Hotline #1,115

We Need Your ‘Nose For News’! When you see rail-related news stories, op-eds, editorials, or letters to the editor in your communities, send them along to us! We include them in our social media efforts, along with the weekly Hotline. Send your news items to Joe Aiello at jaiello[at]narprail.org, and we will share it with members. Are you holding a rally, a community meeting, or another kind of rail-advocacy event? We can help spread the word if you send them to us. We can put them on the website, here. Please follow Rail Passengers on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on all things passenger rail.

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The May 2019 edition of the ‘Passengers Voice’ is now available. Check out the stories on potential Infrastructure proposals; the Association’s record-breaking 2019 ‘Day on The Hill’; the upcoming 90th anniversary of the Empire Builder and much more.

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This week’s meeting between President Donald Trump and Democratic Congressional leaders produced an ambitious goal to draft a $2 trillion bill, targeted at fixing America’s crumbling infrastructure. Hope was short lived, however, with GOP leadership in the Senate responding they wouldn’t advance a bill without pay-fors, while simultaneously ruling out any tax increases.

The media focused on the bipartisan agreement to go big on infrastructure immediately following the meeting, with the White House and Democrats striking an agreement to develop a $2 trillion infrastructure package and reconvene in three weeks.

“We have to invest in this country’s future and bring our infrastructure to a level better than it has ever been before,’’ White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement following the meeting. “We will have another meeting in three weeks to discuss specific proposals and financing methods.’’

“The good news here is we agreed on a big package and now it’s up to the president and the White House to tell us how they pay for it,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told reporters. “It was repeated over and over again that unless he is willing to come up with the pay-fors for this large package, it will never get done, and he agreed.”

Rail and Transit are Guaranteed a Place in Any Infrastructure Package.

Rail advocates had particular reason to be pleased over the discussions, with Congressional leadership promising that the transportation section of the bill would focus on more than just laying asphalt.

“The $2 trillion goes far beyond the projects we’re talking about here,” House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-OR) said at a field hearing to tour Amtrak’s Hudson River tunnels project. “We’re talking about surface transportation--roads, bridges, highways, transit--and how to find a way to pay for that.”

Defazio also singled out Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor as critical to the national transportation system.

“I can guarantee [the Hudson River tunnels are] one of the projects that will be included in those designations but we need more funding,” added the Congressman from Oregon. “I’m writing the bill in my committee and it’s going to include projects of national and regional significance.”

Tempers Flare Over Revenue

Initial reports coming out of the White House meeting suggested President Trump was willing to set aside Republican orthodoxy to make sure a deal got done.

“I’ll lead on this,” Trump told Congressional leadership. “I would like to do something. It may not be typically Republican.”

However, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) both said they’re categorically opposed to rolling back recent tax cuts on the highest earners--Senator Schumer’s preferred financing proposal--and weren’t interested in raising the gas tax, which has gone unchanged since 1993 (Senator Schumer has also said he’s not inclined to look at a gas tax increase until they look at raising taxes on the wealthy).

Other Republican leaders pointed out that an increase in the gas tax alone wouldn’t be sufficient to fund the kind of package the White House was talking about.

“Two trillion is really ambitious,” said Senator John Thune, former head of the Commerce Committee. “If you do a 35-cent increase in the gas tax for example, index for inflation, it only gets you half a trillion.”

Some House Democrats fired back angrily at the Republican response to the White House’s infrastructure proposal.

“They’re losers. They’re out of step with the American people,” DeFazio said when asked about comments by House Republicans. “If the Republicans want to say, ‘No, we’re never going to fix the infrastructure,’ or, ‘We’re going to privatize and toll it,’ or whatever stupid alternatives they have, you know, God bless them.”

“No one wants to jump over the cliff first,” DeFazio added, referring to raising the gas tax, which currently is not even indexed to inflation. “No one has to jump first if we agree we can step up together… We’ve just got to go together with a joint purpose for something that’s going to benefit the whole country, and I think that we can do that.”

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Amtrak celebrated its 48th birthday this week with a message that outlined a steady ridership growth over the past two decades, and an investment program that will produce a modernized infrastructure, fleet, and stations to help the railroad play a much larger role in the U.S. transportation system.

To commemorate the milestone, the company released a statement touting a 1.3% increase in Fiscal Year 2019 ridership through March compared to the same period from FY18, and steadily increasing cost-recovery ratio for operations. Amtrak’s statement also targeted areas for growth: millennials and aging populations are changing the overall travel landscape, forming new markets, with many of the fastest growing markets having limited or no intercity passenger rail service.

