United Rail Passenger Alliance

URPA Vice President Andrew Selden on Minnesota Public Radio, 23 April 2009

President Obama’s announcement of $8 billion in stimulus funds for high-speed rail projects has rail advocates excited over the future of train travel in America. But critics say the money won’t go far and could be better spent on other transportation projects.

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Volume 6, Number 12

1. We’re hearing many things about the Sunset Limited route; not many of them are what we want to hear. Read more…

Volume 6, Number 11

1. America finally has a surface transportation plan – sort of. The Obama Administration has, to great fanfare, placed a renewed emphasis on high speed rail as our next capital system of transportation. No one seems to have an exact definition of high speed rail for this plan, but it’s useful to say all of the proposed routes reach a traveling speed of at least 110 miles per hour over some portion of the route. Read more…

It’s 2009, and Amtrak is raking in the cash. Not from the fare box, but from the federal government. Even though Amtrak accounts for less than one percent of America’s transportation market share, it often is the second highest subsidized mode of transportation.

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Volume 6, Number 10

1. A strong case can be made that often there is not a lot of intellectual honesty when it comes to discussing passenger rail in the United States.Different groups have staked out different positions, and they are sticking to those positions, no matter what happens to prove those positions are incorrect. Often, the positions make no sense either ideologically or realistically, but are good for membership drives, which accomplishes very little other than to fatten organization coffers. Read more…

Volume 6, Number 9

1. Interesting words from Matt Rose, Chairman, President, and CEO of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway. His thoughts and comments mesh well with former FRA Administrator Gil Carmichael’s Interstate II vision. Read more…