Resources & Links
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» NARP President & CEO Ross B. Capon
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Ross Capon joined the staff of the National Association of Railroad Passenger (NARP) in 1975, and became executive director in 1976. In 2008, his title was changed to president. Mr. Capon’s duties as President and CEO of the only national organization advocating for the users of passenger trains and rail transit include testifying before Congress and working with members of Congress to increase funding for passenger rail service; briefing the media on passenger rail issues; and coordinating among state and regional associations of railroad passengers on local issues that affect passenger rail.
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» The NARP Grow Trains Campaign
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Welcome to the web home of the National Association of Railroad Passengers’ 40-year vision for rail in the United States. We aim to shift discussions over intercity passenger rail to emphasize connectivity and capacity expansion for both freight and passenger rail. Visit the links below for more information.
Please do not hesistate to contact NARP if you want further information or to give us your feedback. We are particularly interested in your observations about specific proposed routes on our map, since you live closer to—and may know more about the potential—for many of this routes. You can also read our news release about our vision.
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» Dr. Gary Burch Memorial Safety Award
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The Dr. Gary Burch Memorial Safety Award is an annual award granting $1,000 to the railroad worker who has done the most to improve the safety of railroad passengers. (includes history and list of recipients)
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» Golden Spike Award
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NARP’s annual award recognizing celebrities, elected officials, and others who have made important contributions to the passenger rail cause. (includes history and a list of recipients)
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» Welcome to the NARP Young Adults and Kids Site!
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All Americans from the young to the young at heart benefit from the mobility, freedom, and fun that rail travel offers. The purpose of this page is to provide resources of interest to families, to kids, and to young adults who want to learn more about trains and travel by train. Click on the links below to begin your journey!
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» NARP Resource Development Coordinator Mary Beth McCall
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Mary Beth McCall joined NARP as Coordinator of Resource Development February 10, 2011. A Greenville, SC native, she earned her B.A. cum laude in Political Communications from Clemson University (Clemson, SC) in late 2009. She has worked on Republican political campaigns on college campuses, including coordinating volunteers. She also has worked for a collection agency and in hospitality, the latter at Wolf Creek Resort and Red Moose Lodge, Eden, UT.
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» Passenger Rail Myths & Facts
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There are a lot of conflicting statistics being thrown around in the debate taking place over what direction the U.S. transportation should take. NARP has done the work to defend passenger trains against the half-truths and flat-out inaccuracies being used by anti-rail groups.
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» Fiscal 2012 House Appropriations Letter
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NARP calls for the highest possible fiscal 2012 funding numbers for Amtrak and the High-Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail grant program, noting Amtrak’s strong ridership growth, the inexorable rise of gas prices, trains’ role in combating climate change, and the good American jobs that train investment generates. NARP points out that Amtrak’s most pressing need is new equipment.
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» Highway Air Much Dirtier Than Subway Air
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After monitoring levels of fine particulates in the air while riding Los Angeles Metro Red Line (below ground) and Gold Line (aboveground light rail) trains, and on Southern California freeways, a University of Southern California professor concludes that, while the Red Line’s air is a bit dirtier than the Gold Line’s (and that of an average spot in metropolitan L.A.), the freeway air has “five to 10 times higher” concentrations of particulates than a typical urban site.
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» NARP Academic Award
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Given annually to university and college professors who have an excellent record in developing and promoting knowledge about and progress of passenger train transportation in the United States and Canada.
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» Reactions to Hearing on NEC Privatization
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NARP President Ross Capon’s observations following the hearing before the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee on “Opening the Northeast Corridor to Private Competition for Development of High-Speed Rail.”
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» Federal High-Speed Rail Grant Factsheets
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Fact sheets summarizing the federal High-Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail grants made to states and Amtrak as of May 2011, their impacts on job creation and economic development, and how all the corridors receiving investments fit together as a network.
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» Five Myths about Gas Prices
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This piece by Robert Rapier appeared in the Washington Post’s Outlook section on March 27, 2011. Rapier explains why gas prices are on the rise and how Europeans have been living well despite much higher gas prices for decades (a more robust passenger train and transit network is a key piece).
