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 [...]
Train Minute #3: Marilyn Kelly, a lifetime resident of Lee, Massachusetts, talks about riding the Berkshire Line to New York City to see a show, and how she and her girlfriends could be home in Lee by 11pm. We're working to bring passenger rail back to the Berkshires! Train Minutes come from the Train Campaign, [...]
While it's well known that African American intellectual and civil rights leader W. E. B. Du Bois came from Great Barrington in western Massachusetts, it's less well known that another great African American leader, Frederick Douglass, traveled extensively in New England. Of course he traveled by train, and experienced many examples of racial prejudice. But [...]
Welcome to Train Time, a podcast from the Train Campaign, working to connect cities and rural areas because we’re convinced that passenger rail as the essential framework for efficient, sustainable transportation in the 21st century. Train Time is hosted by Karen Christensen, founder and president of the Train Campaign. Our guest this week is Massachusetts [...]
Lewis Mumford was one of the 20th century’s most famous writers on both the urban and rural experience. He and his wife Sophia lived in Amenia, New York, for many decades. This story comes from Mumford’s book, Green Memories, and takes place in the early 1930s. Train Minutes come from the Train Campaign, the rail advocacy [...]
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