Resources & Links

NARP President and CEO Ross Capon’s reactions to presentations on Positive Train Control collision-prevention technology made at the 91st annual meeting of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, Jan. 24, 2012.

NARP President Ross Capon speaks before the House Transportation & Infrastructure Hearing on “The Federal Railroad Administration’s High Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail Program: Mistakes and Lessons Learned”

NARP writes to House and Senate reconciliation conference for Fiscal Year 2012 transportation appropriations bill.

NARP sent this letter to the “supercommittee” created under the Budget Control Act of 2011 to come up with a plan to reduce the federal deficit, urging them not to target passenger train investment for cuts.

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.

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.

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.

Statement issued by NARP President Ross Capon calling attention to numerous flaws in the “Competition for Intercity Passenger Rail in America Act” introduced by Reps. John Mica (R-FL) and Bill Shuster (R-PA), in conjunction with a hearing on the legislation held June 22.

Submitted June 9, 2011 by NARP President Ross Capon on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing titled “Opening the Northeast Corridor to Private Competition for the Development of High-Speed Rail”

Submitted April 29, 2011 by NARP President Ross Capon to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation and Housing for Fiscal 2012 Department of Transportation appropriations

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.”

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.

Transcript and link to audio recording of US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood’s address to NARP leaders and supporters during the Association’s 2011 Capitol Hill Reception.

Submitted April 22, 2011, to the House Transportation & Infrastructure Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials for the record of their April 7 hearing.

Submitted April 15, 2011, to the House Transportation & Infrastructure Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials for the record of their March 11 hearing.

Click here to view a PDF version of NARP President Ross Capon’s March 26, 2011, PowerPoint presentation delivered at a regional NARP membership meeting in Boston. WARNING: LARGE FILE

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).

Excerpts from comments given by NARP President and CEO Ross Capon before the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee’s Jan. 27, 2011, roundtable discussion held in conjunction with a field hearing in New York City on “developing true high-speed rail in the Northeast Corridor.”

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.

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.

A statement from NARP rebutting critics’ misleading assessment of a project to build a heavy-rail rapid transit line in Hawaii’s capital city.

In response to Ohio Gov.-elect John Kasich’s threat to kill the nascent project to build an intercity passenger train link between Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus and Cleveland, outgoing Gov. Ted Strickland wrote this letter [PDF] which lays out the economic benefits Ohio stands to lose if it forestalls the start of train service.

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.

Read a research paper on how public policy has shaped the development of Michigan’s transportation system since the 1700s, by NARP Vice Chairman John DeLora.

Presentations and talks given by distinguished invited guest speakers before NARP’s Council of Representatives at its twice-yearly meetings.

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.”

An overview of changes to the political landscape after the November 2, 2010, midterm election that may impact passenger train development.

NARP’s letter to New Jersey’s Governor Chris Christie reiterating need for new rail tunnels under the Hudson River, and opposing use of funds designated for the rail tunnels to help address the state’s ongoing Transportation Trust Fund problem

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.

NARP’s Chairman Robert Stewart praises Amtrak purchase of 130 new single-level passenger railcars

NARP President Ross Capon offers the Association’s assistance to Amtrak as it pursues making the Sunset Limited a daily train on a shortened schedule.

NARP President Ross Capon submitted the following as part of the Federal Railroad Administration’s public comment period on the National Rail Plan, which is due to be completed September 15, 2010.

Statement of Ross B. Capon to the Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies regarding Fiscal 2011 Department of Transportation Appropriations

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.

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

NARP President Ross Capon’s response to Wendell Cox’s misinformed column in the Wall Street Journal, Feb. 1, 2010.

NARP expresses our concern about Amtrak’s approach to new challenges to the liability protection it has historically enjoyed, which threaten to raise the implementation cost for any enhancement to passenger train service.

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.

Here is the Federal Railroad Administration’s detailed explanation of how each of the ten designated high-speed rail corridors was arrived at.

NARP’s comments to Amtrak study on the potential restoration of the Pioneer route between Denver, Salt Lake City/Ogden, Boise, Portland and Seattle.

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)

NARP writes to Amtrak’s Chairman Thomas Carper, challenging him to ensure that network growth and fleet expansion are Amtrak’s top priority.

NARP and MHSRA write to Senate and House conferees on funding for passenger trains in the FY2010 appropriations bill, a fleet expansion proposal, and the “Amtrak-gun-carriage” provision.

