Your daily source of fresh takes on news affecting America's passengers. See also the weekly NARP Hotline.
November 8, 2013
Written By Malcolm Kenton ABC 11 WTVD, a TV station serving North Carolina’s Triangle region (Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill), ran an “I Team Investigates” report last night about what the State of North Carolina is paying for the Piedmont and Carolinian “taxpayer trains,” which together offer three daily round-trips between Raleigh and Charlotte, serving the state’s biggest population ce...
November 7, 2013
Written By Logan McLeod “Mr. Claytor, if President Reagan gets his way, all federal subsidies to Amtrak will end September 30. How many passenger trains will you be able to run then?” William Graham Claytor, Jr.’s answer was, as always, direct and non-negotiable, “NONE.” Mr. Claytor was Amtrak’s president from 1982 until 1993. He came out of retirement after serving as deputy secreta...
November 6, 2013
Written By Abe Zumwalt Redundancy in transportation infrastructures is an attractive and efficient thing, as long as you’re aware of the alternative option’s existence. I realized this for the umpteenth time aboard a New Jersey Transit commuter train bound for Philadelphia 30th Street Station. We were stopped at Pennsauken, NJ when a bridge over the Delaware River directly in front of us open...
November 5, 2013
Written By Malcolm Kenton Images: Left--Wikimedia Commons. Right--Amtrak. In response to a letter from a constituent urging him not to cut Amtrak funding, Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH), who represents areas north and west of Cincinnati, said he would rather see Amtrak’s entire annual federal grant used to replace the Brent Spence Bridge, which carries Interstates 71 and 75 over the Ohio River bet...
November 5, 2013
Written By Ross Capon The Atlantic Cities has an interesting discussion of how and why Florida Gov. Rick Scott killed the state’s high speed rail project. It is based on a Tampa Tribune report about communications between Scott and Republican State Senator Paula Dockery. There is evidence that the decision was driven by “petty politics” rather than “fiscal prudence.” Here is a key sent...