Hotline
Your weekly source of fresh takes on news affecting America's passengers. See also the NARP Blog.
August 26, 2016
The National Association of Railroad Passengers was on hand at today’s event in Wilmington Station, where Vice President Joe Biden announced $2.45 billion in federally secured loans to support Amtrak’s purchase of new high-speed trainsets for the Northeast Corridor, station upgrades, and track improvements. The “Avelia Liberty” model trainsets will be designed and manufactured by the Frenc...
August 19, 2016
Amtrak announced today that longtime rail industry executive Charles “Wick” Moorman will be the company’s next President and CEO beginning September 1
“Wick comes to Amtrak after more than 40 years at NS where he rose from management trainee to CEO,” stated Amtrak in an employee advisory. “Having worked at NS from the ground up, he and his team modernized the way that NS conducted bus...
August 12, 2016
Following the Surface Transportation Board’s (STB) final rule to define on-time performance for passenger rail using on-time arrival and departure at all stations along a passenger-train's route—a huge victory for passengers—the Association of American Railroads (AAR) filed a petition with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia questioning the STB’s authority to define on-t...
August 5, 2016
Investment in new technology, maintenance and equipment pays off, which is evident with Amtrak’s implementation of new Siemens locomotives in the Northeast Corridor. According to new statistics from the railroad, the introduction of 70 new locomotives, known as the Amtrak Cities Sprinter, which started revenue service three years ago, has helped reduce delays by more than 20 percent. Overall, da...
July 29, 2016
In major news for Amtrak and passenger rail, the Surface Transportation Board (STB) withdrew a proposed policy statement that would have undercut passenger trains legal right to priority dispatching ahead of freight trains. The proposal would have changed a law that gives Amtrak preference while traveling on freight railroads, and could have resulted in significant delays for passenger trains.
Pa...
