Hotline #927

The Department of Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Administration held an event September 3 at Washington Union Station to announce an increased TSA security presence over the Labor Day travel weekend, part of a program dubbed "Operation Rail Safe."

"Rail safety is shared endeavor," Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson told reporters at the event. "You will see days like today when there is increased personnel and random screenings. We do this several times a year."

Last week, NARP issued a press release in the wake of a thwarted attack on a train from Amsterdam to Paris, calling on policymakers to exhibit the same resolve shown by the three American passengers—Spencer Stone, Alek Skarlatos, and Anthony Sadler—noting that there must be a balance between protecting passengers and preserving their mobility.

NARP is calling on the TSA to recognize the unique characteristics of rail, and recognize that what works for airports will not work for train stations. There are more than 500 Amtrak stations in the U.S., along with thousands of transit stops. Many of these stations are located within the center of downtown areas, serving as centers of commerce and community gathering points. It is simply not feasible to completely seal off access and screen every passenger.

The U.S. rail transportation system is too important to our economy and mobility for us to allow the threat of terrorism to endanger a connected America. Secretary Johnson stressed that Operation Rail Safe is an ongoing initiative, and this weekend's activity does not represent a shift in policy. "This is part of an operation that has been going for years," he said. "[But] it's important to highlight for the public the things we're doing."

Johnson also stressed that rail travel is already an extremely safe way to travel. "I have great confidence in rail safety," Secretary Johnson told reporters. "I'm a great fan of rail. It's my favorite way to get home to New Jersey."

Although Congress is still in recess, the Friends of Sunset Limited to Florida were busy advocating via their Facebook page to convince Amtrak to restore rail service on the Gulf Coast between New Orleans and Florida that has been dormant since Hurricane Katrina 10 years ago, reports The Hill. The current version of the transportation bill approved in July by the Senate includes a provision to fund a study on the feasibility of restoring that service.

"This is our chance, people," the group wrote. "This bill must be reconciled with the much less favorable House bill before it goes to the President for his signature. PLEASE write, email or call your US Representative, especially if they are Republicans. ALSO...if you live in Mississippi, PLEASE THANK Sen. Roger Wicker [R-Miss] for his bipartisan sponsorship of the Senate bill with Sen. Cory Booker [D-N.J.]."

NARP has consistently called for restoration of service between New Orleans and Orlando since 2005. “Our members have made the case for its renewal to their state and local governments, and we have made the case here in Washington,” said NARP President and CEO Jim Mathews.

Seven of the 12 communities between New Orleans and Jacksonville, Florida, whose service was suspended post-Katrina, have no air service, and four have no intercity bus service, leaving those four areas without any public transportation option. “Reconnecting these areas to the rest of the economy should produce a net benefit beyond direct investment in rail service by easing the Gulf Coast’s isolation from access to other markets for travel and tourism revenue,” said Mathews.

NARP members were out in full force this week with op-eds and letters to the editor advocating on rail issues. W. Dennis Hodges, founder and vice president of business relations for the Indiana Passenger Rail Alliance, wrote an op-ed in the Journal-Gazette on how high-speed rail is a smart option for 21st century travel.

“High-tech anything is an attraction to prospective employees. High-tech trains would add to that attraction, as well as trains built for efficiency and up to the standards of the 21st century,” Hodges wrote. “Studies have shown that these type trains will add measurably to both the state and local economies. In fact, the commercial investment is proven to be sizable.”

NARP At-Large Council Member George Haikalis wrote a letter to the editor in the New York Times with his thoughts on making Times Square more pedestrian friendly (scroll down to see his letter). “Advocates for sensible transportation have long called for making all of 42nd Street into an auto-free pedestrian plaza, river to river, outfitted with a modern light rail line,” he wrote.

On Aug. 28, a Washington Post editorial warned that commuter trains that could stop running on January 1, 2016, unless they meet the December 31, 2015, federal deadline to install Positive Train Control technology, “a possibility that is looking increasingly likely for many stretches of rail, according to a recent federal report.”

But in his letter to the editor, Dan Peacock, a member of the Virginia Association of Railway Patrons, wrote about the importance of keeping the Virginia Rail Express on track. “While requiring the safety technology called positive train control on the nation’s railroads is a laudable goal, the seven-year implementation period is unnecessarily short and would produce catastrophic results to our rail infrastructure, especially in Virginia,” he wrote. “Terminating Virginia Railway Express (VRE), which has never had a passenger or crew death in its 23 years, on Jan. 1 would add much more traffic on interstates 66 and 95, producing a partial government shutdown as folks fume for hours in the nation’s already bad traffic.”

NARP encourages members to write op-eds and letters to the editor to advocate and educate the media specifically and the public in general about rail issues of importance in local communities. And please feel free to email your published items directly to our communications director so it can be disseminated to the membership.

Commuters on the Long Island Railroad were enraged after the system was forced to suspend service for hours due to a power outage in the aging East River tunnels that go into New York’s Penn Station, reports NBC News. Thousands of riders took to social media to voice their frustrations with the commute, and the hashtag #LIRR was trending on Twitter Wednesday morning.

