NARP Blog

Saturday, May 10, 2008

The exceptionally large crowd has trickled out of Union Station and the displays are gone, but we sincerely hope that the first annual National Train Day events here and elsewhere have raised citizens’ (especially young ones’) consciousness about passenger trains. Certain events in the country were designed to focus primarily on the advocacy angle, but Jim and I were grateful to speak with the countless folks who came by our table to find out how they could join the fight to increase train service. Some of the recurring themes we heard included the high price of Amtrak fares on the Northeast Corridor (necessitated by political realities and market demand), the need for dedicated rights-of-way for very-high-speed passenger service wherever feasible, and incredulity at the fact that it has taken so long for politicians to catch up with the traveling public’s demand for more train travel options. Several visitors from foreign countries also praised the fact that the US has not privatized or dismantled Amtrak, including the long-distance routes.

Thanks again to all our volunteers across the country for their great efforts leading up to today! We look forward to hearing more about the other events, and to building upon this year’s success for the second annual National Train Day in 2009.

UPDATE, 4:06 PM: Click here to read about a Jacksonville, FL event from Jerry Sullivan of the Sunset Marketing and Revitalization Team (SMART). NY1 has coverage of the New York Penn Station event.

UPDATE, 10:52 PM: Click here to see Andy Smith’s photos and commentary from the event at Los Angeles Union Station. News coverage of events continues to trickle in via Google News. We’ll have more photos and commentary from our volunteers on Monday!

--Matthew Melzer

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Liveblogging National Train Day, Part 3 of 3

Saturday, May 10, 2008

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