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| A map of preferred routes from the FRA Long-Distance Service Study, notably only covering routes over 750 miles in length (shorter routes would be covered by other programs) |
Since passenger rail has been overlooked and under-funded by state and federal governments for many decades, many advocacy organizations have already sprouted up around the country out of necessity. While trains are a couple steps removed from what I broadly think are the highest priorities for advocacy in the years ahead, I do think passenger rail is essential for keeping communities connected to each other and building climate and transportation resiliency.
Nationally, two great organizations are the Rail Passengers Association and the High Speed Rail Alliance, which both have a good online presence, including having YouTube video channels that make it much easier to share information about how essential rail service is, along with ideas on how to build up a better system.
The RPA's YouTube channel includes many brief videos giving quick updates and station visit summaries, mixed in with a number of in-depth webinars and conference lectures. The HSRA's YouTube videos are mostly long-form conversations. True to their name, the High Speed Rail Alliance has more of a focus on fast trains, and taking lessons from HSR systems around the world, but like me, they believe in an "integrated network approach" where fast, frequent trains would form a backbone feeding into medium- and standard-speed train routes along with intercity buses and local transit. Both organizations are still deeply interested in what's achievable with conventional rail, and ways of making that better even as we hope for a future with a strong upper service tier.
Locally, I have most closely followed the work of All Aboard Minnesota, which has a fairly expansive vision of rail service in the state, but has most recently been focused on getting the Borealis service going on the St. Paul–Milwaukee–Chicago corridor, including a westward extension to Fargo and additional trips to Chicago. AAMN's YouTube presence is more limited, mostly including videos of annual meetings. They actively recruit new members at events like Union Depot Train Days, and have done their own independent studies of rail routes so they can more effectively push for proper levels of investment in the lines that would see additional train trips.
I should also mention some of the governmental and quasi-governmental entities. Right now, the most notable is probably the Great River Rail Commission, a joint powers board of cities along the Mississippi River from St. Paul down to La Crosse. I do have a bit of a sour taste in my mouth from them since I had hoped for a high-speed rail option that went through Rochester rather than along the river when options were being studied a decade ago, but they are an important entity for pushing for better Amtrak service on the existing corridor.
Similarly, I hope people find ways to get involved with the Northern Lights Express Alliance for the NLX line from Minneapolis to Duluth, since the expiration of environmental review documentation has more or less reset the clock on that route, even though it's received its necessary local-match funding to be built. Some of the NLX Alliance's role has theoretically shifted over to the Minnesota Department of Transportation, but they still seem to be too reliant on outside consultants for work on this line. I hope we can strengthen MnDOT's in-house skillset for designing and building rail projects, along with more rigorous oversight of consultants and contractors when needed.
The Northstar commuter line needs some strong advocacy behind it again too, since it has been a political target from before it was even built, and has suffered from lackluster local government support, especially during COVID cuts. I understand it's still overseen by the Northstar Corridor Development Authority, though they appear to lack any specific web presence anymore. The line needs its full schedule restored and/or to be extended to St. Cloud. Consultants have come back with cost estimates that don't quite pass my smell test.
To the east, the Wisconsin Association of Railroad Passengers has been an important partner for getting the Borealis to move forward, along with keeping track of updates since the service started. They have a good base of support from travelers on the Hiawatha service between Milwaukee and Chicago, and would like to see the state of Wisconsin follow through on their plans for expanding rail service to Eau Claire, Madison, and Green Bay via Oshkosh. Hopefully those can actually happen and not merely be lines on a map.
To our west, there has been quite a lot of work done by the Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority to push for restored train service in the southern tier of Montana that was last used by Amtrak's North Coast Hiawatha in 1979. It would run straight west from Fargo and through North Dakota's capital Bismarck before running through Montana's more populated southern tier, and then rejoining the Empire Builder's route to the west coast.
Lastly, I'll mention The Rio Grande Plan in Utah, an ambitious proposal to rebuild tracks in Salt Lake City so they would use the historic Rio Grande station there rather than the current industrial zone. It importantly combines a vision to improve connectivity for rail passengers with a plan to open up land currently wasted by poorly-located rail and highway infrastructure for development. This could mean a lot more housing, cleaner air, and more efficient trips for people on trains and using local streets that are susceptible to being blocked by freight traffic.
There are many other organizations throughout the country that are worthy of support, so hopefully no matter where you are, you can find one that fits your particular routes of interest. The Federal Railroad Administration's Corridor ID Program and Long-Distance Service Study have shown that there's a huge appetite for passenger train service across the country, and that there are many communities, organizations, and individuals who are interested in creating a full-fledged network rather than the extremely skeletal service Amtrak offers today.
Our state and federal transportation (highway) departments have done us
all a great disservice over the last several decades by skimping on
passenger rail investment. It's unfortunate that we had to wait until federal agencies were empowered by programs like Corridor ID for this sort of planning to actually happen, especially since organizations such as AASHTO have facilitated cross-state highway work for more than a century. So many important rail corridors cross state lines that it's essential to at least look at multi-state regions rather than stopping planning within individual state borders. That's a role which I'm sure is at risk, so we'll have to push for continued interstate coordination in any ways we can.
A huge frustration with passenger rail advocacy is that it takes years or decades for projects to finally become reality. In a way, that's an asset in times like these where the immediate future is the most uncertain. The time scale of building infrastructure means that we're forced to take the long view. There will be smaller-scale things to push for, such as simple service quality improvements on existing trains, but added service on existing or new/restored routes is a future worth investing in, even if the path to that future date is uncertain.
