June 2015 All Aboard Indiana
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ALL INDIANA ABOARD The Official Newsletter of the Indiana Passenger Rail Alliance Volume 2, Number 6 June 2015 IN THIS ISSUE: Hoosier State: Now Comes the Hard Part By Arvid Olson, Greater Lafayette Commerce Page Two—Five Faith, Grace (College), and First, the easy part: Rail About the time you are reading this arti- cle (early June) the new Hoosier State consist (the engine and cars to be Page Six used) will be undergoing its final inspec- College-Aged Train Advocates tion by a veritable alphabet soup of state Highlight Indy‘s Train Day and federal inspectors. The three car and engine consist will be gone over carefully Page Seven by the FRA (Federal Rail Administration) IPH will offer Hoosier train travelers nicer ac- Are You Ready for a for equipment safety compliance, the commodations than they have been used to. Commuter Line Between FDA (Food and Drug Administration) will Muncie and Indy? inspect the food service, ADA inspectors (Americans with Disabilities Act) will ensure Indiana Crossrails: Building a handicap compliance, and DOT inspectors and INDOT observers will also be involved. Passion for Rail Transit This heightened level of oversight is in part due to the recent passenger fatalities on (continued through page 9) the busy Northeast Corridor. Once the static tests and inspections are successfully completed, the consist will be Page Ten cleared for a trial run on the Hoosier State route from Chicago to Indianapolis and Use Amtrak Thruways Buses: then return to the Iowa Pacific facility in Bensenville, Illinois. The date for this round Summer Vacations on Amtrak trip is tentatively set for June 10 but is subject to change. The trip will accommodate IPRA Joins Amtrak in Sympathy only essential personnel and is not open for special guests or general passengers. for Crash Victims Both INDOT and Iowa Pacific Holdings remain confident that the new Hoosier Page Eleven State will be ready to begin operations on Wednesday, July 1 with southbound service Ft. Wayne‘s Baker Street on train #850 from Chicago to Indianapolis. By all accounts the quality of the passen- Station Site of IPRA April ger experience anticipated for the new consist will be a noticeable improvement over Board Meeting the standard Heritage-era fleet of As We Go To Press: passenger cars. Page Twelve The Tier I Environmental Impact Study for the Lafayette Repairs Continue Now, the hard part: proposed Chicago to Columbus, Ohio, passenger NARP Annual Fall Conference While much has been accom- rail line as submitted to the Federal Railroad Ad- plished over the past thirty-four ministration was not funded. At this time, rail months to build awareness and Page Thirteen line proponents are re-assessing options to go support for the continuation of For More Information... forward on the Tier I EIS via public/private part- this two-state passenger service, Contributors nership funding and/or to seek another federal the next nineteen months will be grant option for the study. critical for the long-term (continued) Website: www.indianahighspeedrail.org Facebook: Hoosiers for Passenger Rail or Indiana Passenger Rail Alliance PAGE 2: ALL ABOARD INDIANA JUNE 2015 (―Now Comes the (approximately a 25% increase). This would effectively Hard Part‖ continued reduce the subsidy per rider which is the ultimate met- from page 1) viability ric that this train will be ‗graded‘ upon relative to its of the Hoosier State. renewal of financial support via the state budget. Over the past three years, there has been The responsibility each passenger rail supporter reading considerable media this article (thanks, by the way!) needs to assume is to coverage devoted to ‗talk this train‘ up to your friends and family as well as whether this train actively support the Hoosier State as a rail passenger. would survive. Now, it is imperative for the focus to be directed toward populating the train with an ever- Indiana‘s finally getting a better train; now it‘s up to us growing number of satisfied passengers. to keep it and grow it. Long-time rail advocates could note that until route speeds are increased along with a more acceptable level Faith, Grace (College), and Rail of on-time performance, the train is still hamstrung from By Rich Davis, MPA, MCRP; Rich Davis & Associates, Inc. succeeding. On-time performance during April 2015 for the Hoosier State was 58.8%, with the last 12 months On Monday March 10, 2014, I averaging 71%. Many rail experts note that acceptable on drove the 40 miles from Fort -time stats are above 90%. The reality is that this im- Wayne to Winona Lake on a provement will take a goodly amount of time, funds, and rare sunny day in an other- a more enlightened relationship with the three parent wise grim winter to meet with railroads that the Hoosier State currently travels over Dr. William Katip, President of (CSX, NS, and UP) to appreciably change. Grace College & Seminary. Grace College had made a The good news is that Iowa Pacific is quite aware of commitment, along with Dr. Joe Thallemer, the route condition and on-time challenges they face. other public and private enti- Mayor, Warsaw, Indiana That is one reason that they have invested heavily in ties in and around Warsaw, to developing a train set that is anticipated to be more support the Tier One Environmental Impact Study re- enjoyable and conducive for business and pleasure- quired to move forward with the revival of passenger based passengers. Amenities like WiFi, attractive inte- rail service from Chicago, IL to Columbus, OH through rior decoration, food and beverage service, and an en- Gary, Valparaiso, Plymouth, Warsaw, and Fort Wayne. I hanced first-class travel experience will help to alleviate wanted to find out more about the reasons for Grace the reality of a slower-than-desired travel time to and College's participation in this long-term regional eco- from the destination cities. nomic development initiative. With Iowa Pacific investing in a marketing manager Each of these Indiana communities had pledged a and chef for the service, it is anticipated that the travel share of the necessary local funding. Heading up the experience will be something that is arguably fun and Warsaw community's "pledge drive" was Warsaw's enjoyable. The possibility of excursions and special Mayor Joe Thallemer, a local optometrist in his first trains similar to those operated on home IPH tracks is term as Mayor. When Mayor Joe called on February 26 also intriguing. to let us know he had not only completed his own community's fundraising goal, but had contacted the That said, the ultimate litmus test that INDOT and our other city partners in central and northwest Indiana to state legislators will be looking for is a measured and secure their pledges, he was so enthusiastic that I told steady increase in ridership. Over the past four fiscal him, "Mayor, you are the number one evangelist for years, the Hoosier State has hosted between 33,000 passenger rail." and 36,000 annual riders. By the beginning of the next biennial legislative session in January 2017 it is para- But in reality, the idea of passenger rail in this north - mount that we are able to talk about ridership in the central Indiana community of almost 14,000 had been neighborhood of 43,500 annual passengers taking root for some years. In 2011, (continued) PAGE 3: ALL ABOARD INDIANA JUNE 2015 (―Faith, Grace (College) room adjacent to his office in McClain Hall, named af- and Rail‖ continued from ter the Seminary's first President, Alva McClain, I page 2) OrthoWorx, Inc.-- learned that Grace College had also aligned itself with a not-for-profit organiza- the future of the orthopedics industry. Not only does tion representing and the College offer, in conjunction with Trine University, a promoting the cluster of degree in biomedical engineering management, but Dr. orthopedics industries Katip's predecessor, Dr. Ronald Manahan, had also re- located in and around cruited significant contributions from the local orthope- Dr. William Katip, President, Warsaw, had commis- dics companies to build the impressive Manahan Or- Grace College & Seminary sioned its own economic thopedics Capital Center, one of the newest, best- impact study to estimate equipped sports and entertainment facilities among all the impact of a high speed rail connection to Chicago Indiana colleges. and O'Hare Airport. This study, carried out by engi- neering consultants Parsons Brinckerhoff, had esti- The connection between Grace College and its roots mated significant benefits to the orthopedics industry deep in the Protestant reformation is illustrated by a geo- including 20-year travel time savings of $32 - $45 mil- graphic link between Grace's students and the faith com- lion, with additional productivity benefits amounting to munities in Ohio and Pennsylvania from which they come. $39 - $46 million. Other regional rail development Geographic diversity is not unique to Grace College-- for studies estimated overall employment impacts of 649 - example, only 30% of Valparaiso University students 790 full time jobs, and a total economic impact on the come from Indiana--but Grace College's grounding in the community of $133-161 million over 20 years. Grace Brethren churches exerts a strong gravitational at- traction eastward. This, as Dr. Katip explained to me as Certainly for OrthoWorx, which states its primary mis- we wrapped up our meeting, is one of the reasons he is sion as supporting and sustaining Warsaw as the excited about the potential for the Chicago -Fort Wayne - "Orthopedics Capital of the World," these benefits were Columbus high speed rail line. worth the community's support and investment. Not quantified but still a key feature of the Parsons Brinck- A further reason for Grace College's commitment to the erhoff report were the benefits of utilizing a regional passenger rail corridor, said Dr.