National Association of Railroad Passengers

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP) was founded by Anthony Haswell on May 18, 1967 to lobby for the continuation of passenger trains in the United States. Its lobbying efforts were hampered somewhat by Democratic opposition to any sort of subsidies to the privately-owned railroads, and Republican opposition to nationalization of the railroad industry. The proponents were aided by the fact that few in the federal government wanted to be held responsible for the seemingly-inevitable extinction of the passenger train, which most regarded as tantamount to political suicide.

1 Activities
2 Organization
3 References
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Activities

Each month, NARP publishes a monthly newsletter detailing news in the passenger rail world. It often includes stories about related legislation in Congress, Traveler's Advisories, and Travel Tips, with a particular focus on Amtrak. Circulation as of October 2005 was about 18,000.

NARP also conducts interviews with media on passenger rail related issues, and encourages its members to lobby their legislators for funding for Amtrak and other improvements to the rail infrastructure. The organization's website includes action alerts and news releases. NARP members generally save 10% on Amtrak travel.

[edit] Organization

NARP leadership includes a president, 4 vice presidents, secretary, treasurer, executive director, assistant director, director of finance and administration, and office manager. As of October 2005, the president was George Chilson. The organization is divided into twelve membership regions for purposes of selections of board members and membership meetings. They are:

Region 1: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont.
Region 2: New York.
Region 3: Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania.
Region 4: District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia.
Region 5: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virgin Islands.
Region 6: Indiana, Michigan, Ohio.
Region 7: Illinois, Minnesota, North Dakota, Wisconsin.
Region 8: Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington.
Region 9: Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas (except El Paso Co.).
Region 10: Colorado, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming.
Region 11: Arizona, New Mexico, Texas (El Paso Co. only).
Region 12: California, Hawaii, Nevada.

There are also at directors at large chosen by other board members every two years.

[edit] References

National Association of Railroad Passengers (2005). http://www.narprail.org. Retrieved December 3, 2005.
National Association of Railroad Passenger (2005). Newsletter, October 2005 issue.