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Three Short Items
Monday, September 24, 2007
The Washington Post today published my letter to the editor. I note the failure of their ‘congested airways’ editorials to mention rail service as one part of the solution, and referenced NARP’s plan to “bring passenger trains to 103 more metropolitan areas and more options to people who already have some train service.” In the hard copy edition, the letter is the most conspicuous on the page as it is the only one set off by a box, and the length of my title and the organization’s name are long enough to provide considerable white space immediately to their left and further draw the eye’s attention to the box.
Getting closer. The Post on September 22 reported that, according to DOE’s Energy Information Administration, the inflation-adjusted high for U.S. oil prices was $92.91 a barrel in January 1981. Also, “the October futures contract on the Nymex reached a record $83.90 on Thursday, its last day of trading.” The current front-month West Texas Intermediate contract, November, closed Friday at 81.62.
And perhaps some good news for the Southwest Chief. Cemex, the “growing global materials company” based in Monterrey, Mexico, on Sept. 18 announced “it intends to begin the permitting process for the construction of a 1.9 million short ton cement manufacturing facility near Seligman, Ariz. CEMEX will invest approximately $400 million over five years in the Seligman Crossing Plant, which is expected to begin operations by 2012.” Cemex says “the historical shortage of building materials in Arizona and the southwestern United States, coupled with demographic trends that show robust population growth throughout the region, reinforces the need for the…plant.” The Arizona Republic reports “the plant would bring 700 construction jobs to the remote part of the state where higher-wage jobs are scarce. Between 110 to 130 people would work at the plant when it opens in 2011.” The paper calls Seligman “an unincorporated community of about 800 people, “ and says the plant would also benefit other area communities including Kingman, Flagstaff and Williams (all Chief stops). The train used to stop in Seligman, which is 85 miles west of Flagstaff, 55 miles west of Amtrak’s relatively new stop at Williams Junction and 88 miles east of Kingman.
--Ross B. Capon, NARP Executive Director
Posted by NARP
Tags: narp vision, price of oil, washington post,Full Text of NARP President Op-Ed in Charlotte Observer
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Why no national train grid?
Federal government inaction blocks creation of nationwide rail service
FOR THE RECORD (Op-Ed)
The Charlotte Observer
Posted on Wed, Oct. 24, 2007
http://www.charlotte.com/409/story/331575.html
From George Chilson, president of the National Association of Railroad Passengers:
The opening of Charlotte’s south light rail transit line next month is one of the nation’s most impressive municipal efforts to give people travel choices that conserve energy, combat congestion and address global warming.
Combined with commuter rail services planned for Charlotte, a strong commitment to pedestrian- and transit-friendly real estate development, and existing and planned intercity train services, the new light rail service symbolizes Charlotte’s emergence as one of the nation’s most livable areas.
Every American city should have a system as comprehensive and coordinated as the one Charlotte will have. Gasoline is approaching $3 per gallon and likely to rise further in the long run. Runways and roadways are more clogged than ever, and getting worse. Study after study predicts crippling gridlock at airports and in the skies, and the American Association of State and Highway Transportation Officials anticipates that, by 2020, 90 percent of urban interstates will be at or above capacity. Beyond the local and national concerns are the increasing worries that all those idling cars and planes are hurtling us toward irreversible climate change.
Department of Energy figures show that planes burn 20.5 percent more energy per passenger-mile than Amtrak (a passenger-mile is one passenger carried one mile). And, due to high altitude emissions, planes’ climate change impact is double or triple that of Amtrak’s, depending on length of trip.
The National Association of Railroad Passengers, whose board is meeting in Charlotte beginning Thursday, has laid out a vision for change that would connect Asheville, Hickory and Wilmington to a “grid and gateway” passenger train system networking across America, vastly expanding service between Raleigh, Charlotte and points beyond (including a direct Charlotte-Charleston connection). The major terminals would connect long-distance, commuter and high-speed train services, creating a networked grid connecting the Triad, Triangle and other major cities across the southeast and mid-Atlantic.
