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Memphis Trolley is back in service!
TARP is pleased to mention that the MTA Memphis Trolley is back in service as of May 2, 2018! The four-year absence took a toll on business in downtown Memphis as the trolley system carried thousands of daily passengers who contributed enormously to the vital tourism industry that drives downtown. The system is coming back on line in phases as the rebuilt cars are gradually reintroduced into service. Click on the following articles to read more about it: http://www.masstransitmag.com/press_release/12410694/memphis-main-street-trolley-rail-line-back-in-service https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/streetcars-roll-down-memphis-main-street-once-again |
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Anniston, Alabama proves that the south is going intermodal
The historic Southern Railway depot at Anniston Amtrak is now fully intermodal! Greyhound recently relocated their bus service from a curbside in Oxford to the Anniston station alongside Amtrak's Crescent and the local ACTS bus service. In the near future the station will serve as a trail head for the Chief Ladiga bicycle trail. There's more to come: Raleigh, North Carolina will soon have an all-new intermodal station with easy rail and bus connections. Miami has a new rail station at Miami International Airport serving Tri-Rail and we hope to see Amtrak services extended there before the end of the year. Jacksonville, Florida is developing an intermodal station that already serves Greyhound and local transit. The conversation to bring Amtrak into the facility is in early stages. |
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The City of New Orleans has a new stop!
For more than two decades Amtrak's City of New Orleans had a major gap in service.
Prior to 1995 the train served a popular route through the northern region of Mississippi that included station stops in Batesville and Granada.
The 1995 reroute caused the train to cover the 126 miles between Memphis and Greenwood without a scheduled stop. Passengers who were served in the past by rail stations in Batesville and Grenada were forced to drive a longer distance to catch the train. Ironically, this region of Mississippi has lower-than-average car ownership and very few transportation options.
We are pleased to know that Amtrak and area civic leaders opened a new station in Marks, Mississippi on May 4, 2018. The new station serves thousands of residents who lost convenient access to the rail system after the 1995 reroute.
This new stop is a boost for the City of New Orleans and further proof that Amtrak's long-distance routes provide a valuable service!
Here's an interesting article you should read:
When the train stops in the Delta
For more than two decades Amtrak's City of New Orleans had a major gap in service.
Prior to 1995 the train served a popular route through the northern region of Mississippi that included station stops in Batesville and Granada.
The 1995 reroute caused the train to cover the 126 miles between Memphis and Greenwood without a scheduled stop. Passengers who were served in the past by rail stations in Batesville and Grenada were forced to drive a longer distance to catch the train. Ironically, this region of Mississippi has lower-than-average car ownership and very few transportation options.
We are pleased to know that Amtrak and area civic leaders opened a new station in Marks, Mississippi on May 4, 2018. The new station serves thousands of residents who lost convenient access to the rail system after the 1995 reroute.
This new stop is a boost for the City of New Orleans and further proof that Amtrak's long-distance routes provide a valuable service!
Here's an interesting article you should read:
When the train stops in the Delta
TARP members concerned about recent and proposed changes at Amtrak
Members of the Tennessee Association of Railroad Passengers are adding our voices of concern regarding recent and proposed changes to Amtrak's long distance routes.
Our first concern follows Amtrak's recent announcement that full service dining cars on the Lake Shore Limited and Capitol Limited routes will be phased out and replaced with "modern, fresh options" for sleeping car passengers.
The new options will involve cold meal selections prepared by an outside commissary and served on board either in sleeping accommodations or in an unstaffed lounge space.
Under this arrangement, coach passengers have only the cafe in the lounge car for on-board food service.
We fully understand that Amtrak is in a difficult position. For one, the Capitol Limited and the Lake Shore Limited operate on schedules that do not allow the respective dining cars to maximize patronage. The Lake Shore, for example, leaves Chicago at 9:30 p.m., which is too late to offer traditional dinner service.
However, we believe that other options should be considered. The City of New Orleans and the Cardinal are two trains that offer an abbreviated on-board meal service that meets the need of coach and sleeper passengers albeit at a lower overhead cost than a full-service dining car.
We also believe that, when the various track improvement projects in the east are completed, both the Lake Shore and the Capitol can be rescheduled to offer more attractive departure times. These revised schedules would boost the demand for on-board food service and help sustain the traditional dining cars that already make long-distance trains more appealing.
Our second concern involves Amtrak management's system-wide decision to close ticket offices in stations that serve less than 40 passenger per day. This means that Cincinnati, Ohio and Meridian, Mississippi are among stations that will lose their station staff.