“We have been building a successful company over the last several years: best-ever operating performance, record ridership and revenue, and the highest ever capital spend,” said Amtrak Board Chair Tony Coscia. “We have the potential to meaningfully enhance how this country moves in the future, to provide frequent and reliable, city-to-city passenger rail service.”

While passengers will be heartened by this vision for growth, those who rely on the National Network have been troubled by recent decision making from Amtrak executives. They will be looking for signals that, in pursuit of these new markets, the railroad isn’t looking at walking away from the communities that have come to rely on the system over the past half century--and often much longer.

Of course, who gets what levels of service is determined by Congress, which has made its expectations quite clear over the past year. Rail Passengers has outlined its own vision for what the next 48 years should look like, which you can find at RailPassengers.org/Blueprint.

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Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-OR) and a number of fellow House Transportation & Infrastructure committee members toured the century-old Hudson River tunnels late Thursday afternoon as part of a larger infrastructure trip to New York to discuss the ongoing funding dispute over the $13 billion Gateway project. DeFazio stated that the project could proceed after it is “environmentally approved” by the House - following White House precedent for offshore drilling sites. The tour took place on the same day that NJ Transit and Amtrak announced it’s summer plans to divert trains from Penn Station due to needed track work.

The Congressional delegation’s trip included a public roundtable discussion that took place this morning at the Port Authority Board Room at 4 World Trade Center. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and Amtrak Chairman Tony Coscia were in there to participate in the event.

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Two Trillion Reasons

May 3, 2019

by Joe Aiello | Northeast Field Coordinator

First there was “Infrastructure Week”. Then there was “Infrastructure Week”. Followed up by a new “Infrastructure Week”. We could have 52 different “infrastructure weeks” and the story would be the same in this country - a whole lot of talk and little to no action. All while our rail, bridges, and roads all continue to crumble. In his State of the Union address earlier this year, President Trump told Congress that an infrastructure bill was "not an option" but "a necessity".

It is time for the White House and Congressional leadership to step up. Not next week, next month, or after the next election. Now. As in yesterday.

To continue reading Joe’s thoughts, click here

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Amtrak was to provide answers this week to a group of eleven senators demanding clear answers about long term plans for long distance trains. They also asked to clarify some seeming contradictions, including Amtrak’s claims of long-distance ridership being down, despite ridership growing in the states represented by the senators concerned.

Senator Moran of Kansas has placed a legislative block on three appointees to the Amtrak board until the railroad commits to keeping the Southwest Chief running in its present form as a baseline. Given the aggressively anti-Amtrak stances espoused by some of the appointees themselves, it makes for an interesting pressure point.

While Amtrak has been in contact with Senator Moran’s office, they have not yet answered the eleven senator’s questions.

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Starting this week Uber customers in Denver can purchase tickets for travel on the Regional Transportation District (RTD), Denver’s bus and rail service, directly from their rideshare app. The option for RTD passes, which will be the same price as if you were buying direct from a station, will appear in the app after the customer chooses their destination. This partnership has been in the works for some time and is an update from a plan in January that saw the first RTD options appear on the Uber platform.

In a press release following the launch, Uber’s head of transit David Reich remarked that this was allowing for Uber to be a “one-stop shop” for customers. In a number of cities, Uber has already listed the availability of Jump Bikes - their new bike share system - alongside vehicle prices. The in-app partnership and follow-up release do show that Uber is doing their best to work side-by-side with existing public transportation agencies.

Endgame: Partners or Rivals

But is a side-by-side relationship the end-goal for the ride-hailing giant? CNN had reported last week that, while preparing for their initial public offering, Uber released a filing that identified public transportation as a “$1 trillion market it can grab a share of” and that their overall growth depends on their better competing with existing modes.

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Rail Passengers Track Update: Where are we and what’re we working on? This section will give you updates on what Rail Passengers HQ is up to.

• Sean Jeans Gail, Vice President of Policy, attended a series of hearings and stakeholder meetings concerning a proposed infrastructure bill and the transportation reauthorization, representing the ideas contained in the Rail Passengers’ blueprint for a better U.S. rail system.

• Abe Zumwalt, Rail Passengers Director of Policy Research, has been working on numbers to showcase the current impact of the Empire Builder on the celebration of its 90th anniversary at the Northwest Regional meeting to take place on May 18th in Cut Bank, MT.

