(The following appeared on the Meridian Star website on May 7.)
MERIDIAN, Miss. — This Saturday Meridian will play an active role in celebrating what led to the development of the city in the first place.
Tours of the City of Meridian Railroad Museum and a 1950 locomotive will be featured as Meridian celebrates National Train Day on Saturday.
Visitors to the Railroad Museum, located next to Union Station on Front Street, will also enjoy watching the Meridian Model Railroad Club’s scale model train in operation. The celebration will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The date of National Train Day, May 10, holds special meaning as the anniversary of the completion of the first transcontinental railroad at Promontory Summit, Utah in 1869. On that day, the “golden spike” was driven into the final tie that joined 1,776 miles of the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railways, ceremonially creating the nation’s first transcontinental railroad.
From 1869 to the creation of Amtrak in 1970, to the launch of the Acela Express in 2000, Amtrak employees and communities across the country will celebrate the history of train travel.
In addition to celebrating the history of rail travel, the growing concern about ecology and conservation has led to trains becoming known as a more energy-efficient way to travel for the future.
“Celebrating National Train Day is another way to focus on Meridian’s greening commitment,” said Meridian Mayor John Robert Smith. “Besides, it will be a great day for the family to explore the world of trains.”
Organizers hope celebrating National Train Day will raise awareness of the vital role rail plays in the nation’s transportation system. According to a press release from the city of Meridian, passenger rail ridership is growing to record levels, and there continues to be a strong demand for rail travel as a link between growing communities.
National Train Day also is expected to build awareness of the comfort, ease and efficiency of train travel and the network of services available from coast to coast.
Serving as spokesperson for National Train Day is television personality Al Roker, who will experience first-hand the benefits of rail travel when he rides from New York to Washington by train for the day’s festivities there. Amtrak will also host events in Los Angeles and Chicago as part of the May 10 celebration.
On Monday Amtrak unveiled its upgraded projects Web site in conjunction with its Great American Stations project to support local communities in the revitalization and redevelopment of passenger rail stations.
At greatamericanstations.com, one can find a flash map application that shows Amtrak routes, station information, a news feed for station updates and a photo gallery of station images.
“GreatAmericanStations.com educates communities on the benefits of redeveloping rail stations and alerts them that Amtrak has the tools to aid them in their redevelopment,” said Joe McHugh, Amtrak’s vice president of government affairs and corporate communications. “This upgraded site will be an even more helpful resource to local officials who want to upgrade their stations but are unsure about how to start, what to do, and where to seek funding.”
Mayor Smith, a former Amtrak board chairman said: “Amtrak works very hard to be a part of the communities they serve, and the Great American Stations Web site emphasizes that.”
A main focus for a number of communities considering renovations to their local passenger rail station is the upcoming deadline to make stations accessible under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). According to the ADA, all passenger rail stations across the country must be fully accessible to those with disabilities by 2010.
Amtrak’s Great American Stations project was created to foster partnerships with local communities to make investments in stations by making available Amtrak’s expertise and experience. The project, and the Web site itself, enables an exchange of information and provides a point of initial contact to develop partnerships in the initiative to rebuild and revitalize stations.
“With the Great American Stations project, Amtrak is providing a one-stop shop for communities, and so far, the reaction has been overwhelmingly positive as several cities are now actively considering station upgrades,” McHugh said.
Amtrak does not own the majority of stations it serves. Roughly 33 percent of all Amtrak stations are owned by cities, 27 percent are owned by the freight or host railroads over whose tracks Amtrak trains travel, and 27 percent are owned by Amtrak (primarily on the largely Amtrak-owned Northeast Corridor). Additionally, private parties own 8 percent and the remaining 5 percent are owned by other entities, such as port authorities, commuter railroads, or transit agencies.
In addition to providing resources online, Amtrak has also hosted a series of Civic Conversations to discuss the redevelopment and restoration of passenger rail stations. In the last 12 months, two events have been held in Denver and Pittsburgh with a third planned in Albuquerque on May 7. These events include community leaders who have first-hand knowledge of what it takes to restore a station and can share best practices on how such a project can benefit the community with additional revitalization near the restored station. Future meetings will be held along other routes in the 46-state Amtrak network.
Amtrak provides intercity passenger rail services to more than 500 destinations in 46 states on a 21,000-mile route system. For schedules, fares and information, passengers may call 800-USA-RAIL or visit Amtrak.com.