Cruce Becker will be joined by others to talk about the things that are making ESPA members anxious and the things that are giving them hope. On the plus side, ESPA has seen the opening of two new stations in the last year–Exchange Street Station in Buffalo and the Moynihan Train Hall in NYC; completion of a second main between Albany and Schenectady; formation of a Lake Shore Working group looking to expand service; and hiring of a part-time executive director. On the minus side, they have been waiting nearly 12 years for a final report on the Empire Corridor study, hoping it won’t meet the same fate as the Chicago-Detroit/Pontiac Corridor study. More immediately, ESPA hopes to restore food service on the Empire State Corridor train and is working to get pre-clearance at Montreal and to extend the Ethan Allen from Rutland to Burlington VT.

If you are new to Zoom, you will find this short video helpful:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9isp3qPeQ0E

The Michigan Association of Railroad Passengers
invites you to a Virtual Brown Bag Lunch
Thursday, May 13 at 12:00 pm CT, 1:00 pm ET  

In lieu of a MARP membership meeting in May, we are inviting members and friends to enjoy a Virtual Brown Bag Lunch with the High Speed Rail Alliance.

The guest speaker will be Derrick James, Amtrak Government Affairs Director. This is a wonderful opportunity to learn about Amtrak’s “Vision 2035” to grow service and connect new city pairs across the country.

The plan would provide new and improved train service to millions of additional passengers and increase connectivity between urban and rural communities.

Advance registration is required if you wish to attend the event.
The zoom link will be provided when you register. 
REGISTER HERE 
Or go to HSRail.org/Events  

Michigan Association of Railroad Passengers
Invites You to Learn About
“Amtrak’s Plan to Expand Ohio Train Services”
Thursday, 18 March 2021
5:00 PM Eastern Time

Please plan to join us “virtually” as we talk with Stu Nicholson, Executive Director of All Aboard Ohio, about Amtrak’s proposal for new and expanded passenger train services in Ohio.

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84178735512?pwd=Um1zS1BhUmdvYmtIcG5Ha3dDbml3Zz09

Or Phone:   312 626 6799
Meeting ID:   841 7873 5512

Passcode:   576546

If you are new to Zoom, you will find this short video helpful:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9isp3qPeQ0E

“This Corridor Development Program is a major policy shift for Amtrak. Since it began in 1971, Amtrak has been largely reactive and not proactive when it comes to its growth. This policy shift is very welcome and long overdue when it comes to dealing with states like Ohio that have almost no service and thus almost no political constituency to create a passenger rail development program. We hope that Congress will authorize and fully fund this Corridor Development Program.”  

 — All Aboard Ohio Executive Director Stu Nicholson in a 02 March 2020 news release

Michigan Association of Railroad Passengers
47th Annual Meeting
Saturday, October 17, 2020
10:00 a.m. –Noon

Featuring Gene Skoropowski
Former manager of California’s Capital Corridor
Former Sr. VP of Passenger Rail Development for All Aboard Florida

With the coronavirus still with us, this year’s Annual Meeting will be held “virtually” via Zoom on Saturday, October 17, beginning at 10:00 a.m. We hope you will all plan to be with us for what promises to be an outstanding program.

Our keynote speaker will be Mr. Eugene K. “Gene” Skoropowski who is widely recognized for making the Capitol Corridor service in California one of the best performing trains in Amtrak’s National Network. He recently spoke before the Virginia Rail Policy Institute on “Working Collegially With The Host Railroads”, describing how development of a good working relationship with Union Pacific was key to improving on- time-performance and increasing frequency on the corridor from 4 daily round trips to 16. He later moved to Florida where he led the organization and startup of the Brightline Express, the privately financed high-speed train linking Miami and West Palm Beach, with plans to extend to Orlando.

We will also hear briefly from former Congressman John J.H. “Joe” Schwarz, one of our state’s most enthusiastic supporters of passenger train service. Joe has worked, largely behind the scenes, during the administrations of Governors of both parties to keep our trains running. He will have something to say about how we navigate the perilous times ahead.

You will find information below for accessing the meeting via Zoom.

Following the speakers, we will conduct a short business meeting to elect officers for the

2020-2022 term. Please take a look at the attached minutes of last year’s Annual Meeting. There will also be an opportunity for member comments and discussion of MARP activities in the next year.

Plan to join the meeting a few minutes before 10:00 AM on Oct. 17 by clicking the link below:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84978467783?pwd=K1Z2OTF0WGkzcnFRZDVWWWVYcHFjQT09

Passcode: 166060

Webinar ID: 849 7846 7783

Or iPhone one-tap :

+13126266799,,84978467783#   or  +16465588656,,84978467783#

Or Telephone (for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location):

+1 312 626 6799 (Chicago)   or  +1 646 558 8656   or  +1 301 715 8592 or  +1 346 248 7799   or   +1 669 900 9128   or  +1 253 215 8782

International numbers available: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kd8iZo9xk5

If you are unfamiliar with using Zoom, you will find this short video helpful.

How to Join a Zoom Call for the First Time
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9isp3qPeQ0E

The Zoom app will download automatically when you join your first Zoom meeting, and is also available for manual download here.   https://zoom.us/download

If you have questions or would like to request a “practice” session, reply to this email with your question/request.