RUN Fall 2024 Conference in Brief

On Friday, November 15, 2024, the Rail Users’ Network had its Fall Virtual Conference.

The theme was F.R.A. Corridor Grants – Boosting Economic Activity: the Rail Way! 

Speakers list:

• Richard Rudolph, Ph.D., RUN’s Chairman, Introductory Remarks.
• FRA I.D. Corridor Spokespersons-Lyle Leitelt, Chief-Project Planning Division; Barbara Moreno, Sponsor Outreach Specialist, CID
• Carl Fowler, Vermont Rail Advisory Council – Vermont’s Corridor I.D.   Project to establish a second frequency from White River Junction to  NYC and to reestablish passenger rail service to Montreal.
• Andy Koziol, East-West Rail Director – MassDOT’s East-West Rail FRA I.D. Corridor Project.
• Ray Rapp, Co-Chair, Western North Carolina Rail Corridor I.D. Project for passenger rail service to Asheville; Gene Merritt, Co-Chair-Eastern Carolina Rail, will talk about service-Wilmington to Raleigh.
• Robert Reichert, former Mayor, Macon, Georgia & member of  I-75 Coalition, Atlanta to Savannah Passenger Rail I.D. Project.
• John Esterly, Chairman, Ohio State Legislative Board – 3C & D  and the Cleveland, Toledo-Detroit Corridor projects.
• John Spain, Louisiana Commissioner, Southern Rail Commission – the Baton Rouge to New Orleans FRA I. D. Corridor Project.
• Peter LeCody, President, Texas Rail Advocates -Dallas-Fort-Worth – Houston Intercity Passenger Rail Corridor.
• Todd Liebman, President, All Aboard Arizona -Tucson-Phoenix Sun Corridor ID project.
• Kyle Gradinger, Chief, Division of Rail and Mass Transportation  Caltrans.
• Panel Presentation – Legislative Strategies for Funding Passenger   Rail Projects at the State Level.  Moderator, Andrew Albert, Vice Chair, RUN.  Panelists: Peter LeCody, President, Texas Rail Advocates; Steve Roberts, President, Rail Passenger Association, California & Nevada; and Danny Plaugher, Executive Director, Virginians for High-Speed Rail.
• Closing Remarks, David Peter Alan, Contributing Editor, Railway Age magazine

As usual, the conference was informative and well attended. The theme of the conference was identifying and streamlining the process for getting passenger service running on certain corridors. The FRA representatives did a great job explaining the process. A few takeaways from the conference:

• A few of the plans may have a decent shot to come to fruition, such as the East-West rail line in Massachusetts, and expanding service in Vermont and California.  Others are less likely.
• A large and ambitious plan exists for rail service covers about half of the state of Georgia.
• Many logistical and political obstacles exist for the Ohio and North Carolina plans.
• In Arizona, progress is a question of political will and coordination with the host railroads.
• Both Texas and Louisiana have good projects and it should be easy to make them reality.

Although there is reason for pessimism and frustration, there is some good news: the restoration of service along the Gulf Coast. The fight in Mobile is over and service is coming back!

For more information, go to www.railusers.net.