A Newsday editorial noted that the breakdown is still being investigated. “But we do know that trains could not get into or out of Penn Station, which is to say, Manhattan, and had to be either canceled or diverted to the Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn, “ it wrote. “The rails must run! But the infrastructure is often aging, decrepit and extremely vulnerable to breakdown. Nowhere is this better seen than in and around the 100-year-old East River tunnels these trains couldn't use Wednesday morning.”

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) plans to conduct a study to develop a "shared, workable vision" for a passenger-rail network in the southeastern United States, according to a press release from the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT). It was approved after the state, along with District of Columbia, Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, submitted a statement of interest, reports Progressive Railroading.

FRA will work with a consultant on the study and ask for comment from stakeholders including state departments of transportation, chambers of commerce, Class I railroads, short lines and others. The project is being supported by U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, who said last month said that passenger-rail networks in fast-growing regions -- including a system connecting Washington, D.C.; Richmond, Va.; Charlotte; Raleigh; and Atlanta -- was a necessity.

Pennsylvania and Miami are looking to the future when it comes to rail policy. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) will be holding three open houses this month for the public to review a draft of an updated Pennsylvania State Rail Plan, reports Progressive Railroading. It includes a summary of 230 proposed passenger-rail improvements and investments for the years 2015-2040, including high-speed, inter-city and commuter-rail service. It incorporates projects from five-year capital plans from Amtrak and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority in three corridors: Amtrak's Keystone Corridor and Northeast Corridor, and SEPTA’s regional rail system in southeastern Pennsylvania.

Activating dormant railroad lines, expanding Tri-Rail and making buses more efficient are among the ideas discussed at an event on the future of transportation in Miami, reports The Real Deal. George Burgess, former manager of Miami-Dade County and COO of the law firm Becker & Poliakoff, noted that the region’s congested traffic conditions are a byproduct of “our dynamic community growth experience.”

Fixing it, however, won’t be an easy endeavor. “This is a very complicated issue,” said Burgess. It’s also costly. Expanding the 25-mile long Metrorail system will cost at least $200 million a mile, he added. Creating a Miami-to-Jupiter rail connection could cost taxpayers $800 million, along with another $150 to $200 million a year to operate and maintain.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) has begun holding service council meetings to gather public input on how to increase ridership, reports Progressive Railroading. Three meetings will be held in September. Between 2010 and 2014, Metro's overall ridership rose 3 percent, which was attributed primarily to an increase in rail ridership. However, through the first half of 2015, the number of average weekday boardings has fallen, according to the agency’s blog, The Source.

Congested highways, parking problems, air pollution, road rage, traffic fatalities — has the time come for bringing back passenger rail service to our region, asks Kathy Henderson, director of economic development for Pennsylvania’s Carbon Chamber and Economic Development in an op-ed in the Times News.

“Just to our south, the mayors in Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton think it is and they are leading the discussion to bring passenger rail service back to their respective cities and on through to New Jersey,” she wrote. “What if commuter rail service extended from the Lehigh Valley north to Carbon County and beyond to Wilkes-Barre? If you could easily travel from anywhere in Carbon County to Allentown, Philadelphia or even New York, Wilkes-Barre or Stroudsburg by train would you use it?”

Locals are celebrating the six-year anniversary of daily Amtrak service between Lynchburg, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., reports Cvilletomorrow.org. Meredith Richards, chairwoman of the Piedmont Rail Coalition and the person who helped to establish the commuter-friendly Northeast Regional train notes it has been successful because people are tired of driving on U.S. 29 because it’s become very congested. Planning is underway for a second daily train that will be paid for with about $20 million from the Route 29 Solutions package negotiated in the spring of 2014.

The 2015 Fall Council and Membership Meeting being held Friday, October 16 - Sunday, October 18 at the Crowne Plaza at Union Station in Indianapolis is rapidly approaching.

Meeting registration is NOW open via the NARP Event Website, including for Friday's exclusive tour of Amtrak's Beech Grove Maintenance Facility. Please note that tour-only registrations are not being accepted (you must register at a minimum for Friday's tour and Saturday's 'A Connected America' Advocacy & Learning Day). You must be a fully paid NARP member to participate in the tour.

Don't delay! As of September 3, there were ONLY 40 seats remaining for the Beech Grove tour. All registrations are accepted on a 'first registered, first accommodated' basis, regardless of NARP leadership position or membership category.

Group rate hotel rooms at the Crowne Plaza Hotel are now SOLD-OUT. Information on alternative nearby downtown Indianapolis hotel options are available on the NARP Event Website. Please note that there are NO hotels rooms available in downtown Indianapolis on Sunday evening, October 18; you are encouraged to make your travel plans accordingly.

Complete meeting agenda information; a list of confirmed speakers and other details will posted on the NARP Event Website by September 15th and will be regularly updated thereafter.