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» Transportation Infrastructure Investment - White Paper & Fact Sheet
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There is often a lot of confusion about how transportation infrastructure is paid for. NARP provides a fact-sheet showing what percentage of road construction costs are covered by user fees, and some of the associated costs of highway, transit, and passenger rail use. All facts and figures were taken from NARP’s Freedom and Transportation: Defending Real Choice for Travelers, presented here in its entirety.
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» Frequency is Key to Successful Short-Distance Passenger Train Service
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This NARP Fact Sheet, written in January 2011, examines the histories of five successful short-distance Amtrak services in the United States to show that adding frequencies is one of the most important factors in increasing ridership and reducing the amount of ongoing government subsidy.
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» Lobbying Tips
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Successfully influencing elected officials involves becoming a trusted source of accurate information, and telling personal stories that demonstrate the need for better passenger train service. Click here for lobbying tips from NARP’s Washington staff.
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» Quantifying Intercity Trains’ Economic Benefits
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A study commissioned by the Michigan Association of Railroad Passengers concludes that the three Amtrak routes serving Michigan bring over $62 million in direct economic benefit to the state each year, breaking this down by route and by type of benefit.
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» NARP Refutes Columnist Calling Rail Investment “Wasteful”
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In a letter to the editor of the Washington Post, NARP President & CEO Ross Capon writes “When a spike in oil prices crushes short-distance aviation and cuts auto use, even more Americans will be thankful their taxes buy trains, not just airports and roads.”
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» NARP & Vuchic Urge Penn Station Connection
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NARP President Ross Capon joins retired transportation professor Dr. Vukan Vuchic in urging the New Jersey Department of Transportation to push to connect the two new tunnels being constructed under the Hudson River to Penn Station.
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» NARP’s FY2011 Senate Appropriations Statement
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Statement of Ross B. Capon to the Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies regarding Fiscal 2011 Department of Transportation Appropriations
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» Letter to Gov. Christie on Hudson Tunnels
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NARP President Ross Capon urges New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie—shortly after his inauguration—to take a complete look at the project—already underway—to build two new rail tunnels under the Hudson River that won’t connect with Penn Station, and will hence be unusable by Amtrak.
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» NARP’s FY2011 House Appropriations Statement
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NARP President Ross Capon’s annual public-witness statement to the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee, calling for full funding of Amtrak, additional funding for high-speed and intercity passenger rail grants to the states, and a focus on financing the equipment necessary to grow the intercity train network in fiscal year 2011
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» NARP Leadership Positions and How to Apply
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A new slate of Officers, Directors and Representatives At-Large of the Association is elected by the Council of Representatives at the April Council meeting of every even-numbered year. State Representatives are elected by the constituent membership of the Association every odd-numbered year. Here’s how to apply for one or more of these leadership positions.
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» NARP Corrects Pew Study of Route Subsidies
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NARP President Ross Capon writes to the President of the Pew Charitable Trust to set the record straight on their study of route subsidies, pointing out several methodological errors.
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» National Train Day 2010
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The third annual celebration of trains in American life took place May 8, 2010. Click above for a list of the events NARP participated in, along with photos and reports. See the official National Train Day Website for more about the occasion.
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» NARP letter to the FTA regarding the new Hudson River Tunnel
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A letter from NARP Chairman George Chilson and President Ross B. Capon to Federal Transit Administration head Peter Rogoff prescribing remedies to the flaws in the current plans for the new Hudson River Tunnels. (UPDATE: includes FTA Administrator Peter Rogoff’s response to NARP, and an anti-ARC editorial by New Jersey’s The Record)
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» Position Paper: Restore the Gulf Coast Connector Now!
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In a paper sent to Amtrak officials and to members of Congress, NARP urges the immediate restoration of Amtrak service between New Orleans and Florida along the Gulf Coast and questions why the transportation needs of most of the country are not properly funded at the federal level.
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» Capon’s Statement on Public Transportation & Climate Change Counters Critics
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In a written statement [PDF] for the record in response to a hearing held July 7, 2009, by the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation & Community Development entitled Public Transportation: A Core Climate Solution, NARP President and CEO Ross Capon points to a host of taxpayer subsidies for automobile and air travel to rebuff critics who say that these modes pay for themselves via user fees. Capon also deliniates the external costs associated with the United States’ “fly-drive” transportation system, as well as the myriad benefits of passenger rail and transit and the livable communities they foster.
