A group of current and former transportation industry executives announced the launch of the Commuter Rail Coalition, an association representing the interests, needs and benefits of the nation’s commuter railroads.
The Commuter Rail Coalition is comprised of commuter rail agencies, operators, and other interested parties, acting together to engage and educate stakeholders and communitieson the value of commuter railroads. The coalition will give a stronger voice in Washington to the safest mode of surface transportation, according to a statement. Commuter rail transportation delivers 490 million passenger trips annually, reduces congestion, decreases commuters’ carbon footprints, and increases property values as well as a region’s tax base.
Ad Loading...
“Commuter railroads need the focus in Washington that brings our issues forward. By coming together as a single group, the Commuter Rail Coalition allows us to leverage our collective voices on the issues that matter.” – Jim Derwinski, chair
The group is governed by an executive committee consisting of Jim Derwinski, CEO/executive director of Metra (Chicago), Doug Kelsey, GM, TriMet (Portland, Oregon), and Steven Abrams, executive director of SFRTA/Tri-Rail (South Florida). The Commuter Rail Coalition’s founding executive director is KellyAnne Gallagher, most recently director of regulatory affairs, corporate standards and benchmarking for the NY MTA.
In addition, founders and founding members also include Tom Prendergast, former chairman and CEO of the NY MTA; Joe Giulietti, commissioner, Connecticut DOT; Matthew O. Tucker, executive director, North County Transit District (Oceanside, CA); Kevin Corbett, executive director, New Jersey Transit; Pat Warren, former executive director of the Federal Railroad Administration; Mike Noland, president, Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District; and John Cline, senior managing director, FTI Consulting.
Amtrak will open grant applications March 23 for community projects near the Frederick Douglass Tunnel alignment in Baltimore as part of a $50 million investment tied to the B&P Tunnel Replacement Program.
The Denmark Station $2.3 million construction investment project includes a new 280-foot concrete boarding platform, built eight inches above the top of rail, for improved accessibility for passengers with disabilities and families with small children and much more.
Caltrain and its partners have implemented safety improvements at specific locations in response to known risk conditions, operational needs, and available funding since the agency’s founding.
On a recent episode of METROspectives, METRO Magazine’s Executive Editor Alex Roman sat down with Ana-Maria Tomlinson, Director of Strategic & Cross-Sector Programs at the CSA Group, to explore a bold initiative aimed at addressing those challenges: the development of a National Code for Transit and Passenger Rail Systems in Canada.
Competitive FTA grants will support accessibility upgrades, family-friendly improvements, and cost-efficient capital projects at some of the nation’s oldest and busiest transit hubs.
The 3.92-mile addition will soon take riders west beyond its current Wilshire and Western station in Koreatown, continuing under Wilshire Boulevard through neighborhoods and communities including Hancock Park, Windsor Square, the Fairfax District, and Carthay Circle into Beverly Hills.
Under the plan, all long-distance routes will transition to a universal single-level fleet, replacing today’s mix of bi-level and single-level equipment.
