Next stop: the ballot box

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Rail advocates, especially after yesterday's results, must not fall victim to the temptation to "take the ball and go home."

At least on the Democratic side, the party's platform is still very much in play. Sanders has opened a debate, and we need to make sure that pro-passenger-rail voices are heard.

Meanwhile, the threat to the Heartland Flyer in Oklahoma shows us that we must fight to elect rail-friendly candidates at every level of the ballot, from city and county governments, to state legislatures, to the US House and Senate.

It's going to be a continuing struggle to maintain and grow the national network until we can change or eliminate PRIIA 209. And that can happen, but only with strong support from both houses of Congress as well as the White House.