NARP Blog http://www.narprail.org/cms/index.php/narpblog en mkenton@narprail.org Copyright 2010 2010-08-27T21:18:49+00:00 Flag Stops: Revisiting Old Assumptions http://www.narprail.org/cms/index.php/narpblog/flag_stops_revisiting_old_assumptions/
  • As the Recovery Act-funded Milwaukee-Madison high-speed (110-mph) rail line (currently undergoing environmental review) becomes a contentious issue in the Wisconsin governor’s race, our friends at the West Central Wisconsin Rail Coalition and the Empire Builder Coalition show the arguments of the train opponents to be “based upon incorrect data and misplaced assumptions.” For example, Republican candidate Scott Walker’s claim that “nobody really knows how much [HSR] will cost” completely overlooks the reams of documentation that the project’s sponsors have made public. Walker also chooses not to consider the economic benefits that the trains are sure to provide once they’re running, only the relatively small amount of engineering and construction jobs the project creates directly. Former Republican elected officials are also weighing in favoring the trains.

  • The Nashville Tennessean, a daily newspaper whose editorials have been critical of passenger train investment in the past, came out with one defending the newly-proposed high-speed service between Nashville, Chattanooga and Atlanta. The editors wisely caution against passing conclusive judgments on a project that is still in the early planning stages, point to the success of new Amtrak services elsewhere at wooing new riders, and frame the issue as a matter of staying competitive with other states and countries. Let’s hope this more enlightened attitude persists.

  • Mobilizing the Region provides good insight into the changing mindset of the “rails-to-trails” movement, which has always had an uneasy alliance with passenger train advocates over the tension between maintaining rail-trails as such and returning them to railroad use. It is encouraging that many rail-trail advocates see trails as part of the transportation network that can coexist side-by-side with active rail lines that will likely host more trains over time. Green-space preservationists should be natural allies of rail advocates in pursuit of a higher quality of life.

  • Investigative reporter Bruce Selcraig has a worth-reading examination of the current state of American passenger rail in the respected Miller-McCune Magazine. Selcraig compares Amtrak to the frequent, reliable service that the people of Spain take for granted, even if they don’t live in a major urban area. His conclusion: “Overall, high-speed rail is far more cost effective than its opponents claim. And high-speed rail could become a significant part of America’s transportation mix with far less investment than has been poured into highways and airports.” While he gives somewhat short shrift to the value of incrementally improving existing train service as opposed to going all-out for a “man on the moon” project, Selcraig reiterates, “Perhaps passenger rail will have to be subsidized by the government, not unlike our Social Security, NASA, thousands of libraries and fire departments and all our roads and airports.”

  • LCL: Federal Transit Administrator Rogoff helps break ground for a new intermodal train station in Rhode Island that will become the southern terminus of MBTA’s Providence Line commuter trains from Boston. * * * The OneRail Coalition’s latest blog posts highlight jobs being created in the railroad industry. * * * Transit doesn’t just enhance livability in urban and suburban areas. * * * The Transport Politic has a useful map of applications for the next round of federal high-speed rail funding ($2.3 billion). * * * President Eisenhower makes a post-mortem pitch for high-speed rail.

    • —Malcolm Kenton]]> 2010-08-27T21:18:49+00:00 Flag Stops: Getting At the True Cost http://www.narprail.org/cms/index.php/narpblog/flag_stops_101610/ The Federal Railroad Administration released a summary of the applications received for the next round of high(er)-speed intercity passenger train funding—$8.5 billion requested by 25 states, with only $2.3 billion available.  These applications drive home the error Congress is making in reducing next year’s funding figures for the high speed rail program.  Former Rep. Al Swift and the American High Speed Rail Alliance share NARP’s sense of urgency that Congress must increase the available funding if we want a train network that will help us meet our mounting energy and mobility challenges. Fortunately, it’s not too late to make your voice heard—the full Senate has yet to finish its version of the 2011 transportation spending bill, and the measure will likely go to a conference committee once the Senate acts.

    Other noteworthy stories:

  • In many US cities, taking public transportation instead of driving saves residents between $700 and $1,000 each month, according to figures compiled by the American Public Transportation Association (a NARP partner in the OneRail Coalition) based on the average national price of gasoline and unreserved parking rate on August 10 (click to see the figure for your city). This is a good way to encapsulate the dividends each taxpayer receives when public investments are made in making trains and transit more convenient and attractive to more Americans. When you factor in what gas should cost (factoring in very real “external costs” to the public welfare that aren’t included in the price you pay at the pump) and the other costs associated with car ownership (insurance, maintenance, etc.), you save even more by switching more trips to transit.