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» Testimony of Kenneth Joseph to House Railroads Subcommittee Field Hearing
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Council of Representatives member Kenneth Joseph testified on NARP’s behalf at a field hearing of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Subcommittee on Railroads, held in Pittsburgh on June 22, on expanding passenger rail service. He called for immediate improvements to existing service in western Pennsylvania, including reinstating Amtrak’s Three Rivers and improving track speed and capacity on the Norfolk Southern Harrisburg-Pittsburgh main line.
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» The American Passenger
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The American Passenger is published by the Marketing & Resource Development Committee of the National Association of Railroad Passengers. It has information and updates on passenger rail developments throughout the country, and is dedicated to the promotion and expansion of passenger rail service in America.
NARP welcomes submissions on passenger rail issues for publication. Material sent for publication should be sent to our Editor at: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Clippings from newspapers and magazines must include the publication’s name and date. Photos sent in by e-mail should be in JPEG format. We reserve the right to edit all non-published submissions.
The American Passenger Vol. 1, No. 1 - Spring/Summer 2009
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» Legislators, Business and Nonprofit Leaders Urge Indiana Governor to Develop Passenger Rail
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Encouraged by the high-speed rail funds in the Recovery Act, a group of state legislators, business leaders and leaders of health, transit and environmental nonprofits wrote [PDF] to Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels (R) on March 27, pushing him to seek federal funding for passenger train improvements. (In a July 1 letter to NARP members in Indiana, NARP Council Member Steven Coxhead of Hammond has urged NARP members to contact the governor and state legislators directly.)
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» NARP Outreach & Engagement Director Malcolm Kenton
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Malcolm Kenton, who joined the staff in 2009, is a longtime political and environmental activist and rail advocate hailing from Greensboro, NC with a BA in Political Science and Environmental Studies from Guilford College. He is responsible for developing and implementing grassroots outreach strategies, especially for younger people. His duties include serving as primary steward of the NARP Blog. He will be doing layout for NARP News as well as assisting with compiling material.
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» NARP’s Letter to House T&I Leaders About the Climate Bill
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NARP President Ross B. Capon’s letter to Rep. James Oberstar, Chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and other T&I leaders, urging them to ensure revenues from any climate change bill provide funding for improving energy-efficient transportation.
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» National Train Day 2009
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Click above to see photos, videos and other reports from the festivities for the second annual National Train Day on May 9, 2009.
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» House Appropriations written record, fiscal 2010 passenger rail funding
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Statement supporting Amtrak’s full funding request, with additional detailed sections titled:
I. The Potential on Shared-used Tracks
II. The Need to Keep Trains Running
III. Oak Ridge National Laboratory Statistics It is Sound Public Policy to Support Trains
IV. Overnight Trains
V. Issues from Last Year
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» Recommended Books and Magazines
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Books
All books listed below that do not have a link can be purchased on NARP’s new bookstore at Amazon.com. If you purchase the book through this link, NARP gets a commission—yet one more way you can support NARP’s efforts!
- Black, Edwin, “Internal Combustion: How Corporations and Governments Addicted the World to Oil and Derailed the Alternatives” (2006, New York). Read a review by NARP Vice Chair Jim Churchill
- Brown, Christopher, “Still Standing: A Century of Urban Train Station Design” (Indiana, 2005). Outlines the history and development of large urban stations throughout the Western world
- Daniels, Rudolph, “Trains Across the Continent” (Indiana, 2001). Covers the political, economic, technological, and social aspects of railroad history in the U.S. and Canada
- Frailey, Fred W, “Twilight of the Great Trains” (Indiana, 2010). A thorough, first-hand account of passenger train travel in the United States between World War II and the creation of Amtrak (1970), describing all the trains that were lost (and that we hope will return) and how some railroads actively discouraged ridership on their passenger trains, while others provided top-notch service to the end. Filled with photos!
- Friedly, Gary A, “Bridge over the Valley” (Langdon Street Press, 2010). This novel follows the story of two young men, one a farmer’s son from North Dakota and the other the son of a wealthy Seattle businessman, as their lives intersect aboard the Mountain Daylight, a fictional streamlined train plying the route through southern Montana and North Dakota once (and hopefully, soon to again be) served by Amtrak’s North Coast Hiawatha. The author is a NARP member.
