Rail Passengers Welcomes Long-Distance Report To Congress

For Immediate Release (25-02)
Contact: Joe Aiello ([email protected])

Rail Passengers Welcomes Long-Distance Report To Congress

(Washington, D.C.) -- Rail Passengers Association this morning welcomed the Federal Railroad Administration’s long-awaited report to Congress prioritizing 15 new long-distance passenger rail routes and endorsing restoration of daily service to both Amtrak’s Cardinal and Sunset Limited long-haul trains.

More than two years in the making, the report confirms a preliminary group of 15 routes worth moving on for additional study, with Houston to New York City topping the FRA priority list. Next highest was a Chicago-Miami connection that fulfills a lot of calls for restoring the Floridian. Apart from a daily Cardinal and Sunset, FRA’s report will assume the North Coast Hiawatha relaunch as a priority because it has already been advanced into the next development stage in FRA’s Corridor ID program.

“This report is exciting, bold, and potentially transformational,” said Rail Passengers Association President Jim Mathews. “Just as we said in the summer when the preliminary draft of the report was complete, we think FRA’s study is a great start, despite gaps in some of the analysis and recommendations. We need to do everything we can to ensure that Congress embraces its conclusions and sets the stage for multi-year commitments to growth.”

Nonetheless, the Association also cautioned that as outlined, the recommendations could take far too long to deliver real gains to Americans who have been waiting patiently for decades to see improvements.

“We need more short-term, practical route investments to show how it can be done quickly and well,” Mathews added. “That means doing a few routes now where it can make sense, along the lines of bringing back the Broadway Limited or connecting New Orleans to St. Louis.”

Read the report here

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About the Rail Passengers Association:

The Rail Passengers Association is the oldest and largest national organization serving as a voice for the more than 40 million rail passengers in the U.S. Our mission is to improve and expand conventional intercity and regional passenger train services, support higher speed rail initiatives, increase connectivity among all forms of transportation, and ensure safety for our country's trains and passengers. All of this makes communities safer, more accessible, and more productive, improving the lives of everyone who lives, works, and plays in towns all across America.