The Rail Passengers Association’s (RPA) leadership is calling upon Amtrak management to grow and improve the national rail network.
“Passenger rail is enjoying its strongest support in decades,” RPA CEO Jim Mathews said in a speech to Amtrak officials last week. “Riders are demanding more and better trains and Congress has responded by increasing appropriations for both Fiscal Years 2018 and 2019. But, this is not enough.”
Mathews maintains Amtrak leadership needs to modernize rolling stock, embrace a wholly customer-centric approach to running the railroad, protect the integrity of the country’s interstate train network and upgrade services like meals and station staffing rather than downgrade.
RPA is urging Amtrak to address three priorities – more trains, better trains, and an increased commitment to infrastructure and support.
Officials said the additional trains initiative points to the aggressive growth of frequencies in dense urban corridors, long-awaited expansions and new modern equipment for all lines while a better trains initiative focuses upon moving ahead with continued refreshes on existing rolling stock, plus no delays in buying new locomotives, coaches, sleepers, and diners.
As a means of addressing infrastructure, the RPA said Amtrak should be able to work with local, state elected and appointed officials to be good community partners for all Americans in all regions, urban or rural. The nation’s transportation stakeholders need to unite to address the resolution of on-time performance and shared-use corridor concerns.