We are fully aware that more and more people purchase tickets online rather than in a traditional ticket office, but we don't believe that a sweeping policy is in Amtrak's best interest. In our opinion, management should have taken a case-by-case approach and carefully considered the total value of the services provided by ticket and baggage offices.
We are following these issues very carefully and will keep everyone posted. Stay tuned for any Calls to Action we may send in the near future.
Members of the Tennessee Association of Railroad Passengers are adding our voices of concern regarding recent and proposed changes to Amtrak's long distance routes.
Our first concern follows Amtrak's recent announcement that full service dining cars on the Lake Shore Limited and Capitol Limited routes will be phased out and replaced with "modern, fresh options" for sleeping car passengers.
The new options will involve cold meal selections prepared by an outside commissary and served on board either in sleeping accommodations or in an unstaffed lounge space.
Under this arrangement, coach passengers have only the cafe in the lounge car for on-board food service.
We fully understand that Amtrak is in a difficult position. For one, the Capitol Limited and the Lake Shore Limited operate on schedules that do not allow the respective dining cars to maximize patronage. The Lake Shore, for example, leaves Chicago at 9:30 p.m., which is too late to offer traditional dinner service.
However, we believe that other options should be considered. The City of New Orleans and the Cardinal are two trains that offer an abbreviated on-board meal service that meets the need of coach and sleeper passengers albeit at a lower overhead cost than a full-service dining car.
We also believe that, when the various track improvement projects in the east are completed, both the Lake Shore and the Capitol can be rescheduled to offer more attractive departure times. These revised schedules would boost the demand for on-board food service and help sustain the traditional dining cars that already make long-distance trains more appealing.
Our second concern involves Amtrak management's system-wide decision to close ticket offices in stations that serve less than 40 passenger per day. This means that Cincinnati, Ohio and Meridian, Mississippi are among stations that will lose their station staff.
We are fully aware that more and more people purchase tickets online rather than in a traditional ticket office, but we don't believe that a sweeping policy is in Amtrak's best interest. In our opinion, management should have taken a case-by-case approach and carefully considered the total value of the services provided by ticket and baggage offices.
We are following these issues very carefully and will keep everyone posted. Stay tuned for any Calls to Action we may send in the near future.
Nashville transit - an issue that's not going away
There are mixed feelings about the failed transit referendum in Metro Nashville.
For starters, we must keep in mind that many of those who voted "No" stated very clearly that they are not anti-transit.
Some of the "No" votes believed that the referendum was a way to spend billions of dollars without addressing the real source of Nashville's traffic gridlock. As one comment on Facebook reflected: "a light rail train down West End won't solve traffic gridlock between Nashville and Franklin."
Some of the "No" voters had simply lost their confidence in the mayor who was behind the proposal and who subsequently resigned from office.
At the same time, some of the "Yes" votes were people who were not fully on board with the proposals in the referendum, but who thought that anything beats the status quo.
All things considered, we must take note that conversations about transit in Nashville are ongoing and proposals are in the works.
One example of both a proposal and a conversation is the project to develop a mixed-used neighborhood around the Donelson station for the Music City Star.
Click here to see what we're talking about.
When the dust settles and a new mayor takes office, we believe that conversations and proposals will move forward again. Of course, what we really need is action - action that helps ease the gridlock in Music City!
There are mixed feelings about the failed transit referendum in Metro Nashville.
For starters, we must keep in mind that many of those who voted "No" stated very clearly that they are not anti-transit.
Some of the "No" votes believed that the referendum was a way to spend billions of dollars without addressing the real source of Nashville's traffic gridlock. As one comment on Facebook reflected: "a light rail train down West End won't solve traffic gridlock between Nashville and Franklin."
Some of the "No" voters had simply lost their confidence in the mayor who was behind the proposal and who subsequently resigned from office.
At the same time, some of the "Yes" votes were people who were not fully on board with the proposals in the referendum, but who thought that anything beats the status quo.
All things considered, we must take note that conversations about transit in Nashville are ongoing and proposals are in the works.
One example of both a proposal and a conversation is the project to develop a mixed-used neighborhood around the Donelson station for the Music City Star.
Click here to see what we're talking about.
When the dust settles and a new mayor takes office, we believe that conversations and proposals will move forward again. Of course, what we really need is action - action that helps ease the gridlock in Music City!
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Amtrak has a new home in the Magic City! Welcome to Birmingham!
