If you want to see better, more frequent train service by Amtrak, speak up now! The Federal Railway Administration is preparing a study and they want input by March 8. Here’s the bulletin from Railroad Workers United. This isn’t just about adding new routes (see the green lines), it’s about restoring service to cities that used to have passenger rail, and adding trains on existing routes for daily service. (Some just operate on alternating days.)
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is conducting an Amtrak Daily Long-Distance Service Study to evaluate the restoration of daily long-distance intercity rail passenger service and the potential for new Amtrak long-distance routes. This study will ultimately create a long-term vision for long-distance passenger rail service and identify capital projects and funding needed to implement that vision. The initial proposal would add 15 long-distance routes, serving 61 additional metropolitan areas to create a true national network.
The FRA is seeking public input by Friday, March 8. After public comment, the FRA will make capital and operating cost estimates, and make recommendations to Congress.
This Amtrak expansion plan has been 50 years in the making and of course, should have been executed in the 1970s or 1980s.
Amtrak has survived against endless budget cuts, threats to eliminate various trains, micro-managing by Congress on food service options, and attempts to dismantle or privatize parts or even its entire system.
So this is a huge step forward. That said, the forces allied against this proposal are huge, led by Class One rail carriers. They fight tooth and nail against any proposed new Amtrak route or additional frequency. RWU feels that the best way forward is to bring the railroads under public control, at least the basic infrastructure (track, signals, yards, terminals, etc) or it is very unlikely that we will see much in the way of passenger train expansion. In the meantime, smart Class One rail carriers will welcome the additional income stream from accommodating passenger service and the access to public money for track improvements that will improve freight service as well.
Many sectors are coming together around a publicly run rail network - like the Plumb Plan of old - one that is administered by professional railroaders, representatives of the craft workers, and government appointees to protect the public interest. Check out the listing of endorsing organizations to date HERE.
Do you want to make your voice heard on this vital question of an expanded passenger rail network? If so, please read through the presentation materials and make a comment by Friday, March 8.
Rail Passengers Association news on the FRA Study
THE ROUND THREE LD MAP IS OUT! February 16, 2024
You can click here to download all 163 pages of meeting materials we reviewed last week and this week. Your job as interested citizens and advocates is to review the materials, and offer constructive, fact-based feedback on how the routes are put together, what kinds of continuing planning should be done, and whether and how an independent entity should be created to ensure that as these route projects unfold the served communities continue to have a voice in making sure they really happen.
You have until March 8th to review the materials and then draft and submit your feedback to the study team using the email address contactus@fralongdistancerailstudy.org. Remember, constructive, fact-based, specific observations and suggestions are the way to go here. Some 5,000 comments have been reviewed to date, and comments truly did help shape the final routings selected by the FRA team.
15 NEW TRAINS: CLOSER TO OUR LONG-DISTANCE GOALS February 16, 2024
Keep an eye out for the public release of the study materials on the FRA long-distance study website (which you can reach by clicking here), but here’s a brief rundown of the 15 new routes FRA offered up for our consideration in the upcoming Round Four later this spring:
1 – Chicago to Miami, via Indianapolis, Louisville, Nashville, Chattanooga, Atlanta, Jacksonville, Orlando, and Tampa.
2 – Dallas/Fort Worth to Miami, via Marshall, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Pensacola, Tallahassee, and Jacksonville.
3 – Denver to Houston, via Trinidad, Amarillo, and Dallas/Fort Worth.
4 – Los Angeles to Denver, via Barstow, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, and Cheyenne.
5 – Phoenix to Minneapolis/St. Paul, via Flagstaff, Albuquerque, Amarillo, Newton, Kansas City, Omaha, and Sioux Falls.
6 – Dallas/Fort Worth to New York, via Oklahoma City, Tulsa, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Columbus, and Pittsburgh.
7 – Houston to New York, via New Orleans, Mobile, Montgomery, Atlanta, Chattanooga, Roanoke, Lynchburg, Lorton, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia.
8 – Seattle to Denver, via Portland, Boise, Pocatello, Salt Lake City, and Grand Junction.
9 – San Antonio to Minneapolis/St. Paul, via Dallas/Fort Worth, Tulsa, Kansas City, and Des Moines.
10 – San Francisco to Dallas/Fort Worth, via Merced, Bakersfield, Barstow, Phoenix, Tucson, El Paso, and Midland.
11 – Detroit to New Orleans, via Columbus, Cincinnati, Louisville, Nashville, Montgomery, and Mobile.
12 – Denver to Minneapolis/St. Paul, via Cheyenne, Pierre, and Sioux Falls.
13 – Seattle to Chicago, via Yakima, Kennewick, Spokane, Sandpoint, Helena, Billings, Bismarck, and Fargo.
14 – Dallas/Fort Worth to Atlanta, via Marshall, Jackson, Meridian, and Birmingham.
15 – El Paso to Billings, via Albuquerque, Trinidad, Denver, Cheyenne, and Casper.
FRA STUDY DRAFT: MORE TRAINS, MORE PLACES February 9, 2024
If this map is fully realized, 89 percent of the U.S. population would have access to Amtrak trains, including 19 million more Americans in the most-populated metropolitan areas. In this plan some 13 million Americans who lost service to the various Amtrak cuts over the years would get it back. This new map would add 102 stations in rural communities, nearly doubling service in rural areas.
Tribal areas would see 112 percent more access, and for people living in what the Dept. of Transportation defines as “health-disadvantaged areas” – that is, areas with poor access to medical facilities and hospitals – there would be 66 percent greater access. Five million people without good medical access could get it via this new map, which would ensure that 86 percent of all U.S. medical centers are served.
emphasis added
Let me add my own personal views here. This is only going to happen under Democratic governments; Republicans still want to do away with Amtrak and privatize only the routes that can be operated at a profit. We need rail for climate concerns, both to reduce emissions and for resilience. We need rail for a more equitable country, to serve people that have been left behind. We need to do this because we need to demonstrate we can once again engage in projects for the public good even though it will take years to fully implement this. (And if we can also do what Solutionary Rail and the Climate Rail Alliance is calling for, it will be even better.)
