The California High Speed Rail Project is set to see private sector funding and faster construction. Read the first 3 entries of the latest newsletter from the California High Speed Rail Authority (@cahsra.bsky.social): www.hsr.ca.gov/communicatio...

California High Speed Rail will deliver more value for less than half the per-mile cost than the North Houston Highway Project, which is over budget and more delay-plagued than CAHSR:

Our parent org, All Aboard Erie, is holding a fundraiser on October 4, 2025. The nephew of the late comedic actor Don Knotts of Andy Griffith and Three's Company fame will be discussing his life and career at McClane Church in Edinboro, PA. Buy tickets here: www.ticketleap.events/events/mclan...

@lunatrain.bsky.social has an insightful blog on the state of the travel industry. We highly recommend it.

If Caltrain (and much of the world) can experience the huge benefits of train electrification, so can Metrolink la.streetsblog.org/2025/09/03/m...

Again, Ohio showcases its position as the biggest impediment to passenger rail expansion in the Midwest. The state just dropped its updated rail plan, which contains no passenger rail projects. It's another slap in the face to the super-majority of Ohioans who want more & better passenger rail:

California High Speed Rail Authority CEO Ian Choudri is working to accelerate the construction of the CAHSR project and bring in private sector funding: Message Body www.forbes.com/sites/alanoh...

The effects of the State of PA's cuts to transit will cascade to Amtrak. No one ever suggests de-commissioning roads to save money. It's time to recognize that transit is no less essential.

Are you telling us that when service frequency goes up, then ridership will follow that same direction? This is our shocked face: 😐 www.planetizen.com/news/2025/08... via @planetizen.bsky.social

Though we at times criticize @amtrak.com, let's be clear about what the problem really is here: The lack of a strong, coherent federal passenger rail program with highway levels of funding annually (~$52 billion).

It's kind of hard to avoid driving when there are few to no alternatives. Car dependency makes life worse. bsky.app/profile/bike...

Let's stop with the passenger rail double standard. Airlines can't exist without publicly-funded airports, traffic control, security. Some states directly subsidize flights. There is a federal Essential Air Services subsidy. Bus companies don't build highways. Highways lose huge amounts of money.

Keep up the good work All Aboard Ohio!

A lot of people don't grasp that 2/3 of the US has cities ideally spaced for high-speed rail as well as European-style night trains and fast, frequent conventional service to connect smaller cities and towns to those endpoint cities.

This @theatlantic.com piece is both spot on and misses a key point. The built environment Americans live in is hostile to kids. Walking/biking is unsafe and destinations are too far for it. Drivers speed everywhere. Cul-de-sac neighborhoods are isolated. Fix the built environment, fix this problem.

Ohio needs to do a better job with passenger rail development. a robust, well-funded, federal passenger rail program would help:

An increasing number of Americans are underwater on their car loans. Car debt surpassed student loan debt in 2023. Cars are destroying household wealth. Legalize transportation freedom. We need high-quality options to the car keys. www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

Passenger rail keeps people mobile. Former Ohio governor John Kasich stranded his constituents when he canceled the 3C+D project in 2010. www.allaboardohio.org/posts/scrapp...

New night train operator Nox to serve 100 European cities by 2035. They're challenging the status quo of European night trains: all private cabins, better customer service. Publicly-owned tracks with open access invites innovative operators to enter the market. The U.S. should consider this model.

American and United continue to screw customers: charging more if you're traveling alone. We don't just need options to the car keys. We need options to flying. High-speed trains, European-style night trains. Dreamstar Lines and Lunatrain can't begin service fast enough.

Brightline is attempting to operate on an uneven playing field. Greyhound doesn't build hwys. Airlines don't build airports. Brightline built its tracks. THIS is why we need an overhaul of fed pax rail policy: A national pax rail infrastructure program as big as the hwy program offering open access

It's time to stop building new highways. Author Erick Guerra is correct: our highway system is overbuilt. The federal government should stop funding new lane miles and direct states to use their federal gas tax dollars on highway maintenance and/or non-driving transportation options.

Push for Amtrak in South Dakota returns to Fort Pierre www.capjournal.com/news/push-fo...

Car dependency is robbing households of wealth: www.jalopnik.com/1902012/1000...

The US transportation system has all the balance of a two-legged stool. Adding passenger rail doesn't just add an option, it adds stability: "The partnership will also offer itinerary alternatives for JetBlue passengers who run into flight trouble in Florida" thepointsguy.com/news/jetblue...

Publicly-Owned Tracks + Open Access = more and better service: www.railwaygazette.com/passenger/ar...