  • Kudos to the Portland Press Herald for an editorial lauding the forthcoming extension of Amtrak’s Downeaster east to Brunswick, ME, which states a truth not often heard in the media: “a system of government subsidies can make a trip by car look like the cheapest way to go, even though it is costly for the whole system.” Too many editors and columnists grossly inflate the cost of improving trains, while overlooking the larger fact that public policy continues to grossly deflate the real costs associated with automobile dependence.

  • Kudos also to NARP member Gary Friedly, who is blending the promotion of a novel he wrote that centers on a trip on Amtrak’s former North Coast Hiawatha route with advocacy of the train’s restoration.

    —Malcolm Kenton]]> 2010-08-16T21:54:55+00:00 Trains: Enhancing Freedom of Mobility http://www.narprail.org/cms/index.php/narpblog/freedom_of_mobility/ Washington Examiner editorial page editor Mark Tapscott claims that we train and transit advocates want to use “government power to force the rest of us to accept less mobility and convenience.” On the contrary, expanding train and transit service gives people more mobility and convenience by not tethering them to one mode of transportation. Many prefer not to have to worry about where to park or having to go get gas when out on errands or taking a leisure trip across town or across the country. Taking public transportation also saves money, and may even save your life—over 42,500 people are killed in car accidents each year, 50 times more than die on railroads and 180 times more than die on transit annually. But those of us who would rather leave the driving up to someone else are left with less mobility and less convenience because public funding priorities are so overwhelmingly skewed towards highways.

    Tapscott also compares the “freedom” the car offers to that afforded by smartphones. But what good is a smartphone when you have to spend all your travel time keeping your eyes on the road? When you use trains and transit, you have the freedom to spend your travel time however you choose, including by using your smartphone, without posing a safety hazard. Mobile devices can also increasingly help you get around without a car just as easily as they can give you driving directions.

    Balancing out the U.S. transportation funding scale to provide frequent, dependable train (and bus) service would give people the freedom to choose not only when and where to travel, but also how to travel, and the freedom to choose a mode of travel that takes a lighter toll on the pocketbook and the planet. It’s advocates of the highway-happy status quo who want to limit your freedom of mobility.

    —Malcolm Kenton]]> 2010-08-13T18:22:09+00:00 Szabo: Higher-speed Passenger and Freight Trains Can Coexist http://www.narprail.org/cms/index.php/narpblog/fra_economist/ A recent article in the Economist magazine discusses some freight railroads’ concerns that higher-speed passenger trains on their tracks would hamper their business. Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph Szabo—whose agency has proposed guidelines that railroads accepting public funds should meet regarding passenger service levels—wrote the following unpublished letter to Economist in response:

    Your article “High-speed Railroading” (July 24) did an excellent job of articulating the many benefits of the American freight rail system, which is truly the best in the world. The Obama Administration has committed significant resources to maintaining and improving that system, through investments in crucial freight rail infrastructure like the recent TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) grant for the Crescent Corridor Intermodal Freight Rail project.

    However, the assertion in the article that freight and passenger rail cannot successfully coexist is not supported by the facts. On the contrary, passenger and freight rail have been successfully sharing infrastructure since the beginning of railroading more than 150 years ago. With good modeling, planning and engineering, we can ensure capacity levels appropriate to the operating needs of both. That is why we are working closely with States and host freight railroads to reach operating agreements that define responsibilities, achieve balance between the private and public interests, and ensure optimal operations for both interests.

    The Economist implies that these balanced agreements are unachievable, but through open dialogue and good-faith negotiations, the States and the freight railroads can finalize agreements that ensure strong service outcomes and allow both types of rail to prosper. In many cases, high-speed rail investments will add double and triple tracks, as well as new sidings and signal improvements, which over time will allow freight and high-speed passenger trains to coexist at the optimal speeds for each. This process will require hard work, but win-win agreements that grow passenger and freight rail service will bring the highest level of benefits to the nation by relieving highway congestion, improving air quality and reducing dependence on fossil fuels. That’s a win for every American citizen.]]> 2010-08-10T16:07:37+00:00 Acela Should Be the Mold for Modern American Trains http://www.narprail.org/cms/index.php/narpblog/churchill_acela/ I am aboard an Acela Express from Newark to Washington and am amazed at the lack of enthusiasm for these trains from policymakers and even rail advocates, except for this pile of passengers that pay good bucks to use them. These are not all businesspeople traveling on their employers’ dime.

    Acelas are maligned because they “only” do 150 mph for the twelve miles in Rhode Island and no faster than that, but it is a fine 125-135 mph product right down to the on-board service people and crews. Passengers seem delighted with it. It has clean restrooms, big windows and, with the wide vestibules, a joy for those with special needs.

