What
We Promote:
National Interconnected Network
The American Passenger Rail Agreement
Link to Agreement
Link to Endorsement Form
Link to Resolution
By endorsing the American Passenger Rail Agreement, you will
join the growing number of cities, companies, grass roots
groups and other organizations promoting a network of high-quality
passenger trains connecting the nation. The first link above
is the agreement and its signatories. The second is an endorsement
form. The third is a resolution with which you can approach
your local city council or assembly. Those who endorse the
agreement can designate a representative to join a closed
list serve and to participate in planning events.
For Further Information, Please Contact:
Rick Harnish, Midwest High Speed Rail Association, 773/334-6758;
Ross Capon, National Association of Railroad Passengers,
202/408-8362;
Laura Kliewer, Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission,
630/810-0210
Press release announcing the establishment of the agreement.
FORTY-SEVEN ORGANIZATIONS SIGN AGREEMENT TO PROMOTE
FEDERAL INVESTMENT IN MODERN NATIONWIDE PASSENGER RAIL SYSTEM
State Government Officials, Advocacy Groups, Corporations
and Unions Call for Federal Government to Finance Passenger
Rail Development with "Highway-Style" Aid Program
For Immediate Release. CHICAGO (Jan. 16, 2003) - Forty-seven
groups, including citizen advocacy organizations, associations
of state officials, unions and corporations announced today
that they have signed on to the American Passenger Rail Agreement.
The agreement advocates the development and preservation of
a nationwide, interconnected passenger rail system and calls
on Congress and the Bush Administration to provide passenger
rail with funding, policy development and oversight comparable
to that given to highway, civil aviation, transit and waterway
programs.
"America needs a balanced, integrated transportation
system and the American people need diverse transportation
choices," states the American Passenger Rail Agreement's
preamble. "Passenger rail is a critical component of
a modern, multi-modal transportation system and needs to have
financial support, unified policy development and oversight
similar to that afforded to our air, highway and mass-transit
modes."
"It is significant that this broad range of groups has
agreed on a common set of principles for setting passenger
rail on the 'right track'," said Laura Kliewer, Director
of the Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission. "The
Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21), aviation
programs and Amtrak all are up for reauthorization by Congress
this year. From Boston to the state of Washington, from the
South to the Midwest, we are committed to educating Members
of Congress and the Administration on the importance of passenger
rail to our national transportation system, and to seeing
a revitalized, efficient, modern passenger rail system realized."
"All transportation in the U.S. - except intercity passenger
rail - relies on long-term programs of federal infrastructure
development," said Ross Capon, executive director of
the National Association of Railroad Passengers. "Is
it any wonder that rail is the least-developed mode of travel
in this country? If rail is going to become more relevant
and grow at a reasonable rate, it has to be brought under
the same roof as the nation's other transportation programs
and given access to the same long-term federal funding, planning
and oversight that made air and highway travel accessible
to a wide range of Americans."
The agreement was signed by the National Conference of State
Legislatures, the giant Parsons-Brinckerhoff civil-engineering
firm, the States for Passenger Rail Association (which represents
22 state departments of transportation) and groups ranging
from the Boston-based National Corridors Initiative to the
Washington Association of Railroad Passengers. The agreement
calls on the federal government to "establish a dedicated,
multi-year federal capital-funding program for intercity passenger
rail, patterned after the existing federal highway, airport
and mass-transit programs."
"Federal funding is the key," said Rick Harnish,
president of the Midwest High Speed Rail Association. "All
of the nation's transportation programs struggled helplessly
for decades until they won federal funding - first the highways
in 1916, then the inland waterways in 1919, then the airports
in 1946, and finally mass transit in 1975.
"Designing and building transportation infrastructure
is a long-term process that requires steady, predictable funding
over a multi-year time frame. Annual congressional appropriations
are too unpredictable to fund the civil-engineering improvements
we need to make passenger train service fast, frequent and
reliable."
The agreement signed in Chicago also urges the Federal Railroad
Administration or a similar agency within the U.S. Department
of Transportation to "develop, fund and oversee"
a new federal railroad-development policy, much as the Federal
Aviation Administration plans and funds airport and air-traffic
control improvements and the Federal Highway Administration
develops the Interstate system.
The final statement in the American Passenger Rail Agreement
calls upon Congress to provide full funding for Amtrak while
a more advanced passenger rail system is being designed, so
the national passenger rail operator can keep its nationwide
fleet of trains operating and improve service levels.
"Passenger trains represent the next great leap in American
mobility, but they will need billions of dollars of new track,
new grade separations, new stations and high-tech signaling
to become effective. Only the federal government can provide
that kind of oversight and funding," said Joe Szabo of
the United Transportation Union.
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