Your daily source of fresh takes on news affecting America's passengers. See also the weekly NARP Hotline.
June 27, 2013
Written By Colin Leach Image: Wikicommons; Author: Portal de copaResponding to public demonstrations against rising fares, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff announced $25 billion of new funding for public transportation over the next few years. In a meeting with state governments and major city mayors, Rousseff stated that Brazil’s burgeoning economy needs a change in the “framework of [th]t...
June 25, 2013
Written By Malcolm Kenton On Friday, the House Appropriations Committee released fiscal 2014 spending levelsfor transportation that savage Amtrak, state corridor development, and high speed rail. Amtrak would get just $950 million, down 31% from this year. The High Speed & Intercity Passenger Rail Program—which has funded projects ranging from improvements to Maine’s Downeaster to develop...
June 20, 2013
Written By Colin Leach Despite record decreases in government spending across the globe as well as the persistence of anemic economic growth, many countries are making heavy investments in improving existing passenger rail services, as well as constructing new ones. Whether these investments take the form of constructing new lines or introducing new technologies to improve existing services, bo...
June 19, 2013
Written By Sean Jeans Gail The House Appropriations Committee’s attack on Amtrak, which we reported to you yesterday, is just the tip of the iceberg. The House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee leadership has criticized the long-distance trains, and appears poised to write an authorization bill that will threaten those trains, possibly by requiring states to pay for them—somethin...
June 18, 2013
Written By Colin Leach One frequent criticism of passenger rail’s viability is that it entails high fixed costs and thus discourages potential investors. While many of these costs, such as track maintenance and equipment maintenance, are relatively constant, at least one can, according to a recent study, be significantly lowered: that of equipment purchases. In a new paper released by the Comp...