Rail Passengers Voice Opposition to House Transportation Bill
Press Release #13-12 June 18, 2013 Contact: Sean Jeans-Gail, 202-408-8362 Rail Passengers Voice Opposition to House Transportation Budget The National Association of Railroad Passengers announced that it will fight implementation of the House Appropriation Committee’s Fiscal Year 2014 transportation funding levels. The draft bill, which the subcommittee will consider tomorrow, slashes Amtrak’s budget by a third, threatening Amtrak's very existence. The bill also fails to include funding for the High Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail Program. Not only does...
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Are US crashworthiness standards “dooming” passenger rail?
One frequent criticism of passenger rail’s viability is that it entails high fixed costs and thus discourages potential investors. While many of these costs, such as track maintenance and equipment maintenance, are relatively constant, at least one can, according to a recent study, be significantly lowered: that of equipment purchases. In a new paper released by the Competitive Enterprise Institute, David Edmonson argues that outdated Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) safety rules prevent passenger rail operators...
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For California, “No Build” is Not an Option
CNN is at it again. (http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/us/2013/06/15/ac-pkg-griffin-train-robbery.cnn.html) The latest entry in their series of anti-rail attack ads focuses on California’s statewide high speed rail project, which will connect the state’s biggest cities through 220 mph service. In it, they found an unlikely ally in Quentin Kopp, one of the key architects of California’s high-speed rail project. Kopp is angry that the California High Speed Rail Authority has backed off from the construction of a planned four-track rail corridor...
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Hotline #815 -- June 14, 2013
Amtrak’s long-distance trains are under the microscope again! On June 6, House Transportation Infrastructure Chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA) reportedly said Amtrak’s nationwide service mandate is “something we have to take a hard look at… There are places that it costs us a lot of money and the ridership is not there.” Some 173 million Americans—more than half of our total population—live within 25 miles of an Amtrak station that is served by long distance...
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Salt Lake City Transit ignores partisanship to put transit to work for them
Recent statements by House GOP leadership (http://narprail.org/take-action/action-alerts/2275-tell-congress-a-national-network-is-non-negotiable) underscore how transportation, once a bipartisan issue in the U.S. Congress, has become politicized at the national level. But as Angie Schmitt’s story on DC Streetsblog proves, that partisan divide vanishes at the local level, where local leaders more interested in bolstering mobility and facilitating economic growth than political posturing. In her story, Salt Lake City: How a Remote Red-State City Became a Transit Leader, Schmitt shows how a...
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Rail Passengers Voice Opposition to House Transportation Bill
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Are US crashworthiness standards “dooming” passenger rail?
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For California, “No Build” is Not an Option
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Hotline #815 -- June 14, 2013
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Salt Lake City Transit ignores partisanship to put transit to work for them
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Letter to T&I Chairman Bill Shuster in Defense of the National Network
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Help preserve the National Network!
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Help NARP protect the National Network!
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Railroad Passengers Ask for Support of Long-Distance Trains
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Hotline #814 -- June 7, 2013
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In Memoriam: Sen. Frank Lautenberg (1924-2013)
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Hotline #813 -- May 31, 2013
Help preserve the National Network!
Tell Congress a National Network is "non-negotiable"!
Amtrak’s long-distance trains are under the microscope again! On June 6, House Transportation & Infrastructure Chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA) reportedly said Amtrak’s nationwide service mandate is “something we have to take a hard look at… There are places that it costs us a lot of money and the ridership is not there.”
Some 173 million Americans—more than half of our total population—live within 25 miles of an Amtrak station that is served by long distance trains. Moreover, in 23 of the lower 48 states, long-distance trains are the only intercity passenger trains. If we cut Amtrak's long distance service, then we eliminate all train service for scores of millions of passengers.
Take Action!
Why Long-Distance Trains Matter
Long Distance Trains: A Foundation for National Mobility, a white paper by NARP and the Midwest High-Speed Rail Association, aims to correct common misconceptions about Amtrak's national network of overnight trains and to demonstrate the valuable role they play in connecting small towns and rural areas to larger cities, with multiple city-pair "corridors" served by one highly productive train.
NARP believes that the long distance trains should remain a federal responsibility. which was reaffirmed in the 2008 law. We believe connecting all parts of the country with reliable, affordable passenger train service is an important federal policy objective.
