms aimed at Amtrak is its requirement for federal subsidy. At hearing after hearing, congressional passenger rail critics such as John Mica, Jeff Flake, and Paul Broun have claimed that the railroad is a huge burden on the taxpayer, particularly with respect to the long-distance routes. Why, they
Airlines Put the Squeeze on Passengers
October 24, 2013
Written By Sean Jeans Gail As if you needed another reason to take the train, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that airlines have been shrinking the average size of plane seats to cram more passengers in, and maximize profits: Airlines' push to lure high-paying fliers with flatbed business seats and premium economy loungers is leaving economy-class passengers with less space. A push over the past decade by carriers to expand higher-fare sections has shrunk the area devoted to coach on
Roads less travelled become railroads more travelled
October 17, 2013
Written By Colin Leach Amtrak's Empire Builder near East Glacier, MT. Credit to Steve Wilson via Wikimedia Foundation. How should we pay to maintain highways? This question no longer has a straightforward answer. As a recent article in theEconomist suggests, state and federal governments are finding it increasingly difficult to raise the needed revenues to maintain roads. For most of our history, highways have been paid for through straightforward gas taxes: Under these, a portion of eac
Train advocacy in the Sunshine State
October 17, 2013
Written By Malcolm Kenton Image: Wikimedia Commons Tomorrow afternoon, I will board Amtrak's southbound Silver Star here at Washington Union Station to travel overnight to Jacksonville, Florida, where NARP will hold its annual Fall Meeting on Saturday and Sunday. Every October, the NARP Council of Representatives--an all-volunteer advisory body--meets in a different city in the country, and all NARP members are invited to join them. These meetings offer not just an opportunity for leaders i
Amtrak Says “Thank You” to America’s Passengers for Best Year Ever
October 16, 2013
Written By Sean Jeans Gail What’s the best way to celebrate a record year of train ridership in the U.S.? Riding more trains, of course. Amtrak is thanking the passengers that helped set a record ridership of 31.6 million trips in Fiscal Year 2013 by offering a 31% discount on companion rail travel: To take advantage of this discount, passengers must purchase tickets between Oct. 15 through Oct. 21, for travel Oct. 22 through Dec. 12. The discount is available on regular full adult fare
Roll-up bike carriage tested on Capitol Limited
October 15, 2013
Written By Malcolm Kenton On today’s eastbound Capitol Limited (yesterday evening’s Chicago departure), Amtrak conducted its first over-the-road test of vertically-mounted bicycle restraints installed in the lower-level baggage area of one Superliner coach. This represented the first time unboxed bikes were carried on a Superliner-equipped train since they were carried on the Cardinalbefore the train was re-equipped with single-level cars in 2002. A selected group of cyclists, myself inc
Amtrak moving in Roanoke's direction
October 11, 2013
Written By Malcolm Kenton Virginia State Senator John Edwards (D-Roanoke), a long-time train supporter, hosted a town hall meetingin his home city on Wednesday to discuss the Commonwealth of Virginia’s plan to extend the state-supported Northeast Regional train currently terminating in Lynchburg west to Roanoke. Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation Director Thelma Drake said that although the state’s projected opening date for the extension is in 2017, the state had also gi
Preventing train collisions
October 10, 2013
Written By Malcolm Kenton In a presentation organized by the Japan International Transport Institute in Washington DC, Grady Cothen today made an excellent presentation on Positive Train Control (PTC). He retired from the Federal Railroad Administration in 2010 after over 36 years there working on safety and policy initiatives. He sees PTC as relevant to the administration’s higher-speed rail initiatives, as well as to enabling railroads to make the most efficient use of their infrastructu
Union Station: Formerly Uniting Railroads, Now Uniting Stakeholders
October 10, 2013
Written By Abe Zumwalt Intercity railroads have always been about property development. This is the reason why historic downtown cores across the nation are usually within remarkably close proximity to train stations. This has held true for towns and cities of all sizes. Earlier this year, Washington D.C. and the mess of stakeholders involved with its secular cathedral also known as Union Station unveiled a plan to expand the passenger concourse in a transformative move by developing the air ri
Amtrak's New Great American Stations Could Help Transform Your Train Station
October 9, 2013
Written By Sean Jeans Gail Amtrak launched a revamped website for its Great American Stations project, providing communities with new tools, resources, and information to help develop the economic power of America's train stations. The redesign highlights resources to help cities and advocacy groups identify projects and complete them successfully. The website has been reorganized around to investment principals: Restoration Tools — For communities unsure of how to start a station projec