- Gilbert, Richard and Anthony Perl, “Transport Revolutions: Moving People and Freight Without Oil” (London, 2008). Proposes ways to reduce our dependence on oil-based transport. The authors argue that land transport in the first half of the 21st century will feature a revolutionary shift towards electronic drives powered from the grid. They explain why electric trains will be a non-negotiable part of most countries’ transportation future. The book goes on to discuss marine transport, whose future is less clear, and aviation, which could see the most dramatic breaks from current practice. Not available on Amazon website
- Goddard, Stephen B., “Getting There: The Epic Struggle Between Road and Rail in the American Century” (Chicago, 1994). Tells the story of how government joined automakers, industry and road-builders to create a self-perpetuating highway system, and what that has done to American railroading.
- Hart, Stanley and Alvin Spivak, “The Elephant in the Bedroom: Automobile Dependence and Denial” (New Paradigm Books, 1993). Examines the many ways in which the use of private motor vehicles is subsidized, including the giving of large amounts of high-value urban land and municipal services to motorists and the trucking industry. The authors, both engineers, propose full-cost pricing of all automobiles, highways, and automobile by-products as a way to correct historical mistakes.
- Jennison, Christopher, “All Aboard for Christmas” (New York, 2004). A delightful collection of observations about riding on and working on passenger and freight trains at Christmastime.
- Lazare, Daniel, “America’s Undeclared War: What’s Killing Our Cities and How We Can Stop It” (Harcourt, 2008). Review by NARP’s Sean Jeans Gail: Part social history, part agitprop, “Undeclared War” provides an often provocative historical account of the migration of the American population out from the city center and into the suburban periphery. Daniel Lazare crafts a scathing account of the forces behind this transformation, classing the federal government’s policies of subsidizing suburban growth–through road projects and tax breaks, to name but a few–as “urban manslaughter.” Lazare has drawn accusations of allowing his socialist-leaning political views to undermine the objectivity (and possibly coherence) of his critique of suburban life. No one, however, faults the fervor with which he sounds the call for an end to an unsustainable byproduct of the mid-twentieth-century American era of overabundance.
- Loomis, Jim, “All Aboard: The Complete North American Train Travel Guide” (Chicago Review Press, 2011) Written by a NARP Council of Representatives member who has logged more than 200,000 miles on Amtrak and VIA Rail, this authoritative guide includes route descriptions, a history of rail travel, and an explanation of how both passenger and freight railroads operate, all written in simple, easy-to-understand language. (Amazon.com)
- Loving, Rush, “The Men Who Loved Trains” (Indiana University Press, 2008). “The fascinating saga about one of the oldest and most romantic enterprises in the land-America’s railroads - “The Men Who Loved Trains” introduces some of the most dynamic businessmen in America. Here are the chieftains who have run the railroads, including those who set about grabbing power and large salaries for themselves, as well as others who truly loved the industry.” (Amazon.com)
- Macdonald, Thomas W, “Next Stop: Tips and Tales from a Train Commuter” (lulu.com, 2010). “Welcome to train travel, meet the daily commuter and see how he differs from all others, and laugh at the real life stories. You probably think that riding a train is a simple thing to do. Just get on, sit down, relax and enjoy the ride. Well, for many, that may be the case. But for those that ride the rails every day, they know that it is much more scientific. Does it matter what car to board? What seat to sit in? You may not think so. Or maybe it does.” (Amazon.com)
- McCommons, James. “Waiting on a Train: The Embattled Future of Passenger Rail Service—A Year Spent Riding Across America.” (Chelsea Green Publishing, 2009). A journalist spends an entire year (2008) traveling by train across the country seeking to find out why the United States is so far behind the rest of the industrialized world in passenger rail development. “He writes of the people he meets, the scenery, the long decline in American rail travel, and its emerging renaissance, interweaving discussions he has had with dozens of the leading minds on American passenger rail [including NARP’s own Ross Capon]. ... He’s at his best when deftly connecting the lack of a salad in a dining car with bigger issues like Amtrak’s funding. Essential reading for rail fans, policymakers, and anyone curious about the future of transportation.” (Library Journal review) Read an interview with the author.
- Owen, David. “Green Metropolis: Why Living Smaller, Living Closer and Driving Less are Keys to Sustainability.” (Riverhead Books, 2009). Explains why the problem with cars isn’t that they don’t get enough miles per gallon or that they aren’t alternatively fueled, but that they make it too easy for people to spread out, thereby encouraging inherently unsustainable forms of development. The coming end of cheap oil, Owen contends, will force Americans to downsize, live closer to each other, and largely move away from personal automobiles, which won’t diminish our quality of life, but rather enhance it.