• Carolyn Cokley, Rail Passengers Director of Customer Programs has spent much of the week working with the Amtrak Customer Advisory Committee. The committee is undergoing some changes due to recent reorganization and transitions at Amtrak. The next ACAC Customer Service Award presentation will take place May 21 in Emeryville, CA at the Emeryville station and will honor Station Agent Angela Figueroa.

• Joseph Aiello, Rail Passengers Northeast Field Coordinator, spent Tuesday afternoon in Providence at a luncheon event hosted by Grow Smart RI. A number of advocates, business leaders, and agency officials were in attendance to listen to Former MA Governor Michael Dukakis talk about the future of passenger rail between Boston and Rhode Island. Joe is also looking forward to attending the Northeast Division meeting tomorrow in Haverhill, which is being co-hosted by our friends at TrainRiders/Northeast.

• Bruce Becker, Rail Passengers Vice-President of Operations, this week continued worked on the advance planning for Rail Nation California being held in Sacramento, Friday, October 18 through Monday, October 21, 2019. Discounted group-rate room reservations at the host hotel, the historic Sheraton Grand Downtown, are now available. Complete information on the event registration and the optional tours to be offered will posted on the event webpage in the coming days!

• Jonsie Stone, Director of Resource Development, continued troubleshooting why automatic renewal payments are not processing properly. Affected members were alerted on April 8th and outreach to those members is ongoing. If you think your payment may have been affected please contact me at [email protected] or 202-408-8362 x 3207. We have brought on temporary help to get through the calls, so if you receive a telephone call/message from Mary, Catarina or Meisha they are part of the Rail Passengers Association call team.

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Bad news about California High Speed Rail is unavoidable. It’s going to cost more, do less, and take longer to complete than what voters in the state were promised. However, unlike Governor Newsom’s muddled state of the state remarks that introduced it, the new business plan for California High Speed Rail itself has clear goals that make sense:

…we are making a policy recommendation to pursue a Merced-Fresno-Bakersfield interim operating segment to provide high-speed rail service to Californians at the earliest possible time and in a manner that leverages the maximum degree of connectivity to other improving rail services, while important project development work also continues in other parts of the state…

Planning on delivering true high-speed service ASAP is essential to establishing the value of the project, as the United States currently has no comparable project, not even including Amtrak’s Acela. However, that second part is equally important. The United States can’t leapfrog into a high-speed rail system, or a even a system of hyperloops for that matter, without a conventional “low speed” high capacity rail system in place.

The revised California High Speed Rail business plan makes this clear. Without the state’s decades of robust investment in the Capitol Corridor, the San Joaquins, ACE commuter rail and other projects, the nascent high-speed rail program wouldn’t have a leg to stand on. The frequent conventional passenger rail systems in the northern and southern parts of the state will serve to “bookend” the initial building block of the system, making connections possible to the rest of the state. This is an important lesson for other projects in Texas, the Pacific Northwest, and elsewhere.

The shrinking scale of the project to the central valley rather than from San Francisco to Los Angeles is also clarified to be an intermediate step, rather than a permanent retrenchment.

…This policy recommendation is not a Central Valley line instead of the Silicon Valley to Central Valley Line (Valley to Valley), it is a Central Valley line first—as we work toward completing the Silicon Valley to Central Valley Line and then connecting Bakersfield to Los Angeles. We propose to proceed in a building block approach for delivering the full high-speed rail system as funding becomes available.

The state will conceivably have enough money to accommodate the new 2019 cost projections for the first “building block” of phase one, from Merced to Bakersfield, now at $20.4 Billion.

Maintaining the goal of the full first phase (SF to LA) of the project is essential for at least two big reasons.

Maintaining access to those funds depends on the state legislature backing the original Proposition 1A bond proceeds, and the federal government failing to rescind appropriations allocated to the project. Both of those funding sources are predicated on a high-speed rail line running from San Francisco to Los Angeles.

Once this first building block from Merced to Bakersfield is complete, the segment projected to operate at a loss at around $50 Million annually, despite drastically reduced travel times. This is unusual in the world of high-speed rail systems – and something that can be remedied only if the project grows to its originally intended size, linking the major economies in the state.

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After trying and failing last year, Rail Passengers’ allied organization All Aboard Washington has succeeded in taking a big step towards establishing East-West passenger rail service over the Cascades mountains. The Washington state transportation budget passed included a proviso to commit a quarter million dollars to funding a formal study to establish daytime rail service from the Puget sound region east towards Ellensburg, Yakima, and Spokane, WA.