Specifying America’s short-term needs for expanded rail service and the locomotives and railcars needed to make it happen.

Specifying America’s short-term needs for expanded rail service and the locomotives and railcars needed to make it happen.

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.

NARP President Ross Capon’s statement to Chairman Patty Murray of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development calling for full funding at or above Amtrak’s requested levels.

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.

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.

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.)

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.

NARP President Ross B. Capon responds to a piece supporting the new Hudson River Rail tunnels published by the editors of the Asbury Park Press (NJ), reminding them that $9 should make sense for the state and the region as a whole.

Submitted May 26, 2009, to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies

View photos and a description of our April 21, 2009 Congressional Reception, honoring Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) and Representative John L. Mica (R-FL), as well as photos from NARP’s council meeting.

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

Endorsing three candidates for the Amtrak Board of Directors: Carl Fowler of Putney, VT; Bennett Levin of Washington, PA; and Dennis Sullivan of Virginia Beach, VA.

Click here to download NARP’s guide to the 111th Congress, which includes the members of key committees that influence transportation funding and legislative issues.  Also includes a handy list of “Do’s and Don’ts” when contacting your elected officials.

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.

Written testimony submitted to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure’s Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials, February 11, 2009

Click here to download NARP’s February 11, 2009 testimony before the Surface Transportation Board on the STB’s new responsibilities as they relate to the Amtrak re authorization.

A letter to Senator John D. Rockefeller IV, Chairman, Senate Commerce Committee from NARP endorsing Ray LaHood to lead the DOT.

Analysis of Amtrak ridership, focusing on the four major types of Amtrak service and coach versus sleeping car data.

A statement regarding the Access to the Regions Core project in New York City—specifically, the need for it to connect to the existing Penn Station.

A letter from NARP Chairman George Chilson and President Ross B. Capon to President-Elect Barack Obama urging him to include passenger trains in his Administration’s agenda and in an economic stimulus package.

A letter from NARP President Ross B. Capon to Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley (D.) protesting proposed MARC train service cuts and the Governor’s insistence that a fare increase cannot be considered to offset the service reductions.

Statement of National Association of Railroad Passengers and Ross Capon, NARP President, at the Brunswick, MD hearing on proposed MARC commuter train service cuts.

November 21, 2008 letter to Mary Peters, U.S. Secretary of Transportation, urging her not to allow the Federal Transit Administration to sign a Record of Decision in New Jersey Transit’s Access to the Region’s Core project.

Statement of National Association of Railroad Passengers and Ross Capon, NARP President and a Bethesda resident, at the Purple Line Alternatives Analysis/Draft EIS Public Hearing

October 29, 2008, hearing, statement for the record, with sections headed as follows:

I. Infrastructure Investment and Passenger Trains
II. State Programs
III. Hudson River Railroad Tunnels (“ARC” or Access to the Region’s Core Project)
IV. APPENDIX: Partial list of citizen efforts to improve the ARC project

NARP Executive Director Ross B. Capon wrote to the two major nominees for President on September 12.  The letter served both as a follow up to our December 12, 2007 letter to all candidates then in the race and made the specific ask of supporting passenger rail growth as part of their campaign platforms.

August 8, 2008 letter to House Democrats who requested a Government Accountability Office report on surface transportation policy regarding the report’s shortcomings on passenger trains

July 8, 2008 Letter to House and Senate conferees on S. 294 and H.R. 6003, the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act outlining NARP’s concerns regarding differences in the legislation

NARP urges support of full Amtrak funding in Fiscal 2009 appropriations process.

A resource compiled by NARP Executive Director Ross B. Capon regarding statistics, trends, and opinions about oil and gas supplies.

Hearing on “Climate Change Impacts on the Transportation Sector”...NARP’s views on how passenger trains can play a bigger role in addressing the problems associated with climate change.

May 19, 2008 letter from NARP Executive Director Ross B. Capon to six New England Governors, thanking them for pressuring Amtrak on the planned June 14-17 shutdown of New Haven-Boston service

Bi-partisan Amtrak reauthorization bill introduced by Representatives Jim Oberstar (D-MN) and John Mica (R-FL)

Bi-partisan high speed rail bonding legislation introduced by Representatives Jim Oberstar (D-MN) and John Mica (R-FL).  Also known as RIDE-21.