The beauty of NARP’s vision is that it is achievable. Almost all the rail lines or rights of way in our vision are already in place. Routes were chosen based on demonstrated demand—either from Bureau of Transportation Statistics data or from demand indications in the establishment of new air routes or roadways.
In fact, not only is NARP’s vision achievable, work has begun in North Carolina and across the country to provide multiple options for short-, medium- and long-distance travelers. Other states with notable intercity passenger train programs include California, Washington, Illinois, Wisconsin and Maine.
What’s keeping the network from happening everywhere? The federal government has failed to demonstrate leadership and commitment to funding an integrated national passenger train system. This shortsightedness has left us with too few passenger trains, serving too few destinations—almost two-thirds less service than America had in 1971 before Amtrak started.
North Carolina and some other states have tried to fill the void, but have been hampered because the federal government provides no matching funds for intercity passenger trains, unlike for highways, urban transit and aviation. It will take federal leadership and funding, in partnership with states and railroads, to create a national passenger train grid. What if President Eisenhower 50 years ago had left interstate highway planning and funding to the states?
For The Record offers commentaries from various sources. The views are the writer’s, and not necessarily those of the Observer editorial board.
Posted by NARP
Tags: charlotte, chilson, federal match, narp vision,Four Ways to Consider Intercity Passenger Train Expansion
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
(1) Provide service to the largest metro areas currently without it. The eight largest, in descending order of population are:
- *Las Vegas, NV
- *Columbus, OH
- *Nashville, TN
- *Louisville, KY
- Tulsa, OK
- Allentown-Bethlehem, PA
- Baton Rouge, LA
- McAllen-Edinberg, TX
* Indicates Amtrak formerly provided service. Las Vegas service lasted through May 10, 1997; Columbus, Nashville and Louisville lost service at the end of October, 1979, although Louisville briefly regained service with a painfully slow train to Chicago. That train ran Chicago-Jeffersonville, IN starting December 17, 1999, was extended across the river to Louisville December 4, 2001, and discontinued July 8, 2003.
(2) Route study requests in S. 294 (which passed the Senate in October):
- restore Amtrak’s Pioneer that linked Seattle-Portland with eastern Oregon, Boise and Salt Lake City. (Towards the end, its financial viability was compromised by running as a separate train all the way across Wyoming to Denver, rather than serving SLC and connecting there with the California Zephyr.)
- restore Amtrak’s North Coast Hiawatha in southern Montana and southern North Dakota – well used train until its demise in 1979.
(3) Maps in the National Surface Transportation Policy & Revenue Study Commission report, at chapter four:
The 2015 vision is at page 4-22 and notably includes
- Cleveland-Columbus-Cincinnati
- a long-discussed Meridian-Jackson-Dallas link among existing Amtrak routes, and
- closing the Bakersfield-Los Angeles gap.
The 2030 vision is on the next page and adds several routes including
- Atlanta-Florida,
- Dallas-Houston,
- Oklahoma City to both Newton/Kansas City and Tulsa/St. Louis,
- Cheyenne-Denver-Trinidad-Albuquerque-El Paso
- the above-referenced Pioneer, and
- service to Las Vegas from both east and west.
The 2050 vision is on page 4-24 and adds many more routes including Chicago-Atlanta.
The Commission recommends annual capital expenditure of $9 billion, much of which would support “genuine” high speed rail projects such that planned in California.
(4) NARP’s 40-year vision, which is more aggressive than the Commission’s although North Carolina DOT’s vision is more aggressive than ours! Read more about our Grow Trains Campaign and Vision Plan including regional “zoom-in” maps.
--Ross Capon
Posted by NARP
Tags: amtrak, california high-speed rail, narp vision, north coast hiawatha, pioneer, service expansion,©2006 National Association of Railroad Passengers | » NARP website
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