The Washington State joint transportation committee has a responsibility to report back by the end of June in 2020 on a proposed alignment, potential ridership, equipment needs, and operator options. Essentially, the study will develop a blueprint to begin service.

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The Boston City Council, unanimously, passed a resolution this week to support passenger rail service between Boston and Springfield. Councilor Matt O’Malley, who initiated the resolution, stated that the project would be transformative for both cities - as well as the state as a whole. This is the first time the entire Council has gone on record in favor of the proposed route. O’Malley also said that rail service to Springfield would not only help MBTA passengers, but that it could directly address such issues as housing and the environment.

State Senator Eric Lesser (D-Springfield), a long time champion of the east-west connection, took to Twitter to thank O’Malley and the rest of the City Council for their show of support.

MassDOT is currently conducting the East-West Passenger Rail Study as a way to look at the costs, benefits, and service alternatives.

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Representative Louise Slaughter - A True Rail Supporter

New Rochester, NY Amtrak Station Named In Her Honor

May 3, 2019

By Bruce Becker | Vice-President of Operation

Dorothy Louise McIntosh Slaughter was born in 1929 in Lynch, Kentucky, a rural Appalachian community about as far removed from the bustling city of Rochester, NY (home to Eastman Kodak and later to Xerox and Bausch & Lomb, among many others) as you could imagine. But, perhaps even more amazing was that Slaughter went on to represent Rochester and the western New York region in Congress from 1987 until her death in 2018, after having served two terms in the New York State Assembly.

Louise was a life-long Democrat and a strong progressive by most measures. But, when it came to transportation policy, and rail issues in particular, she was a bipartisan champion of improved mobility for all.

To read Bruce’s full tribute, click here

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Make Plans Now To Attend Rail Nation California in Sacramento, Friday, October 18 - Monday, October 21.

Over the four-day gathering, passenger rail advocates from across the country will be able to take part in a variety of area tours and trips, in addition to participating in Saturday’s all-day Advocacy Symposium. The Association’s Council of Representatives will held its fall business meeting on Sunday morning.

Discounted Group Rate Room Reservations at the host hotel, the historic Sheraton Grand Downtown, are now available.

Watch for more information and details coming soon!

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Upcoming Regional Rail Passenger & State Association Member Meetings and Other Events:

• Saturday, May 4 – Rail Passengers Northeast Division Meeting – Haverhill. MA

  • $40.00 At The Door Registration

• Saturday, May 18 - Rail Passengers Northwest Division Meeting - Cut Bank, MT

Please contact Bruce Becker to have a state or regional event or meeting added to the Rail Passengers calendar of upcoming events!

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NJ Transit passengers will be facing a mini “Summer of Hell” starting in June as the agency will be deverting 10-peak hour trains each day from Penn Station to Hoboken as part of Amtrak’s plan to work on the tracks leading to the East Tunnel. A projected 5,000 passengers will be affected while Penn Station closes two available tracks during the summer. The Montclair-Boonton line will be the most affected as four morning and evening trains will be diverted - as will one from the North Jersey Coast line.

Bus service will be increased along the Montclair-Boonton line to take passengers to the Port Authority Bus Terminal during this time period and customers will also have the option to purchase ferry passes at a discounted rate.

The track work will last until Sept. 6th.

Click here for more information for NJ Transit.

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PASSENGER SERVICE NOTICES

Elizabethtown Station Boarding Track Changes
Effective Immediately

Attention Amtrak Passengers:
Due to track work being performed along the Keystone Service line, track 1 will be closed for boarding at Elizabethtown Station.

Boarding:
Passengers traveling to Philadelphia will need to board on track 2.

New York Penn Station Infrastructure Renewal Work
June 28 through Sept. 2, 2019

Continued Infrastructure Renewal at New York Penn Station

Amtrak will continue its Infrastructure Renewal program at New York Penn Station during Summer 2019, affecting service of Northeast Regional, Keystone, Cardinal, Adirondack and Maple Leaf trains.

Amtrak Schedule Changes

• Northeast Regional Trains 110 and 127 will be cancelled

• Keystone Train 640 will terminate in Newark, Train 643 will originate in Newark and Train 653 will depart New York a few minutes earlier than scheduled

• Cardinal Train 51 will depart New York early on weekdays only

• Maple Leaf Train 63 and Adirondack Train 69 will run as a combination train on Train 63’s schedule. The trains will split in Albany.