    I know no two are alike due to modifications and that Amtrak must hire special talent to maintain them, these problems cured with ongoing new equipment procurement with extension options, which in the end requires a dedicated source of funding.

    Passenger train advocates should continue to pursue the running of Acela-type trains outside the Northeast Corridor on places where track conditions can accommodate them, pulled by diesels until the day we finally adopt electrification nationwide. I can only imagine the quality of service: modern long-distance trains with a sit-down diners and maybe even sleepers a la the Talgo equipment on Spain’s Renfe between Barcelona and Geneva. Canada’s VIA should be in on this as well.

    —James Churchill, NARP Director

    Editor’s Note: Amtrak says that the 130 new cars (sleepers, diners and crew dorms) being ordered for long-distance service will contain design elements borrowed from the Acela, including the large windows.]]> 2010-08-09T14:49:19+00:00 Southern Cities Discovering that Trains Mean Business http://www.narprail.org/cms/index.php/narpblog/trains_mean_business/ For the past few decades, city boosters in Charlotte, NC, have wanted the Queen City to become more like Atlanta—taking advantage of its location to become one of the Southeast’s premier business hubs. Now, when it comes to modern transportation, it’s Atlanta that is looking enviously towards Charlotte. Both locales, like all medium- and large-sized US cities, had streetcar networks early in the 20th century. But while Atlanta does have the 30-year-old MARTA heavy rail transit system, it lacks modern streetcar or light rail lines. Charlotte, meanwhile, opened its first light rail line in 2007 and has plans to greatly expand the system. Just this week, Charlotte’s City Council agreed to accept a $25 million federal grant to build an east-west streetcar line to connect with the north-south LYNX light rail line. There are some plans afoot to build new rail transit lines in Atlanta, and a funding application was made in February for a streetcar on Peachtree Street, but Georgia has yet to receive any federal grants for transit.

    And it’s not just transit—intercity passenger rail has a lot to do with it as well. Charlotte is connected to Greensboro and Raleigh by six daily Amtrak round-trips, with two daily round-trips linking it to the Northeast Corridor—a link that the Southeast High-Speed Rail Corridor aims to solidify. Credit for this can be given to the state of North Carolina’s decades of planning and investment, while Georgia has spent next to nothing on trains, the result being that Atlanta is served by only one daily Amtrak train in each direction and high(er)-speed rail is a much longer ways off.

    This has Atlanta business leaders worried that the metro area, which is suffering from worsening traffic congestion and deteriorating transit service, may be losing jobs to cities like Charlotte. MARTA and its connecting suburban bus systems have the dubious distinction of being the only urban transit system not to receive state funds—they are funded primarily by a 1% sales tax levied only in the counties they serve. This left these systems particularly vulnerable to the effects of the recession on sales tax revenue, resulting major service cutbacks. Yet the Atlanta area remains far behind in the competition for federal transit dollars because its planning process is not as far along as those of Charlotte and other cities.

    Hopefully the success of Charlotte’s rail transit investments in catalyzing smarter development—aided by better intercity train connections—will finally persuade Georgia’s political leaders to get serious about passenger rail. Not only are trains (and buses) an essential lifeline for those without access to cars, but they are the most proven way to combat crippling congestion while creating jobs and desirable places to live and work—places centered on people, not cars.

    —Malcolm Kenton]]> 2010-07-30T21:56:37+00:00 Trains Already Using “Smart Grid” http://www.narprail.org/cms/index.php/narpblog/smart_grid/ A feature in E Magazine’s July/August 2010 cover story takes a look at the potential for plug-in electric cars to be part of a remodeled grid that gives consumers more control over how much energy they use and when, and would even allow people to reduce their power bills by giving electricity back to the grid. Electric cars would store the energy produced through braking and give it back to the grid when plugged in.

    Federal grants from the Department of Energy, totaling $100 million, are going to develop pilot programs for this technology in five states. Meanwhile, electrified railroads like Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor have been regenerating electricity through dynamic braking for several years.

    Even when both cars and trains are fueled by electricity and not by gasoline or diesel, there’s no escaping trains’ superior efficiency—or their unique capacity to foster less energy-intensive, land-consuming development patterns. Investing in the expansion of passenger train service on electrified railroads (along with green energy sources) would deliver a much greater bang for the public’s buck.

    —Malcolm Kenton]]> 2010-07-26T21:28:01+00:00 Flag Stops: New Ideas, New Challenges http://www.narprail.org/cms/index.php/narpblog/flag_stops_july_19/ A roundup of news and views on passenger train issues.