Several TARP members attended the Grand Opening of Birmingham Intermodal Station. Take a look at our slide show to see how this impressive new facility will make Amtrak a more user-friendly option in the South. For memory's sake we included a few photos of the old station. Enjoy! |
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Birmingham: Out of the Darkness and Into the Light
The dark days of waiting for the Crescent under the windowless railroad viaduct are finally gone! Amtrak has finally arrived at the bright and spacious new intermodal station in downtown Birmingham! The 1960’s-era benches with worn down cushions in a bleak waiting area have been officially retired. In their place are modern, comfortable seats in different configurations, some of which have individual charge outlets for electronic devices. Passengers are greeted by an enormous waiting area with floor-to-roof window glass for an abundance of light and an uninhibited view of downtown. Morris Avenue appears in full view, which enables arriving passengers to watch for their private vehicle rides from the comfort of the climate controlled lobby. The large front overhang shades direct sunlight and sheds rainwater to make loading and unloading from the street a little easier. Arrival and departure information is posted on electronic display boards complemented by an audible public announcement system. Amtrak’s ticket and baggage offices are in plain view and so are the offices for Greyhound. Amtrak and Greyhound personnel can see the entire waiting room from their work posts as well as the front entry doors and the better part of the street. The presence of Greyhound and Amtrak under the same roof will make interline connections imminently more practical. The existing train and bus schedules will allow connections to and from Montgomery. Slightly modified bus schedules will allow connections to and from Nashville and Huntsville. We hope a new bus schedule can be introduced as well with connections to and from Memphis in the foreseeable future. The only complication rail passengers must cope with for now is the trek from the waiting room to the track area. The walk involves a circuitous route with twists, turns, and elevation changes. A separate construction project will remedy this. This spring the old ticket office will be demolished and the back wall removed to create a direct walkway from the waiting area to the track area. The former waiting area will become part of the new access corridor, albeit with some cosmetic and lighting improvements. Birmingham is already a relatively popular location for Tennesseans who travel by Amtrak. This new station will make train travel much more practical and appealing! We expect ridership and revenue on the Crescent to grow now that Birmingham rail passengers are coming out of the darkness and into the light! Next Stop: Birmingham! The Magic City! |
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TARP Members Helped "Clear the Track" in Birmingham
Birmingham's all-new $33 million dollar intermodal station is one of the largest passenger rail improvement projects in the entire Southeast. However, instead of noticing the soon-to-open facility in the background, rail passengers were noticing an enormous amount of trash and refuse at track level. Fixing the problem was no easy feat. Whereas the station complex belongs to the City of Birmingham, the tracks and platforms have a complicated mix of owners and lease agreements. Getting a single owner to take responsibility for the mess was like herding cats, and yet the problem was too large for Amtrak to take on its own. Last summer the Tennessee Association of Railroad Passengers proposed that Amtrak and the various property owners set aside a clean-up with volunteer helpers to tackle the problem. It took several weeks to clear the idea through various legal and bureaucratic hurdles, and then on a cool Saturday in November the project came together. Jarod Pearson, President of TARP and fellow TARP member Bobby Gass worked with a team of Amtrak personnel to clean up the mess. In five and a half hours the small crew removed enough trash to fill 31 lawn-sized bags! The results were amazing! From this point onward, Amtrak staff will perform a weekly litter patrol. The Birmingham Police Department has also agreed to perform daily patrols on the platform to keep away trespassers and keep the area secure. Passengers can now take notice of a beautiful new facility that welcomes them to the Magic City! The track is clear now! |
TARP Members Bobby Gass (l) and Jarod Pearson (r) cleaning up the Birmingham station platform
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Next Stop: Bristol's beautiful downtown station
We are closer than ever to getting passenger rail service to the Tennessee/Virginia state line at Bristol! Amtrak and the Commonwealth of Virginia delivered a service expansion to Roanoke on October 31, 2017. The next logical step is to expand the route further south and west to Bristol. The City of Bristol and the Washington County Board of Supervisors have already commissioned an economic study. Click here to read more about it. TARP encourages East Tennesseans to pay close attention as this is truly the way to bring passenger rail into that part of the state in the foreseeable future! |
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Tennessee delivered positive results for Amtrak in 2017
Amtrak reported a very successful Fiscal Year 2017 with record-setting results. The entire system reported 31.7 million passenger trips - an increase of 1.5 percent over FY 2016. Total Revenue came to $3.2 billion – an increase of 1.1 percent over FY2016. Tennessee's two Amtrak station were part of the positive trend. Memphis Central Station reported 73,637 boardings and alightings while Newbern/Dyersburg reported 3,788. The combined total of 77,425 was a 2.1% increase over the previous year. The only train to serve Tennessee directly, the City of New Orleans, also made positive contributions. The much-celebrated train route carried 255,000 riders - a 2.6% increase over FY2016. It's worth noting also that Amtrak purchased over $5.6 million dollars worth of goods and services from Tennessee suppliers, which was slightly higher than the year before as well. Click here to see the official Amtrak press release. |
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