United Rail Passenger Alliance

Patience and perseverance have a magical effect
before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.
-   John Quincy Adams

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Volume 7, Number 6

Gentle Readers,

Thank you for returning this week for another installment of This Week at Amtrak. I would like to give special appreciation to Mr. J. Bruce Richardson for the first seven years of this column. Read more…

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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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 5, Number 28

1. For Amtrak True Believers (to liberally borrow a famous phrase), it’s the best of times, and it’s the worst of times. True Believers believe it’s the best of times because of what’s in the official summary, below, from the House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Realistic people who believe in the business of passenger rail (as opposed to the welfare state concept of passenger rail as a public right) know it’s business as usual. Read more…

Volume 5 Number 27

1. ONBOARD AMTRAK TRAIN NUMBER 97, THE SILVER METEOR, Southbound, between Jacksonville and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Thursday, September 25, 2008 – The Silver Meteor is running about a half hour late south of Orlando, but that’s okay. Just before noon, we came to a sudden stop somewhere 20 minutes past the middle of nowhere in the fern growing area of Volusia County (west of Daytona Beach for those unfamiliar with Florida geography). Our locomotive engineer had spotted a stalled truck at a roadway grade crossing, and was able to bring the Meteor to a stop before slamming into the truck. After waiting 25 minutes for a tow truck to arrive and clear the tracks, we were on our way without harm or injury to anyone. It’s a good day for the train and engine crew; an often unavoidable accident scenario failed to materialize. Read more…

Volume 5 Number 26

1. It’s been a lousy month for passenger rail. The horror of the Metrolink crash in Southern California with over two dozen deaths and dozens more passengers injured will remain with us for a long, long time. Read more…

Volume 5 Number 25

1. Thanks for the overwhelming response to the last issue of TWA’s presentation of the updated Concepts of the Successful Long Distance Passenger Train of the Future. In addition to the basic distribution through TWA, there have been over 600 additional downloads of the white paper from URPA’s web site, and there have been visits to the web site from over 60 countries around the world, including mainland China and Russia. It’s tough to know how that white paper translates into the two languages of China and Russia, but it’s nice to have a diverse readership base. Read more…

1. Amtrak is smiling approvingly at one of its bankers, Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, who has filed a bill in the United States Senate to provide Amtrak with $2.8 billion to overhaul existing equipment and build new rolling stock.If this bill becomes law (and, it is only in very early stages), Amtrak must take this opportunity to properly equip itself for the future – both financially and to meet passenger demand – with the correct selection of equipment, not just replacements for existing rolling stock.
2. URPA has updated its 2005 white paper, Concepts of the Successful Long Distance Passenger Train of the Future (PDF).

Volume 5 Number 23

1. You just never know when an issue of TWA goes racing out over the Internet what’s going to come back in return. Read more…