Any passenger already booked on a train will be contacted and accommodated on other scheduled services.

Customer Information

The following resources are available for all Amtrak customers:

• Amtrak.com/NYPrenewal: Find the latest train schedule information, project overview and updates.

• Amtrak Social Media: Customers can follow @AmtrakNECAlerts and @Amtrak on Twitter for timely information.

• Email or text alerts: Amtrak now offers a new feature that will allow customers to sign up to receive customized texts or emails for train and service information.

• Amtrak.com and the mobile app: Get train status information or modify existing reservations.

Keystone Service Boarding Track Changes
Effective May 4 and 5, 2019

Due to track work being performed along the Keystone Service line, track 1 will be closed for boarding on May 4 and 5.

Passengers traveling to Philadelphia will need to board on track 4 at Downingtown and Exton Stations.

Keystone Service and Pennsylvanian Trains 42 and 43
Reservations Required Memorial Day Weekend
Friday through Tuesday, May 24 through 28, 2019=

To better accommodate the increased number of passengers traveling during Memorial Day Weekend, reservations will be required on all Pennsylvanian and Keystone Service trains from Friday, May 24 through Tuesday, May 28.

Note: Monthly and ten-ride tickets will be accepted on these dates.

Holiday Travel Reminders

• To avoid ticket counter lines, passengers are encouraged to utilize eTicketing.

• Allow ample time to arrive at the station and board the train.

• Make sure your baggage is tagged with your name and address.

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Travelers’ Tip For The Week

Whether you are new to rail travel or a seasoned rider here is some information that may come in handy in your travels. Starting in the station and while on-board, you will encounter some of the hardest working employees at Amtrak. Here is who they are, what they do and suggestions on how to reward their performance.

Station Personnel includes Ticket Agents, Lounge Attendants, Gate Agents, and Red Caps. Not all stations have employees in all positions and some stations are completely unstaffed. Ticket Agents, in staffed stations, assist with making reservations and issue Tickets and eTickets. Lounge Attendants staff the Club Acela and the Metropolitan Lounges in some of Amtrak's busiest stations. In addition to granting access to the lounge, Attendants are available to assist with reservations, ticketing and local information. Note: Attendants are not setup to handle cash, so any needed payments must be made by credit/debit card. Gate Ushers are typically found only at the larger/busier stations control access to the tracks & platforms. They open the gate doors, reverse escalators, and check that you are ticketed for that train. Uniformed Red Caps offer free baggage-handling assistance at many major stations and aid passengers with special mobility needs. Note: Accept assistance from only uniformed Red Cap agents. All baggage handled by Red Cap is protected by a claim check. Free Red Cap assistance is offered at these major stations:

• Baltimore, MD

• Boston, MA (South Station)

• Chicago, IL

• Los Angeles, CA

• New Haven, CT

• New York, NY

• Newark, NJ

• Philadelphia, PA

• Portland, OR

• Seattle, WA

• Washington, DC

• Wilmington, DE

Service Crew includes Lounge and Dining Car Attendants, Dining Car Chefs, Coach Attendants and Sleeping Car Attendants. Service crew members generally ride the train from origin to destination and work to make your first-class travel as comfortable as possible.

Operating/T&E Crew includes Conductors, Assistant Conductors, Engineers and Assistant Engineers. Engine crew will change about every 6-8 hours on long distance routes. The Conductor is in overall charge of the train.

When traveling via Amtrak, tipping is NOT required but is considered appropriate and customary in recognition of exceptional customer service. Suggested tipping:

• Station Red Cap - It is not required to tip for service, but it is generally accepted that one will do so.

• Lounge Car Attendant - 10%-15% of the total amount

• Dining Car Attendant - 15%-18% of menu prices

• Dining Car Chef – It is not required to tip for service.

• Coach/Train Attendant - In most cases, it is not required to tip for service, but if special attention is provided $10.00/trip is acceptable.

Sleeping Car Attendant - Your Sleeping Car Attendant will greet you when you board and will be with you throughout your journey; will change your room configuration and perform other services, as needed.

1. Most travelers wait until the trip is over and tip according to the level of customer service provided. $10.00 per night is customary.

2. Other travelers suggest tipping the Sleeping Car Attendant at the start of the trip to “entice” good customer service up front.

