Your daily source of fresh takes on news affecting America's passengers. See also the weekly NARP Hotline.
November 13, 2012
Written By Malcolm Kenton As Americans get ready for holiday travel, many will choose to take the train, some because it is the most convenient, economical and stress-free of the travel choices available to them, and others because few other options exist. Johnstown station in 2002. Photo from TrainWeb.orgOne of the many places Amtrak serves that has few other travel choices is Johnstown, PA. Si...
November 2, 2012
Written By Ross Capon Our thoughts and prayers are with those whose lives have been shattered or seriously upset by the superstorm of which Hurricane Sandy was the key element. We can sympathize with an exhausted Gov. Christie (R-NJ) who said yesterday on Fox & Friends, "I've got 2.4 million people out of power. I've got devastation on the shore. I've got floods in the northern part of my sta...
November 2, 2012
Written By Ross Capon One of our regular talking points is the importance of trains and transit for the growing senior population. Jessica Anderson, in her Drive Time column in the new (December) Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, says that, “as a group, seniors age 80 and older have the highest rate of fatal crashes per mile driven—even higher than for teens—according to the Insurance Instit...
October 31, 2012
Written By Sean Jeans Gail Image via Port Authority of New York and New JerseyFollowing widespread devastation in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, transportation networks throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic are slowly beginning to resume service, though some systems promise to remain inoperative for days to come. Amtrak Restores Partial Service Amtrak, which was forced to cancel some trains as...
October 23, 2012
Written By Malcolm Kenton Experienced passenger train advocates are already familiar with the ways in which both federal and state governments subsidize air travel. But as the Washington Post revealed on Friday, airlines’ increasing reliance on increasing fees for things like checked baggage, instead of raising ticket fares, to keep up with the rising cost of jet fuel, means that federal taxpay...