Our Purpose and Function
- The United Rail Passenger Alliance (URPA) is dedicated to the preservation and expansion of the present rail passenger system through good business principles, improved marketing, and better political efforts.
- URPA operates through a volunteer executive committee, pooling the knowledge and wisdom of some of our country’s best professional surface transportation consultants, travel industry professionals, and rail travel advocates to influence the operations and decisions of the management of rail operators like Amtrak and VIA Rail Canada, and to influence rail passenger policy-makers and law-makers to provide appropriate policy, legislation and funding consistent with URPA goals.
- URPA conducts research and publishes its views of current rail passenger operations and its plans for improvements of operations and expansion of service, with a major focus on long distance, inter-city rail travel and regional rail travel, and a minor focus on local transit issues.
- URPA is a coordinator of information between state rail passenger associations, federal, state, and local governments working to sustain, improve, and expand inter-city and regional rail passenger services.
- URPA supports and works toward public-private rail partnerships and supports the privatization of rail passenger services and their components when it is in the best interest of the industry.
- URPA supports competition in all areas of passenger rail travel, either through bids for contract operations for municipal or state systems, or for competing systems operating long distance train services. URPA is firmly committed to the concept that customer choice automatically drives up levels of customer service and imposes market-based pricing that is beneficial to passengers.
- URPA is an advocacy group, working with private businesses, chambers of commerce, local, state and federal government officials, and other passenger rail organizations.
