Hotline
Your weekly source of fresh takes on news affecting America's passengers. See also the NARP Blog.
September 30, 2016
Tragic news struck this week in passenger rail, after a New Jersey Transit commuter train crashed into a station in Hoboken Thursday morning. The crash resulted in more than 100 injuries for passengers on the train and people standing on the platform, and in addition to the injuries, one fatality occurred due to falling debris. When the train arrived at the station, it went “over the bumper bloc...
September 23, 2016
The U.S. Senate Republicans released the text of a proposed Continuing Resolution to keep the government funded past September 30th, including language to allow for a new Amtrak accounting structure.
The provision, called an anomaly, is necessary to allow for the old funding structure to be applied using the new structure required by the FAST Act of 2015. It avoids saddling Amtrak with additiona...
September 16, 2016
In a major effort to increase safety improvements for the country’s railroad infrastructure, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) awarded $25 million in grants to transit agencies across the U.S. Through the Railroad Safety Infrastructure Improvement Grants fund, the FRA is supporting 23 projects in 14 states and Washington, D.C. Projects include the acquisition, improvement, or rehabilitat...
September 9, 2016
A new study by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) provided further evidence public transportation is still the safest way to travel. Overall, APTA’s new report found that taking public transit, such as trains and buses, decreases the chances of an individual being in an accident by more than 90 percent when compared to driving. This is an important stat for the future of U.S....
September 2, 2016
Options for high-speed rail have received some significant attention over the past week thanks for a major announcement from Amtrak for new Acela trains, a federal hearing on the status of the high-speed rail project in California, and a trade agreement between Maryland and Japan. All three highlighted that there is continued, as well as growing, interest to pursue and develop high-speed rail syst...
