Your daily source of fresh takes on news affecting America's passengers. See also the weekly NARP Hotline.
July 7, 2015
July 7, 2015 The July issue of the NARP Newsletter is now available. This month's issue includes legislative updates in the House of Representatives and the Senate on appropriations and rail safety. ColoRail President James Souby is this month's member profile, while NARP Silver Rail and Heritage Circle member Cathy Johnson is the donor profile. We laud Council Member Charlie Hamilton for recei...
July 6, 2015
July 6, 2015 America by Rail, the leader in rail tours and train vacations, has generously donated a New England Fall Foliage tour for NARP to raffle off as a fundraiser. Members have asking questions about how this effort will work. The trip, valued at $5690, is an eight-day tour of top spots in New England, including visits to the Trapp Family Lodge and the Billings Farm in Vermont and a rid...
June 29, 2015
By Abe Zumwalt It’s unfortunate that, given the blunt title of Matthew Yglesias’ recent piece “The Real Reason American Passenger Trains Are So Bad”, never once is the real problem—funding disparity—explicitly stated. Instead, the author dusts off a whole host of old arguments to explain why we don’t actually need further investment in passenger trains at all. Many of these seem t...
June 25, 2015
The Senate moved two critical transportation bills today, and we need America’s passengers to rally support for Congressional leaders who are working to strengthen investment in Amtrak. The Senate Commerce Committee unanimously passed an exciting passenger rail authorization bill—the multiyear framework that provides the structure for Amtrak's existence and intercity rail investment. You can...
June 23, 2015
June 23, 2015 The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies approved a fiscal year 2016 funding bill that extends current levels of funding for Amtrak at $1.4 billion, rejecting cuts made in the House version of the T-HUD bill. That version of the bill slashed Amtrak funding by $262 million, transit funding by $161 million, and fun...