The following was initiated by long time
Friends of Amtrak
supporter Jim Toy
as a grass roots effort to support Amtrak:
This letter is an invitation to participate in a grassroots campaign
to bring this country's passenger rail systems into the 21st century.
It will take 15-30 minutes of your time, but the rewards for the
traveling public could be tremendous.
Every year tens of billions of dollars in federal and state funds are
poured into airways, highways, and waterways, but somehow railways
are expected to go it alone and still make a profit.
Since 1982, in constant dollars, federal spending on highways has
doubled, spending on aviation has tripled, while spending on
passenger trains has been cut in half! In the last few years, Amtrak
has received just four-tenths of one percent of the federal
transportation budget, putting America's passenger trains on the
brink of destruction. Many influential people in Washington, DC,
especially in the Bush Administration, want to reduce Amtrak's share
to zero percent, as if that would make a dent in the federal budget.
The Bush Administration is now trying to place the burden of funding
Amtrak onto the states. This means our national rail system would be
subject to the whims of 48 different state budgets. In effect it
would be the end of most interstate rail service in this country.
There is a better way. The National Association of Railroad
Passengers (NARP) has developed a growth-oriented plan to modernize
and expand Amtrak so it can provide a truly practical alternative to
the clogged fly/drive transportation systems we have today. Some of
the principles of the NARP plan include:
-Long-term planning.
-Establishment of a rail trust fund similar to the aviation and
highway trust funds to enable implementation of long-term plans.
-Establishment of a federal/state funding formula identical to the
formulas for airport and highway funding.
-Set realistic financial goals using a mass-market pricing structure.
-Provide financial incentives to the freight railroads to upgrade the
nation's rail infrastructure to passenger train standards and allow
efficient traffic flow for both freight and passenger trains.
-Require that the Amtrak board of directors be composed of
representatives from all areas of the country.
-Turns over ownership of the Northeast Corridor infrastructure (the
largest drain on Amtrak's budget) to the US Department of
Transportation.
As citizens and taxpayers we need to make it clear to the Bush
Administration that we need more transportation options, not fewer.
But we need to do something dramatic to get their attention. The goal
of this campaign is to send an unmistakable message to the Bush
Administration by flooding the office of Transportation Secretary
Norman Mineta with copies of the NARP plan.
Just follow these five simple steps:
Step 1.
Go to the NARP website at
http://www.narprail.org/plan.htm
and download either the full plan (76 pages) or the executive summary
(7 pages). It is in PDF format, so you will need Acrobat Reader.
Step 2.
Print a complete copy of the plan (or just the executive summary).
Step 3.
Write a brief cover letter explaining in your own words why you
support a strong national passenger rail system.
Step 4.
Mail the plan (or executive summary) and your cover letter to:
Mr. Norman Mineta
U.S. Department of Transportation
400 7th Street, S.W.
Washington DC 20590
Step 5.
Forward this message to anyone you know who travels, is interested in
transportation issues, or likes passenger trains. It is vitally
important to get as many people as possible involved, not just
"railfans."
Extra credit:
Send copies of the NARP plan to your Congressman and Senators.
If we all make the effort, it could make a huge difference in US
transportation policy.
**Please note, this e-mail campaign has no connection with NARP. It
was initiated by a private individual.**
“
Top of page
Resources for rail passenger advocates