Rail investments tend to have a 5:1 economic return once services are operational. Even the CAHSR project (California High-Speed Rail Authority) has returned $22 billion in economic benefits on $13 billion in expenditures, and the project is still under construction.

Publicly-owned passenger rail tracks with open access works. A private operator is entering the French high-speed rail network: www.railwaygazette.com/high-speed/h...

Dutch children are the happiest in the world in large part because they can move around freely due to transportation policies that give high priority to cycling (and high-quality public transit). The US needs to take a lesson.

Our Co-Founders and Co-Chairs Ed D'Amato and Bill Hutchison were interviewed on the Reconnect America podcast (Solutionary Rail) about our white paper: "Creating a Robust American Passenger Rail System": solutionaryrail.substack.com/p/interview-...

Air quality alert last week in St. Louis. What kind of people are we that we are so willing to let our children get asthma, the lifetime of health risk (not to mention some will die from it), and the medical costs of treating it, all for the sake of a car-centric transportation policy?

It is remarkable how many supposedly pro transit politicians do not understand that we do not have a capital underinvestment problem, but a costs problem

Missed this back in April when it was published, but it's good news: The California High-Speed Rail Authority's new CEO, Ian Choudri, is aggressively working to speed up construction: calmatters.org/commentary/2...

The platforms at St. Louis Gateway Sta. are wide enough to accommodate all passengers boarding and alighting at the same time, but @amtrak.com insists queuing people up like kindergartners. This practice does not enhance security or passenger safety. (continues...)

We traded St. Louis' grand union station (top) for this sorry station (bottom)--and for a fraction of the trains. Hindsight is 20/20, but it doesn't change the fact that colossally stupid decisions like this is why America's passenger rail system sucks (photos taken today).

Though it's good to see the CVSR extension is still being pursued, it's frustrating to see how Class I railroads like CSX make passenger rail expansion difficult: neo-trans.blog/2025/06/08/c...

In a blatant attempt at a takeover by Class I RR interests, the Ohio legislature is trying to replace the passenger representative on the ORDC's board & replace it with a freight rep that doesn't have to be an Ohio resident. Contact the Ohio legislature today: docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Pure politics. California fought off 10 years of lawsuits which delayed the project and increased costs. Despite a rough start, they have gotten things under control and costs are in line with other projects, including Brightline's Las Vegas-SoCal route.

I would easily be 6 figures richer by this point in my life if I didn't have to own a car: www.fastcompany.com/91341903/hou...

Amtrak should not be involved in HSR planning/development. They wear too many hats as it is, so they do no single thing well. We need a federal passenger rail authority to take on this responsibility. Amtrak's role should be an operator of trains, not planning, not owning infrastructure or stations

Just returned from France. Rode TGV inOui from Nice to Paris. Also used the train bet. Nice & Monaco. There's no doubt train travel is the most relaxing and dignified way to travel. It's quite embarrassing that the US is so far behind. (photo credit: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Sh...)

At a time many city centres are struggling, filtering out unnecessary through traffic is becoming a key strategy to help them compete on experience over expedience. Adjusting to this new reality is essential for their survival—steering away cars and creating loveable places to spend time and money.🔚

This 2017 article by our Co-Chair, Ed D'Amato, is still apt. Passenger trains once brought Americans a level of convenience and community that we no longer have today, and it's not just because they moved people: www.resilience.org/stories/2017...

An excellent piece by the High Speed Rail Alliance. Trains would make Cleveland's economy boom. Let's hope BedRock Real Estate Partners (owners of Tower City Center-once Cleveland's passenger rail hub), come to understand what modern intercity train service could do for their redevelopment of TCC.

We want Brightline to succeed, but if we want profitable passenger trains we must treat them like highways & aviation with public ownership of infrastructure. Airlines don't build airports, bus companies build hwys. Stop expecting passenger rail to do what we don't expect of their competition.

I have to drive three hours to Buffalo tomorrow. It sure would be nice to take a train rather than drive. Cars: The most inefficient way to move people, and the most stressful way to travel. (Photo by Ben Schumin).

Our Co-Chair Ed D'Amato had this Op-Ed published today. Without an overhaul of federal passenger rail policy, privatization of Amtrak won't bring the country the modern, robust passenger rail network it needs: usa.streetsblog.org/2025/04/29/o...

Who has more transportation freedom?

We prefer to say "for more transportation freedom". The personal freedom to decide whether you want to reach for the car keys all the time. The personal freedom to decide whether you even want to take on the immense financial burden of car ownership. 1/2

Trains grow downtowns where financial payback for cities is greatest. Big box retail on the urban fringe drains local gov't finances. Read Stacy Mitchell's book #thebigboxswindle or for a good overview, watch this excellent Not Just Bikes video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7-e...