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Flag Stops: Making No Small Plans
Friday, February 26, 2010
Reasons to be hopeful, to be concerned, and to take action.
—Malcolm Kenton
Posted by Malcolm Kenton
Tags: amtrak, budget, congress, gulf coast, investment, jobs bill, legislation, new orleans, new york city, passenger trains, rail planning, ray lahood, ridership, senate, sunset limited, take action, transportation, west virginia,Grassroots Pressure Gets Results
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Friends of the Cardinal, a route support group composed of active train advocates (many of whom are NARP members) based in Charleston, West Virginia, issued the release below today. The story of the introduction and passage of Senate Bill 527 in the West Virginia legislature is a great model for grassroots advocacy—showing what we are all capable of, with a little time and energy, as citizens in a republic.
For Immediate Use, March 10, 2010:
By a vote of 97-0 the West Virginia House of Delegates passed a Bill which mandates that the West Virginia Rail Authority must “establish a state plan for transportation and local rail services.” The legislation requires that this plan meet the Federal requirements necessary to capture and administer Federal monies “for rail transportation, local rail services, and inter-modal facilities. . .” Further, the act allows the Authority to seek input from “freight and rail passenger associations.” The same Bill had already passed the WV Senate by a vote of 32-0 earlier in the session. The Bill now goes to the Governor Joe Manchin’s desk for his signature.
This legislation was developed in response to concerns expressed by many individuals about the lack of adequate planning for a passenger rail system for the state of West Virginia. The Friends of the Cardinal, a Charleston WV-based “Route Support Group” affiliated with the National Association of Railroad Passengers articulated these concerns to various members of the legislature. The National Association of Railroad Passengers is the largest citizen-based advocacy organization for train and rail transit passengers in the nation.
J. Charles Riecks, Chair of the Friends of the Cardinal, said: “I was very pleased with the overall positive response that passenger rail received in the West Virginia Legislature this year. Hopefully, this bill is just the beginning of a new day for transportation in the state of West Virginia.”
In speeches before several committees, and also on the floor of both legislative bodies, several members of the legislature spoke to the long overdue need for West Virginia to begin supporting a modern, customer-focused national passenger train network that provides a travel choice Americans want.
Friends of the Cardinal, particularly Riecks and Bonni McKewon, participated in the legislative process from start to finish, corresponding with nearly every legislator and calling upon other West Virginians to contact their Representative and Senator. As soon as Gov. Manchin signs the bill into law, the state Department of Transportation will begin work on the rail plan, an essential first step towards better train service in the state and a process in which NARP and Friends of the Cardinal will continue to be involved. With a strong plan and agreements with Amtrak, MARC and the host railroads in place, West Virgnia stands a much better chance of winning future federal funds to improve existing service and potentially to add new routes.
Check out this video of the passage on the House floor.
—Malcolm Kenton
Posted by Malcolm Kenton
Tags: accomplishment, advocacy, grassroots, improvement, legislature, lobbying, passenger trains, rail plan, senate, victory, west virginia,Flag Stops: People in Motion
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Solid majorities of American voters think greater investment in trains and buses will be more effective at reducing congestion, pollution and oil dependence—and enhancing our quality of life—than building more roads, and are willing to pay higher taxes for it. These findings, based on a survey of 800 registered voters in all 50 states and DC, were released today by Transportation for America (T4A), a broad advocacy coalition of which NARP is a member. In another indication that train advocates’ goals are broadly shared, the sentiments respondents expressed cut fairly evenly across geographic, income and party lines. The main reason respondents gave for why they don’t use transit often, if at all, is that it is not available or convenient where they live, not because they are wedded to their cars or averse to using transit.
—Malcolm Kenton
Posted by Malcolm Kenton
Tags: affordability, amtrak, china, high-speed rail, housing, kansas, mark parkinson, opinion, passenger trains, pioneer, ron wyden, rural, survey, trains, transit, transportation, travel choices, urban, voters, west virginia,One Step at a Time: Checked Baggage Returns to Cardinal
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
When seeking a long-term goal such as a world-class passenger train network that exceeds travelers’ expectations, it is important to celebrate small improvements. The Cardinal, which is the only Amtrak train serving Cincinnati, Charleston, W.Va., and other intermediate points—and the only direct link between Chicago and Northeast Corridor points such as Baltimore and Philadelphia, is one of only two overnight trains that run less frequently than once a day. To add to that, the Cardinal is given a shorter consist than all other overnight trains, often resulting in bedrooms and seats selling out weeks in advance of departure. The line is in great need of improvement, which is now beginning to happen thanks to the route performance review system put in place under the 2008 Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act [PDF summary].
Beginning with the departure of train 50 from Chicago on Tuesday, May 11, a baggage car was added to the Cardinal, which had been without checked baggage service for more than ten years. Although the number of stations where bags can be checked is limited to those staffed by Amtrak agents, the addition of checked baggage—a service so commonplace in air and intercity bus travel that it is taken for granted—should help to reduce delays and crowding that result by passengers having to bring large, heavy suitcases onto the train with them.
We hope that this will be the first in a series of significant improvements to long-distance service in the next few years, and that its success—combined with an infusion of new cars and locomotives—will provide further impetus to run the Cardinal daily.
Here is the baggage car on train 50, shown on Wednesday morning, May 12, in Charleston, WV (photos by Charles Riecks)
Yet the Charleston station crew is still waiting for power baggage carts to be delivered. In the meantime, this is what they are using:
—Malcolm Kenton
P.S.—Check out the winners of Amtrak’s “Trainsportation” video contest for Illinois college students.
Posted by Malcolm Kenton
Tags: amtrak, baggage, cardinal, charleston, cincinnati, improvement, long-distance route, ohio, passenger train, service, west virginia,Key Congressman: Amtrak is “a lifeline” and “an engine of economic growth”
Thursday, June 09, 2011
Threatened with yet another round of starvation-level funding, Amtrak is in desperate need of more champions on Capitol Hill. Amtrak is fortunate, for the first time in its history, to have steady backing from the White House and the Secretary of Transportation. Now, with a column in The Hill newspaper (a free daily publication circulated to all Congressional offices and around Washington), the Ranking Member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee offers a passionate defense of the nation’s passenger railroad.
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Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV), whose southern West Virginia district is served by one Amtrak train just three days a week, understands the economic development potential that world-class passenger train service offers to rural and urban communities alike. “I have long advocated for the return of daily Cardinal service because it is a lifeline for rural communities and an engine of economic growth for the region,” he writes.
Responding to T&I Committee Chairman John Mica’s (R-FL) proposal that the Northeast Corridor be siphoned off from Amtrak and run by a private company, Rahall explains, “Private companies did not want to run passenger rail service [at the time Amtrak was created], and there is very little evidence they want to do so now.”
Posted by Malcolm Kenton
Tags: amtrak cardinal, amtrak funding, amtrak privatization, northeast corridor, rep. nick rahall, the hill newspaper, transportation investment, west virginia,©2010 National Association of Railroad Passengers | » NARP website
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