- Pitt, John, “USA By Rail, 7th Edition” (2008). Fully updated and released by Bradt Publications (Britain) and Globe Pequot Press (US) in 2008. Geared toward British readers considering long-distance Amtrak trips, though useful also to Americans and available in the US.
- Runte, Alfred, “Allies of the Earth: Railroads And the Soul of Preservation (Truman State University Press, 2006). From Amazon: “What did America lose with the decline of the passenger train? Much more than most Americans think. The greatest loss is the alliance between technology and the land, according to public historian Alfred Runte. Once abandoning railroads would have been unthinkable, but we have virtually forgotten the importance of trains for our country and for ourselves. Now the landscape suffers in our mindless rush to get rid of old technology and blindly embrace the new.”
- Sanders, Craig, “Limiteds, Locals, and Expresses in Indiana, 1838-1971” (Bloomington, 2003). Exhaustive, well-footnoted, railroad-by-railroad discussion of Indiana’s passenger train history with maps, photos and index. The author is a railroad enthusiast who teaches journalism and mass media communications at Cleveland State University.
- Steiner, Christopher, “$20 Per Gallon: How the Inevitable Rise in the Price of Gasoline Will Change Our Lives for the Better” (Grand Central Publishing, 2009). Steiner takes readers on a tour of the fundamental societal changes North America will undergo as the price of fossil fuels continues to rise, including that “trains will [once again] become the mode of national transportation.”
- Stilgoe, John R., “Train Time: Railroads and the Imminent Reshaping of the United States Landscape” (University of Virginia Press, 2007). From Amazon: “Unlike many United States industries, railroads are intrinsically linked to American soil and particular regions. Yet few Americans pay attention to rail lines…(Stilgoe) picks up where his acclaimed work “Metropolitan Corridor” left off, carrying his ideas about the spatial consequences of railways up to the present moment…Stilgoe posits a future for railways as powerful shapers of American life.”
- Thompson, Gregory Lee, “The Passenger Train in the Motor Age: California’s Rail and Bus Industries, 1910-1941” (Columbus, Ohio, 1993)
- Vuchic, Vukan R., “Transportation for Livable Cities” (New Jersey, 1999)
- Vuchic, Vukan R., “Urban Transit Systems and Technology” (Michigan 2007)
- Weisman, Alan, “The World Without Us” (2007). Read a review by NARP Vice Chair Jim Churchill
Other publications (print and electronic) and websites of interest
- California Transit Publications...Publishes the “California Transit Guide,” many useful links here
- Friends of Amtrak...Amtrak news, photos and trip reports
- International Railway Journal...British magazine with worldwide passenger and rail transit coverage
- On Track On Line...Forums and information on “train travel and various aspects of the railroading hobbies”
- Passenger Train Journal...Ressurrected in 2006 after ten years, providing coverage of North American passenger rail issues
- The Society of International Railway Travelers...Monthly publication specializing in rail adventures around the world
- Railserve.com: The Internet Directory...maintained by NARP member Christopher Muller since 1996.
- Rail Tripper...excellent resource for new and veteran Amtrak travelers. Contains travel tips, suggestions and much more. Maintained by NARP members Mike and Brenda Frezzel.
- Railfan & Railroad Magazine ...monthly publication of of railroad news and photos, including the policy-oriented Capital Lines column by NARP member Wes Vernon.
- Railway Age...trade magazine covering the railroad industry for over a century
- Railway Gazette International...Published in Britain, covers passenger and freight rail developments worldwide
- Roll Call...Capitol Hill newspaper with political news, often with coverage of Congressional elections
- Trains Magazine...Monthly, “The leading magazine of railroading,” covers passenger, freight and hobby interests
- TrainTraveling.com...International train travel news links and descriptive directories of passenger rail web sites for business and leisure travelers.
- TrainWeb...Many, rail links (including industry, railfan, and operator’s webpages)
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» To Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood
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February 18, 2009 letter to Ray LaHood, U.S. Secretary of Transportation, urging him not to provide federal funding for New Jersey Transit’s Access to the Region’s Core project until a connection between the new tunnels and the existing Penn Station is restored.
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