Washington, D.C. April 1, 2008—The National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP) today urged NJ TRANSIT (NJT) to keep public needs in mind and restore earlier designs of its proposed Hudson River railroad tunnels.
In testimony delivered to a federally-required NJT hearing on a Supplementary Draft Environmental Impact Statement on the “Trans-Hudson Express Tunnel,” NARP executive director Ross Capon joined other citizen advocates by arguing that “it is essential that New York City’s existing Pennsylvania Station be accessible from the new tunnels. NJT abandoned this accessibility in a June 2007 project redesign, the rationale for which has been kept secret.”
Capon said, “Today’s security-conscious world cries out for the redundancy that NJT’s earlier design offered.”
Capon urged officials to consider the implications of temporary or extended closure of the existing Amtrak-owned tunnels used by both Amtrak and NJT trains. If the present plan is adopted, existing intercity trains could not operate nor could prospective inter-regional services like Trenton-Stamford.
Capon noted that not only would the project provide no additional intercity slots at Penn Station, it also precludes future investments aimed at providing such slots even though New York City is widely recognized as the nation’s “number one market where expanded intercity train service would help address demands for air service that are bumping up against airport and airspace capacity limits.”
In a separate statement, Albert L. Papp Jr., director and recording secretary of the New Jersey Association of Railroad Passengers said, “Simply put, this once outstanding regionally comprehensive plan has devolved into nothing more than a six track ‘deep cavern’ annex to New York Penn Station beneath 34th Street for use ONLY by NJT trains.”
Similarly, Bruce B. Becker, president of the Empire State Passengers Association (ESPA) opposed the plan and urged NJT and Federal Transit Administration to advance the direct connection between the new Hudson River tunnels and Penn Station tracks and platforms described in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement issued in February 2007. ESPA also called for restarting the planning and environmental studies for a direct track connection between Penn Station and Grand Central Terminal, described as “Alternative G” in the Major Investment Study (MIS) phase of the planning process.”
About NARP
NARP is the largest citizen-based organization advocating for train and rail transit passengers. We have worked since 1967 to expand the quality and quantity of passenger rail in the U.S. Our mission is to work towards a modern, customer-focused national passenger train network that provides a travel choice Americans want. Our work is supported by 24,000 individual members.
Washington, D.C. April 10, 2008—Citing mobility and security needs for the nation’s most populated region, the National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP) issued an open letter to Governors Jon Corzine (NJ) and David Paterson (NY) yesterday. It requests their intervention to urge NJ TRANSIT to restore a planned physical track connection between the proposed and current rail tunnels under the Hudson River.
In its $7.6 billion Access to the Region’s Core plan for the Trans-Hudson Express tunnel, NJ TRANSIT is proposing reconfiguration of tracks that will limit operational flexibility, especially in the event of an emergency. The new plans call for dead-end trackage deep underground, separate from existing New York Pennsylvania Station (NYP) tracks, eliminating a rail link that had been incorporated in earlier plans. This precludes use of the new tunnels for cross-New York City services, leaving Amtrak and future commuter rail services dependent on the existing pair of century-old tunnels.
The letter, signed by Ross Capon, the Association’s Executive Director, noted that New York City’s own police chief just this week spotlighted NYP as a critical but vulnerable transit hub. NARP’s letter stated, “a key security priority for NYP should be to eliminate the vulnerability associated with its dependence on two 100-year-old tunnels.”
“We appreciate the difficulties inherent in any major construction project in Manhattan. We understand that what we suggest might take longer to get done, and may cost more to build. But the costs of not linking the new tunnels with existing NYP far outweigh the technical difficulties and costs of creating the link, which we believe have been overstated,” NARP wrote in its letter.
In testimony delivered to an NJ TRANSIT hearing on April 1, Capon joined other citizen advocates by arguing that it is essential that New York City’s existing Penn Station be accessible from the new tunnels. Capon noted that NJ TRANSIT abandoned this accessibility in a June 2007 project redesign.
Washington, D.C. April 16, 2008—Citing a missed opportunity to propose real solutions to climate change that would help both our environment and our economy, the National Association of Railroad Passengers criticized today’s address by President Bush and urged that balanced transportation policy be a key element in climate change legislation.
“The President has a goal of halting the growth of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States by 2025. His goal is inadequate and his methods for reaching it ring hollow,” said NARP Executive Director Ross Capon.
“The framework he proposed today ignores a key problem: The United States, with just 4.5% of the world’s population, uses 25% of the world’s oil; the U.S. imports about 60% of its oil, according to the Pew Center on Global Climate Change.” The U.S. transportation sector alone emits more CO2 than the entire economy of any other country in the world except China (US Public Interest Research Group). Environmental Protection Agency data show that over 60% of CO2 emissions from U.S. transportation in 2005 came from personal automobiles.
Automobiles account for 40% of U.S. oil consumption, so U.S. automobiles cause about 10% of worldwide oil consumption.
Capon noted, “With an expanded national passenger train network, Americans could shift to—-or expand use of—-an attractive, energy-efficient travel choice that is environmentally sound, reducing both their carbon output and U.S. dependence on foreign oil.
“The President’s desire to reduce carbon output in the energy sector is laudable, but his focus too narrow. NARP urges President Bush and Congress to include, as part of any meaningful climate change policy, an emphasis in transportation investment on the most energy-efficient and environmentally sound forms of transportation, including passenger trains and mass transit. Such an emphasis would be consistent with the President’s stated interest in green technology.