  • The Housatonic Railroad has commissioned a Massachusetts research firm to study restoring passenger trains on its line between Danbury, CT and Pittsfield, MA—essentially extending northward the Danbury Branch of Metro-North’s New Haven Line from New York City. The railroad’s vice president of special projects, former Connecticut transportation commissioner Colin Pease, told the Danbury News-Times: “If the study’s finding strongly indicate a passenger market, [the Housatonic Railroad] is prepared to spend, along with other private investors, $100 to $150 million to improve the tracks and infrastructure along the line.” Housatonic has become the first private “freight” railroad to formally study getting into the passenger business since 1980.
  • A national passenger train network as a key component of mobility, and it’s equally important to our national security. The impetus to invest in trains in order to cut the transportation sector’s oil consumption becomes more urgent as the US military warning of serious oil shortages within five years.
  • Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood touts the outlay of stimulus funds for augmenting North Carolina’s passenger railcar and locomotive fleet as another step towards completing the Southeast High-Speed Rail Corridor. 34 jobs will be created immediately, while the transit-oriented development the corridor continues to attract will generate an estimated 19,000 jobs. The Secretary also comments further on how better automobile alternatives work to combat obesity.
  • The CEO of JetBlue acknowledges that hundreds of his airline’s short-haul flights won’t be needed as high-speed train service increases—and he’s fine with trains being a complement to air travel.
  • The American Prospect lays out the challenges before the new reform-minded leadership at the Departments of Transportaton and Housing and Urban Development—challenges worsened by public pressure for reduced deficits and against tax increases, which have led the White House to impose a 3-year freeze on discretionary spending. Luckily, former Reconnecting America President Shelly Poticha and other New Urbanists in the administration have a “can do” attitude and are breaking down decades-old barriers to interagency communication.
  • A graphic designer has reimagined the national Amtrak network as a subway map. This conceptualization gives one a better perspective on how Amtrak works as a network—and shows where connectivity is sorely lacking: the Gulf Coast, Boston North to South, and between North Carolina and Memphis, to name a few spots. Importantly, the Florida-New Orleans route is left off of this map, although the “suspended” line remains on Amtrak’s official map and on the US DOT’s “existing services” map.
  • Hoping life will imitate art: The author of a novel featuring a train across North Dakota and Montana (a NARP member) is using his book to promote restoring the North Coast Hiawatha in real life. A friend of his discusses on YouTube.
  • LCL: Support for the fight to prevent the Princeton Dinky from being replaced by a dedicated busway grows.  * * * A National Journal panel of transportation experts expounds upon the potential for high-speed rail to generate economic activity. * * * Planning for rail systems and transit-oriented development, long the exclusive domain of government, is generating interest from private funders. * * * The Quiet Car movement reaches New Jersey Transit.

    • —Malcolm Kenton]]> 2010-07-19T17:30:18+00:00 Louisiana Moves Forward http://www.narprail.org/cms/index.php/narpblog/la_rail_compact/ After his efforts to thwart progress towards establishing passenger train service between Louisiana’s capital (Baton Rouge) and its largest city (New Orleans) were met with resistance from citizens, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R)—known for his criticism of government spending—took a major positive step by signing a law that will create the Louisiana Interstate Rail Compact and authorize cities and parishes (i.e. counties) within the state to form their own compacts to develop passenger rail. These compacts will be able to oversee the design, construction, operation and maintenance of train services, and will have the power to float bonds and raise revenues, subject to the approval of the voters in the affected jurisdictions.

    In the law’s language [PDF] is the state legislature’s finding that “The development, improvement, expansion, and maintenance of an efficient, safe, and well-maintained system of railways, transitways, and other transportation facilities that promote mobility are essential to Louisiana’s economic health and are intended to act as a system that provides a basis for business and industry to compete cost effectively on a regional, national, and global scale in order to provide a high quality of life for the people of this state.”

    NARP applauds Governor Jindal and the legislature—thanks to the leadership of Rep. Michael Jackson (I-Baton Rouge)—for putting in place the framework for ongoing investment in increasing Louisianians’ mobility choices and thereby improving the state and region’s quality of life. If you live in Louisiana, please take a moment to send the Governor a note of your approval and encouragement.

    —Malcolm Kenton

    ]]>     2010-07-08T20:24:30+00:00     Misdirected Priorities http://www.narprail.org/cms/index.php/narpblog/misdirected_priorities/ The New York Times reminds us of the extent to which oil extraction is one of America’s most heavily-subsidized activities. Imagine how much the quality of our lives and our environment would improve if these perverse subsidies were eliminated and part of the savings redirected to investments in an expanded network of modern passenger trains. —Malcolm Kenton 2010-07-06T16:40:14+00:00