On Saturday July 17, 2021 we hosted a meet-and-greet during Railroad Days in Canaan, CT. Speakers included MA Rep Smitty Pignatelli, Canaan Selectman Christian Allyn, bestselling author Simon Winchester, and the Train Campaign's Karen Christensen. Here's the entire hour at Railroad Days recorded by our friends at CTSB TV: click here to watch online or tune [...]
This letter was sent to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation during the comment period for the draft East-West Rail Study and is published as a guest post with permission. The Massachusetts Sierra Club simply urges you to commit to East-West Passenger Rail and to develop and implement a plan to achieve it as soon as [...]
This conversation with Jim Mathews, CEO of the national Rail Passengers Association, began when he and host Karen Christensen met at the 40th Annual NYS Passenger Rail Advocates Meeting & Lunch in Albany on 7 March 2020, just days before the US lockdowns began. Mathews frequently talks about the important of measuring the value [...]
We're speaking with Chris Dempsey, director of Transportation for Massachusetts (T4MA), about the “us or them” mentality that often pervades transport funding, and the efforts is making to build connections across the entire state, including out to western Mass and even to Berkshire County, which we sometimes call western western Mass. In this [...]
[ss_player] We spoke to Jay Flynn, officially “Bus Lead” but generally known as one of the TransitMatters gadflies. Jay worked in government for years before becoming a transportation advocate with TransitMatters. We’ve observed that TransitMatters seems to be good at holding feet to the fire. Flynn laughed and said, “Speaking truth to power.” [...]
Just over a year ago we interviewed Massachusetts Senator Eric Lesser about his efforts to bring frequent, fast passenger rail service from Boston to western Massachusetts. This week, we caught up with him again, talking about the COVID-19 pandemic and what it means for his constituents and our nation. We asked if the crisis [...]
It’s Time For America To Get Serious About Fixing The Trains This article by Amy Crawford explains that "Instead of spending billions to bail out airlines, advocates argue for a more carbon-friendly pandemic investment: railroad travel." Rail is the mode that “best supports 21st-century development in bustling urban centers, walkable downtowns even in much smaller cities [...]
Here's our interns' report on the East-West Rail Study meeting last week. They are also participating in our weekly "Office Hour," an informal meeting that anyone can join. Today, at 2pm, we'll be talking about the economic benefits of rail. The Zoom link is below, along with a list of other events, including a program in partnership with [...]
It’s been a painful week in America and for America. Our hearts go out to those who are suffering, and our thanks to all those who are stepping up to make a difference. Our country now has to deal with the challenge of economic recovery, face up to long-standing issues of racial discrimination and social [...]
Karen Christensen, founder and president of the Train Campaign, writes: I cannot send this email without saying something about my grief over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the racism that continues to haunt and damage our country. W. E. B. Du Bois grew up in Great Barrington, the small town where I live and [...]
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