3. There are still others who believe that Amtrak Sleeping Car Attendants are adequately paid and thus should not be tipped at all.

Tipping shows that you appreciate the service provided. The amount of the tip should reflect the level of service received.

Have a ‘Travelers Tip’ you would like to share or have a question/topic you would like us to address, please drop us a message at [email protected] - Attention ‘Travelers Tips.

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Your Feedback is Important to Improving American Passenger Trains

As you travel, please help us promote the Travel Review with other rail passengers. As you encounter passengers who want to make their positive and negative opinions known, please direct them to www.railpassengers.org/Travel Review. All participants will remain anonymous. If you encounter any problems with the Travel Review, or have any questions, please send an email to [email protected]

The TravelReview Feedback Card is now available for you to download and print for regular usage. The template is in a .pdf format and will open in Adobe document cloud. First download the file and save it to your desktop for easy access.

The original template was formatted for Avery 5871 or 5371 cardstock which are both 2” x 3½” business card formats. Any brand cardstock should function as long as the dimensions match.

If you experience any problem in accessing the file, please send an email to [email protected] ____________________________________________________________________________

Amtrak has launched a new ‘Share Fare’ discount program, which provides up to a 35% discount when 4 passengers travel together on the same itinerary.

• Passenger 1 – full price

• Passenger 2 – 15% off full price

• Passenger 3 – 60% off full price

• Passenger 4 – 70% off full price

A 3-day advance purchase is required and other terms and conditions apply. These special fares are NOT combinable with the Rail Passengers 10% discount program. ____________________________________________________________________________

Planning a summer vacation including trains (and who wouldn’t be?), then you need a copy of Lonely Planet’s ‘Amazing Train Journeys’ guidebook! And with every purchase Lonely Planet will donate 15% of the proceeds to your Association, to help us keep working for More Trains, Better Trains and a commitment to better infrastructure.

Through this beautiful book, you’ll experience 60 of the world’s greatest and most unforgettable train journeys, from classic long-distance trips like Western Canada’s Rocky Mountaineer and Darwin to Adelaide’s The Ghan, to little-known gems on regular commuting lines. It’s the culmination of asking more than 200 travel writers for their absolute favorites.

Some are epic international adventures, others are short suburban routes along stunning coastline. There are incredible feats of engineering, trains that snake their way through mountain peaks, and even those which have achieved Unesco World Heritage status.

More than just a collection, each profile will give you the practical information you need to experience one or more of these epic journeys yourself -- including ticket options, timetables and stops, plus inspiring photos and illustrated maps. It’s all here!

Amazing Train Journeys is available as a book, e-Book or in both formats at a low combination price. And your purchase helps supports your Association’s mission too! Remember, Lonely Planet is contributing 15% of all Amazing Train Journeys sales to Rail Passengers! You can order copies by clicking here!

DON’T SLEEP ON THIS! USE YOUR MEMBER DISCOUNTS FOR EXCLUSIVE SAVINGS!

Rail Passengers’ partnership with MemberDeals will give members access to exclusive savings on movie tickets, theme parks, hotels, rental cars, tours, Broadway and Vegas shows and more through the members only area of the Rail Passengers website. Be sure to check back often as new products and discounts are constantly being added!

Whether you are from Bakersfield, Bismarck or Boston, Rail Passengers and MemberDeals have you covered! Our MemberDeals partnership covers venues, services and attractions throughout the country...take a look to see where there might be savings on fun outings near you!

Remember, if you want to use these great internet-only discounts, you must be a member in good standing AND be logged in to the Rail Passengers website. If you need help accessing these discounts email us at [email protected], or call the office at 202-408-8362.

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Openings Available For Rail Passengers State Council Representatives

The following vacancies now exist for state representatives on the Rail Passengers Council of Representatives: Alabama (1 opening); California (6 openings); Idaho (1 opening); Illinois (1 opening); Louisiana (1 opening); Minnesota (1 opening); North Dakota (1 opening); Ohio (2 openings); Pennsylvania (1 opening); Texas (1 opening); Utah (1 opening); Washington State (1 opening); Wyoming (1 opening)

If you are interested in becoming more involved in passenger rail advocacy and serving in a Rail Passengers leadership role, this is your opportunity to be considered for an appointment by the Board of Directors to an open state representative seat. There is no deadline to apply and submissions will be considered on a rolling basis as they are received.

Please review the position responsibilities & required qualifications and complete & submit a Candidate Information Statement if you would like to seek a position.