Join TARP in 2023!
January 15, 2023 - Costs are increasing everywhere, but the leadership at TARP will deliver a lower operating cost for the organization and pass the savings on to members!
In March we will transition to a new platform for the TARP newsletter that is equally appealing, albeit at a lower cost. With that, we are lowering our requested membership dues to twenty dollars ($20).
Join us in 2023 and be part of our 43-year legacy! We have always and will continue to be a voice for passenger rail and balanced transportation investment in the Volunteer State!
Dues can be paid through our secure PayPal link on this page, or can be sent by check or money order via postal service to TARP, PO Box 585, Cowan, TN 37318-0585.
In March we will transition to a new platform for the TARP newsletter that is equally appealing, albeit at a lower cost. With that, we are lowering our requested membership dues to twenty dollars ($20).
Join us in 2023 and be part of our 43-year legacy! We have always and will continue to be a voice for passenger rail and balanced transportation investment in the Volunteer State!
Dues can be paid through our secure PayPal link on this page, or can be sent by check or money order via postal service to TARP, PO Box 585, Cowan, TN 37318-0585.
It's been years now!
Tennessee lawmakers are taking a longer and deeper look into the possibility of passenger rail to serve our growing state; however, the challenges are steep.
Tennessee's lack of approach and investment means that the return of passenger rail at any point in our state's future is progressively more costly and difficult. Yet, at the same time, the need for passenger rail and its potential appeal is increasing along with our state's population growth.
If only we could turn back time! Tennesseans begged to stop the discontinuance of Amtrak's Floridian in 1979 with service to Nashville. We were promised by elected officials, including Albert Gore, Sr., that the train would return. It's been 43 years now!
When Atlanta offered to host the Olympics in 1996, Amtrak took a serious look at restoring the Floridian on an improved route through Tennessee. However, Tennessee lawmakers were less-than-serious, especially when the conversation involved funding. The Olympics came and went, but the train never came. It's been 27 years now!
In the late 1990's Amtrak expended the Chicago-Indianapolis Hoosier State route into Louisville, Kentucky as part of an experiment to carry additional freight and express. Passenger service was, unfortunately, an afterthought with this particular route, but the lure of Nashville's travel market was too much to ignore. Amtrak entered conversations with lawmakers and Nashville city officials for a proposed extension of the route into Music City and even ran a test train along the route. We learned the hard way that conversations are pointless without subsequent action. In 2003 Amtrak pulled away from their brash freight and express plan, which essentially killed the Louisville extension and all hope for extending the route to Nashville. It's been 20 years now!
Today our state is one of the fastest growing in the entire country. Our tourism market is big and getting bigger. Our interstate highways and city streets are overwhelmed, even during non-peak travel times. If only our state and civic leaders had found a way to preserve and expand passenger rail in years gone by, then our task to expand the service today would be significantly easier.
We are in a real bind at the moment. Our lawmakers are taking a serious look at passenger rail, but the task is daunting. Our role as passenger rail advocates is to help guide the conversation to a practical and cost-effective action plan to benefit our state in the near future. Doing so will give us a platform and springboard for future expansion. The lack of action will only make the task more difficult in the future.
I encourage all TARP members and supporters follow the conversation, give input, and ask your state and federal lawmakers to secure funding for projects that can move forward quickly. We have a near future opportunity to bring passenger rail in to upper East Tennessee that can thence be extended as far south as Chattanooga. We have existing proposals to provide a daylight service connecting Memphis and West Tennessee with the enormous Midwest travel market. And there are ways we can reconnect Nashville that won't require billions in up-front investment.
Tennessee, like all states, needs a balanced transportation system that interconnected, sustainable, and beneficial to all stakeholders. Passenger rail can and will play a vital role in that if and only if we move beyond the conversation and into action. And the action needed may not be as costly or require as much build-out as some might think.
Let's resolve to get practical results and not let more and more years go by.
Here's an article I encourage you to read that tells some of the background story and lays out some of our challenges for expanded rail service in the Volunteer State:
"Why can't I take a train Chattanooga to Nashville?" - in the Chattanooga Times-Free Press
L. Jarod Pearson, TARP President
Tennessee's lack of approach and investment means that the return of passenger rail at any point in our state's future is progressively more costly and difficult. Yet, at the same time, the need for passenger rail and its potential appeal is increasing along with our state's population growth.
If only we could turn back time! Tennesseans begged to stop the discontinuance of Amtrak's Floridian in 1979 with service to Nashville. We were promised by elected officials, including Albert Gore, Sr., that the train would return. It's been 43 years now!
When Atlanta offered to host the Olympics in 1996, Amtrak took a serious look at restoring the Floridian on an improved route through Tennessee. However, Tennessee lawmakers were less-than-serious, especially when the conversation involved funding. The Olympics came and went, but the train never came. It's been 27 years now!
