About NARP
The mission of the National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP) is to work for a modern, customer-focused national passenger train network that provides a travel choice Americans want.
NARP is the largest national membership advocacy organization for train and rail transit passengers. We have worked since 1967 to expand the quality and quantity of passenger rail in the United States. Our work is supported by around 20,000 individual members.
NARP is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Dues and contributions are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.
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Mailing Address: 505 Capitol Court, NE, Suite 300 Washington, DC 20002-7706 |
Phone: 202-408-8362 Fax: 202-408-8287 Email: narp(at)narprail.org |
NARP is governed by an all-volunteer Board of Directors, which is elected by the all-volunteer Council of Representatives, our national advisory body elected by the general membership by state. Click here for a list of Directors and Representatives. Click here for profiles of NARP's Washington, DC professional staff.
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Protect Amtrak from Shutdown Threat!
House Subcommitee Approves Shutdown Budget for Amtrak!
High-Speed Rail Funding Eliminated
The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation & Housing proposed slashing funding for Amtrak to $1.1 billion—a reduction of more than $357 million from what Amtrak received in FY2011. Significantly, the operating grant would be cut 60%--from $563 million in 2010 and 2011, down to $227 million. The bill requires states to pay 100% of costs of operations of short corridors. This apparently overrides ongoing negotiations among states and Amtrak aimed at complying with Amtrak’s 2008 reauthorization law.
While the bill nominally keeps the Northeast Corridor (NEC) and the national interstate network alive, it still looks like a shutdown budget because of the huge costs associated with eliminating short corridors. NEC and interstate trains would be severely victimized both by assuming much of the shared costs now assigned to the short corridors, and the loss in revenues from connecting passengers disenfranchised by the loss of those corridors.
The High-Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail program—a highly oversubscribed program that has seen 39 states apply for funds to improve (and introduce) modern passenger trains for the 135 million Americans that live in a community connected to a rail corridor—was given no funding at all. Eliminating this program would set U.S. interstate transportation back by decades, severely undermining America's ability to stay globally competitive.
This proposed budget is a direct attack on the right of Americans to travel by train, indeed, on the very existence of intercity passenger trains in the U.S. Take a minute and call your Congressperson to ask them to stand up for trains. Or enter your zip code below and send a letter about why trains matter.
We need your voice today!
[NARP is providing a template for your letter that will create a salutation and a signature based on the information you provide. Please take a moment to personalize it by saying why you want to see more modern trains. You can talk about routes that serve your state, and your positive experiences with train travel. Offices are more likely pay attention to letters that don't appear to be computer-generated]
What's at stake. (Clockwise from top left: Oregon & Washington's Cascades, North Carolina's Piedmonts, Maine's Downeaster, California's Capitol Corridor)