“Fuel efficiency offers the most immediate and biggest potential for reducing CO2 emissions from transportation over the next three decades, partly because we are so far from developing advanced, low-carbon technologies to replace oil-based transportation energy. The emissions reduction policy measure that will have the most immediate impact is the one that will make greater use of the most fuel/carbon efficient transportation.”
Washington D.C., April 30, 2008—The National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP) announced today that U.S. Representative John Olver (D-MA) is a recipient of the 2008 George Falcon Golden Spike Award. The award honors individuals for their contributions to the advancement of passenger rail.
Olver is chairman of, and former ranking member on, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies.
“He has consistently been an articulate voice in favor of a balanced transportation system in which passenger trains play a growing role,” said NARP Executive Director Ross Capon.
Chairman Olver said, “I am honored to receive this award. First as the Ranking Member of the transportation appropriations subcommittee, and now as the Chairman, I have looked for ways to ensure that intercity passenger rail plays an integral part of our nation’s transportation policy. Our population has reached record levels, and the challenges created by this growth – congested highways and airspace, increased travel delays, and environmental degradation – are clear. It should also be clear that we cannot build our way out of these mobility problems with new roads and airports alone. Intercity passenger rail must be part of the solution.”
Chairman Olver’s work has been particularly appreciated by NARP, which last June introduced a vision for a grid-and-gateway network of interconnected transportation options that would encourage and link state corridor projects such as those championed by Congressman Olver. This vision was broadly endorsed by a federal blue-ribbon commission, which additionally recommended funding and legislative options that would help implement this network.
“The expanded passenger train network that Americans need is eminently reachable in the next few decades if we begin to put the pieces into place now – and Congressman Olver is helping put those pieces into place,” said Capon.
The Association presents George Falcon Golden Spike Awards to honor individuals, usually public officials, for their support for a fully developed train network and leadership in promoting rail development. A complete list of past winners is available here.
The award is named for George Falcon, a Los Angeles area publisher and early member of NARP, who created the award.
Washington D.C., April 30, 2008—The family of Dr. Gary Burch and the National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP) announced today that Detective John “Jake” Mumford, a resident of California’s Bay Area, has won the 2008 Dr. Gary Burch Memorial Safety Award.
The award, which honors individuals who have significantly enhanced rail passenger safety, is sponsored by the family of Dr. Burch, who died in a 1991 passenger train derailment in South Carolina. “Because security and safety go hand-in-hand, it is a particular honor for us to be able to spotlight the efforts of Detective Mumford this year,” said Bette Burch.
An employee of Amtrak detailed to provide security services for California’s Capitol Corridor, Mumford was selected for his outstanding commitment to policing one of the heaviest-traveled passenger corridors in the country. The Capitol Corridor connects San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose and the Sacramento area.
“Detective Mumford carries out his duties with a smile, with authority and with a helping hand,” said Eugene Skoropowski, managing director of the Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority, which operates the Capitol Corridors.
Mumford has been praised in passenger surveys for his customer-friendly outreach. He has also received accolades from police departments for his ability to foster cooperation and coordination among various public safety departments, including local law enforcement agencies, Union Pacific Railroad Police, Amtrak Police, and Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Police.
Skoropowski singled out Mumford’s recent work assisting in the investigation, apprehension, and prosecution of local gang members who had terrorized communities along the track and attacked a Capitol Corridor train crew last year.
The Burch family established the $1,000 award in 1994 and has sponsored it ever since. This year, the family noted other noteworthy nominees in addition to that for Detective Mumford:
The BNSF Railway Seattle Commuter Operations team, which developed an innovative and aggressive safety plan;
Amtrak Mechanical Superintendent Bernard Campbell, who established new procedures and protocols to ensure rail car and station safety in Washington D.C.;
Amtrak’s Southwest Division Cross-Functional Safety Team, for initiating which initiated an in-depth safety study resulting in recommendations that sharply reduced passenger risks on the Pacific Surfliner, and
Daniel Corcoran, who as manager of Signal Projects in Chicago for the Union Pacific Railroad developed a safety device for disabling and reestablishing railroad crossing protections affected by track work.
Washington D.C., April 30, 2008—The National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP) announced today that U.S. Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR) is a recipient of the 2008 George Falcon Golden Spike Award. The award honors individuals for their contributions to the advancement of passenger rail.
Senator Smith has been a strong supporter of passenger train development, both intercity and commuter. He played a key role in advancing the Westside Express Service Commuter Rail Project-—diesel powered trains that will connect with and extend the reach of the Portland MAX light rail system in Washington County. Oregon. The senator also has worked to bring parties together in an effort to save freight train service on Oregon’s threatened Coos Bay line.
Last June, NARP introduced a vision for a grid-and-gateway network of interconnected transportation options that would encourage and link state corridor projects such as those that have blossomed in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. NARP’s vision was broadly endorsed by the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission, which additionally recommended funding and legislative options that would help implement this network.
Restoration of service between Portland, Eastern Oregon points, and Boise/Salt Lake City/the East is in both the NARP vision and the Commission’s “2030 intercity passenger rail network” (page 4-23 of the Commission’s December, 2007, report, Transportation for Tomorrow, [click on Chapter 4 here]).
The George Falcon Golden Spike Award honors public officials for their support for a fully developed rail network and leadership in promoting rail development. The award is named for George Falcon, a Los Angeles area publisher and early member of NARP, who created the award. Prior winners include U.S. Senators, Members of Congress, the people of Los Angeles and Baltimore, and individuals who have shown a dedication to and commitment to passenger rail in a way that has advanced a stronger rail network. A complete list of past winners is available here.
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