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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,Flag Stops: October 2009 Roundup
Friday, October 30, 2009
—Malcolm Kenton
Posted by Malcolm Kenton
Tags: amtrak, automobile, california, cascades, economy, expansion, general motors, germany, gmac, gulf states, high-speed rail, jobs, lynchburg, north coast hiawatha, northeast regional, subsidies,Young Train Supporters Make Waves in Montana
Monday, May 17, 2010
Demonstrated support from those who would benefit from a government action is an essential ingredient in any advocacy campaign. In the case of our campaign—along with other like-minded organizations—to expand the national passenger train network, we can all learn from the example being set by students at the University of Montana in Missoula, who have held many rallies and have otherwise vociferously pushed for the reinstatement of Amtrak’s North Coast Hiawatha. This train plied the then-Northern Pacific (now BNSF) main line through southern Montana and North Dakota until 1979, as a complement to the Empire Builder, with stops at Helena, Bozeman, Missoula and other locales. Under Congressional mandate, Amtrak studied [PDF] the impact its revival would have on ridership, revenue and costs.
The students—with the assistance of the student government and the Montana Public Interest Research Group (MontPIRG)—held a well-attended rally in mid-March that was covered by the local CBS affiliate TV station:
They have gathered signatures on a petition to state and federal leaders to find the funding to bring the train back as quickly as possible. The cause has already won the support of both Montana Senators, particularly Sen. Jon Tester (D), and of the state’s at-large Congressman, Denny Rehberg (R), who appeared at NARP’s Capitol Hill Reception in late April. During meetings with NARP Council members, staff members for North Dakota’s Congressional delegation also expressed support for the route. NARP is working with their offices to make sure that funding for the route is included in the fiscal 2011 spending bill.
Not only is the student activism an effective example for other Route Support Teams to follow, it is also shows how young people are shaping our future for the better—by working for more convenient, affordable, enjoyable and sustainable transportation choices—thereby leaving America better prepared to meet our 21st-century energy, environmental and mobility challenges.
—Malcolm Kenton
Posted by Malcolm Kenton
Tags: amtrak, energy, environment, media, missoula, montana, north coast hiawatha, restoration, students, television, trains, university, young people,Flag Stops: New Ideas, New Challenges
Monday, July 19, 2010
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
Posted by Malcolm Kenton
Tags: amtrak map, danbury, high-speed rail, housatonic railroad, jetblue, mobility, national security, network, north coast hiawatha, oil shortage, passenger train, pittsfield, ray lahood, shelly poticha,©2010 National Association of Railroad Passengers | » NARP website
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