Hotline
Your weekly source of fresh takes on news affecting America's passengers. See also the RPA Blog.
Hotline #914
June 5, 2015
Two anti-train amendments offered by Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) in June 4 voting on the fiscal year 2016 Transportation, Housing & Urban Development appropriations bill were defeated, thanks in part to the efforts of NARP members who flooded Capitol Hill switchboards with calls supporting passenger trains. The amendments sought to eliminate Amtrak’s operating and capital grants, respectively—a move that would have killed passenger train service in this country as we know it for tens of mill
Hotline #913
May 29, 2015
Key highway and transportation groups said they are “disappointed” with the two-month highway patch passed by Congress that is expected to be signed soon by President Obama, reportsBloomberg BNA. The Senate cleared the Highway and Transportation Funding Act of 2015 (H.R. 2353) (96 DER A-12, 5/19/15), a two-month extension of highway and transit programs, by voice vote during an early morning session May 23. The bill will extend federal spending authority for surface transportation programs
Hotline #912
May 22, 2015
An Amtrak train crossing the Susquehanna River Rail Bridge in Maryland. Photographer: Chuck Gomez from the Amtrak Corporate Collection. The discussion about rail in the United States ran unabated this week as the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) continued its investigation of the derailment of Amtrak Train #188 north of Philadelphia. NARP explained in this blog post how this has played out, noting that anytime Amtrak is in the national news, a political spectacle is sure to follow
Hotline #911
May 15, 2015
NARP team was front and center in the wake of the tragic Amtrak Train #188’s derailment in Philadelphia on May 12. President and CEO Jim Mathews appeared on NPR’s “The Diane Rehm Show”and CBS Baltimore, while VP Sean Jeans-Gail appeared on “CNN Newsroom.” Mathews and Jeans-Gail also did numerous interviews and provided infrastructure data to numerous media outlets. The day after the accident, the House Committee on Appropriations voted down two pro-passenger amendments along party
Hotline #910
May 8, 2015
A Metra train route departs Chicago from Union Station. Image courtesy of Douglas Rahden.We’re learning more about the impact of Gov. Bruce Rauner’s (R) budget cuts – and it could be worse than we thought. Amtrak, Metra, CTA, Pace and Downstate bus services are all poised to see serious service reductions and fare increases. NARP thinks it’s time to change the conversation, so we're joining with the Midwest High Speed Rail Association to push the Grow Illinois Transit Campaign, which w
Hotline #909
May 1, 2015
Image via Flickr user Lee Rentz NARP President and CEO Jim Mathews used an upcoming editorial in Passenger Train Journal to urge Amtrak to change course on its Silver Service food and beverage experiment on the Meteor and the Star. Amtrak’s so-called “Experiment” will test how full meals and their prices affect ridership, Sleeper bookings, and the overall revenue of the train, writes Mathews. “The premise is that because the two Silver Service trains – the Meteor and the Star –
Hotline #908
April 27, 2015
Editor's note: due to technical difficulties, the Hotline was not published on Friday, April 24. We apologize for the inconvenience. Volunteers representing some 28,000 members nationwide of the National Association of Railroad Passengers visited more 200 congressional offices April 21 during NARP’s annual Day on the Hill, pressing Congress to support and improve the multi-year rail authorization legislation currently taking shape in the Senate. These members paid their own way to Washington
Hotline #907
April 17, 2015
Work begins on ADA-Compliant Platform Device Michigan-based engineering firm RLE International, Inc. has developed an Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant transition platform that mitigates the gap between Amtrak passenger rail cars and boarding platforms. A prototype of the setback level boarding platform will be installed at the Ann Arbor, Michigan, Amtrak station in early July 2015, with testing to follow soon after. NARP board member John DeLora, who attended a community briefing unveil
Hotline #906
April 10, 2015
NARP President Jim Mathews takes part in Stand Up For Transportation Day while riding RTD's light-rail line in Denver, Colorado.American Public Transportation Association’s Stand Up For Transportation day was a rousing success, with events in hundreds of communities advocating for Congress to fulfill their duty and help build a truly 21st Century transportation system in America. The group also warned that congressional proposals to cut transit funding would cost the U.S. economy hundreds of
Hotline #905
April 3, 2015
DOT’s Foxx Urges Congress to Work With Administration to Pass Transportation Bill Congress and the Obama administration should work together to pass the president’s proposed $478 billion, six-year reauthorization for transportation funding instead of arguing over the bill, said Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx during a Playbook event hosted by Politico. The proposal provides $28.6 billion in dedicated funding over six years for high performance and passenger rail progr