United Rail Passenger Alliance

[Note, Mr. Coates passed away in 2007 -- Ed.]

Austin Coates, Chairman of United Rail Passenger Alliance, Inc. is leaving Jacksonville, Florida after 42 years, and returning to his family home in Helena, Arkansas.

Helena, on the Mississippi River which forms that state boundary line between Arkansas and Mississippi, is about an hour due south of Memphis.

Mr. Coates, who will turn 70 later this year, is returning to Helena to help with the care of his 98 year old mother and older sister. He will be returning to the family home which his late father built in 1921.

Mr. Coates was the founder of URPA in the early 1980s. He became disillusioned with Amtrak, and sought a way to improve train service in the United States. After a stint as a member of NARP, he structured URPA as a think tank instead of a member-based organization.

Soon after URPA’s formation, Mr. Coates joined forces with the late Byron Nordberg and the late Adrian Herzog and their California base of operations. Also soon joining was Randy Schlotthauer of Fullerton, California, and Andrew Selden of Minneapolis. Together, this group made astounding progress in achieving URPA’s agenda for an improved national passenger rail system.

Mr. Coates served as the group’s president until early in 2001, when he voluntarily chose to semi-retire from the day to day activities of the organization. It was at that point that Bruce Richardson, who had been a part of URPA since 1987, succeeded Mr. Coates as the organization’s president.

Mr. Coates accomplished extraordinary things during his tenure as president of URPA. After a colorful career in several industries, including radio and insurance, and after a lengthy and adventurous tenure as a general aviation corporate pilot, Mr. Coates opened his own automobile mechanic business in the 1970s, providing exclusive service to many highly notable names in Jacksonville. What many members of Congress and the United States Senate did not know was that after Mr. Coates, in suit and tie, left their Washington offices or Washington receptions where they met, Mr. Coates returned to Jacksonville and personally supervised the servicing of automobiles. It was not unusual for Mr. Coates to have a wrench in his back pocket while talking on the telephone with a DOT under secretary.

After his return to Arkansas, Mr. Coates will continue in his role of  Chairman of URPA. He will also open a consulting practice in Arkansas, specializing in what he does best, communicating with elected officials on behalf of clients.

[address and telephone removed -- Ed.]

Austin Coates is someone who has made a tremendous difference in the world of passenger rail travel in this country during the past two decades. He has spent countless hours and days of his own time working on behalf of rail advocates everywhere, and has financed all of his travels and multitude of expenses out of his own pocket.

Even though he is leaving Florida and moving to Arkansas, we are fortunate to keep the wisdom and leadership of Mr. Coates within our reach.

Mr. Coates is very pleased that his new home will put him within an afternoon’s drive of the home of his granddaughter, who was born in 2000.

Bruce Richardson
President, United Rail Passenger Alliance
Jacksonville, Florida