In the late 1990's Amtrak expended the Chicago-Indianapolis Hoosier State route into Louisville, Kentucky as part of an experiment to carry additional freight and express. Passenger service was, unfortunately, an afterthought with this particular route, but the lure of Nashville's travel market was too much to ignore. Amtrak entered conversations with lawmakers and Nashville city officials for a proposed extension of the route into Music City and even ran a test train along the route. We learned the hard way that conversations are pointless without subsequent action. In 2003 Amtrak pulled away from their brash freight and express plan, which essentially killed the Louisville extension and all hope for extending the route to Nashville. It's been 20 years now!
Today our state is one of the fastest growing in the entire country. Our tourism market is big and getting bigger. Our interstate highways and city streets are overwhelmed, even during non-peak travel times. If only our state and civic leaders had found a way to preserve and expand passenger rail in years gone by, then our task to expand the service today would be significantly easier.
We are in a real bind at the moment. Our lawmakers are taking a serious look at passenger rail, but the task is daunting. Our role as passenger rail advocates is to help guide the conversation to a practical and cost-effective action plan to benefit our state in the near future. Doing so will give us a platform and springboard for future expansion. The lack of action will only make the task more difficult in the future.
I encourage all TARP members and supporters follow the conversation, give input, and ask your state and federal lawmakers to secure funding for projects that can move forward quickly. We have a near future opportunity to bring passenger rail in to upper East Tennessee that can thence be extended as far south as Chattanooga. We have existing proposals to provide a daylight service connecting Memphis and West Tennessee with the enormous Midwest travel market. And there are ways we can reconnect Nashville that won't require billions in up-front investment.
Tennessee, like all states, needs a balanced transportation system that interconnected, sustainable, and beneficial to all stakeholders. Passenger rail can and will play a vital role in that if and only if we move beyond the conversation and into action. And the action needed may not be as costly or require as much build-out as some might think.
Let's resolve to get practical results and not let more and more years go by.
Here's an article I encourage you to read that tells some of the background story and lays out some of our challenges for expanded rail service in the Volunteer State:
"Why can't I take a train Chattanooga to Nashville?" - in the Chattanooga Times-Free Press
L. Jarod Pearson, TARP President
Daily Amtrak services returning in October
The two Amtrak trains that are more popular among Tennesseans will return to daily service in the early Fall.
The Crescent (New York to New Orleans), which has been on a five-day-per-week schedule since the Spring of 2021 will return to a daily schedule on October 4th. Tennesseans who ride this route usually board and/or arrive at Atlanta or Birmingham.
The City of New Orleans (Chicago to New Orleans), which has also been on a five-day-per-week schedule, will return to daily service on October 8th. This train serves Memphis and Newbern-Dyersburg directly, and some Tennesseans utilize the stop at Fulton, Kentucky.
We are glad to see a plan for daily service returned; however, we would also like to see full-service dining restored on both of the routes as well.
The Crescent (New York to New Orleans), which has been on a five-day-per-week schedule since the Spring of 2021 will return to a daily schedule on October 4th. Tennesseans who ride this route usually board and/or arrive at Atlanta or Birmingham.
The City of New Orleans (Chicago to New Orleans), which has also been on a five-day-per-week schedule, will return to daily service on October 8th. This train serves Memphis and Newbern-Dyersburg directly, and some Tennesseans utilize the stop at Fulton, Kentucky.
We are glad to see a plan for daily service returned; however, we would also like to see full-service dining restored on both of the routes as well.
Take Action Now!
TARPs efforts to expand rail service in Tennessee are moving from the federal level to the state level. We are now focusing our efforts on contacting state lawmakers to express support for passenger rail.
The first step in expanding passenger rail in Tennessee will be for the state to conduct a study that would project ridership and possible routes. Bills in the House and Senate HB 2278 & SB 2602 are currently in committee. We need to contact our elected officials to express our support for Amtrak service in Tennessee.
Here is a page from the legislature about effective communication with your Representative. Here is a link to find your Representatives.
Passenger rail in Tennessee has bipartisan support. We are asking for support from our Representatives to study Amtrak expansion.
IMPORTANT UPDATE! On March 8, 2022 we heard that the bill to authorize the study received a bi-partisan vote of approval in committee! That's a small and crucial step in the right direction!
The first step in expanding passenger rail in Tennessee will be for the state to conduct a study that would project ridership and possible routes. Bills in the House and Senate HB 2278 & SB 2602 are currently in committee. We need to contact our elected officials to express our support for Amtrak service in Tennessee.
Here is a page from the legislature about effective communication with your Representative. Here is a link to find your Representatives.
Passenger rail in Tennessee has bipartisan support. We are asking for support from our Representatives to study Amtrak expansion.
IMPORTANT UPDATE! On March 8, 2022 we heard that the bill to authorize the study received a bi-partisan vote of approval in committee! That's a small and crucial step in the right direction!