View photos and a description of our April 30, 2008 Congressional Reception, honoring Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR) and Representative John Olver (D-MA)

NARP’s comments submitted in the Access to the Regions Core project (the new tunnel between New Jersey and New York).

Statement supporting Amtrak’s full funding request, with additional detailed sections titled:

I. Strong Ridership Growth
II. How to Keep Ridership Growing
III. State Grant Program
IV. Service Reliability
V. It is Sound Public Policy to Support Trains
VI. Hudson River Tunnels
VII. Back Pay
VIII. Work Rules

April 18, 2008 e-mail from NARP Executive Director Ross B. Capon to the Amtrak Board and senior management regarding the planned June 14-17 shutdown of New Haven-Boston service.

Statement supporting Amtrak’s full funding request, with additional detailed sections titled:

I. Strong Ridership Growth
II. It is Sound Public Policy to Support Trains
III. How to Keep Ridership Growing
IV. Service Reliability
V. Hudson River Tunnels
VI. Back Pay
VII. Work Rules

An April 9, 2008 letter to the Governors of New York and New Jersey, requesting their intervention to ensure that the new Hudson River rail tunnels connect through Penn Station to Grand Central.

Testimony delivered by NARP Executive Director Ross B. Capon at the Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement Hearing for the Access to the Region’s Core (ARC) –
THE (Trans-Hudson Express) Tunnel Project.

NARP provides several flyers/leaflets that we encourage you to distribute.

A February 12, 2008 open letter (via e-mail) to Amtrak President and CEO Alex Kummant from the NARP praising Amtrak’s decision to reinstate its “Coast Starlight” train between Los Angeles and Sacramento and urging the railroad to restore the entire run to Seattle by March 4, using buses for the Klamath Falls-Eugene segment if tracks closed by a January mud slide remain impassable.

NARP sent a letter to the 16 Presidential candidates on December 12.  The letter asked them to consider supporting passenger rail growth as part of their campaign platforms.

During consideration of S.294 on the Senate floor, many amendments were offered.  Some were adopted by “unanimous consent” (the bill’s managers approved and no vote was taken), some were offered then witdrawn, and some were offered and defeated on voice votes.  Click here to download a summary of these amendments.  (Note: the Hutchison “Sense of the Senate” amendment begins on page 3.)

Some claim that passenger rail is the only form of transportation that receives federal assistance, but that could not be further from the truth.  Read more about airline subsidies here.

NARP Executive Director Ross B. Capon reminds the Washington Post that they, “have omitted one big part of the solution: Divert travel off planes by investing in rail to provide fast, frequent service in more markets.”

In a January, 2006 report, “High Speed Rail and Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the U.S.”, the Center for Clean Air Policy and the Center for Neighborhood Technology demonstrate that, “high speed rail, if built as planned, will generate substantial GHG savings in all regions.”

NARP Executive Director Ross B. Capon questions why USA Today took a pour-more-concrete-only approach and that “Passenger trains can help address both road and air congestion, and should get serious consideration.”

Debunking commonly held but incorrect perceptions about passenger rail.

NARP Legislative Director David Johnson takes Washington Examiner commentator Sam Staley to task for, “ignor(ing) the huge financial and environmental costs of building and maintaining all the added highways he envisions—costs associated even with hybrids like his.”

NARP Executive Director Ross B. Capon reminds Financial Times readers that the newspaper’s columnists, “commit the common error of omitting railroads and rail transit from their list of what US infrastructure ‘comprises’. Their only reference to modern trains is the European ‘high-speed rail network’, while US railroads get just a historical reference, bracketed with ‘the canals of upstate New York’.”

NARP Executive Director Ross B. Capon applauds the positive WSJ article and laments the fact that “With a supportive White House, ridership growth would be even greater and more widespread.”

August 3, 2007 regarding Norfolk Southern’s proposed sale of its Kalamazoo-Ypsilanti mainline to a shortline railroad.  Eight Amtrak trains operate on the line each day and the route is a DOT-designated high speed rail corridor

NARP Executive Director Ross Capon tells readers of the Mobile Press-Register that despite the paper’s negative opinion of Amtrak, “a Harris poll indicated that 79 percent want to see an increasing proportion of traffic going by inter-city commuter rail…Perhaps this is why the Republican-controlled Congress defied the Bush administration’s efforts to shut down Amtrak.”  Also includes a plug for the NARP Grow Rail Campaign.

Written testimony submitted to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s Railroads Subcommittee.  Capon also testified live before the committee.