Amtrak chief Joseph Boardman to address railway congestion problems, Oct. 26

Amtrak President and CEO Joseph Boardman will address congestion issues facing the passenger rail service and the recommendations of the Chicago Gateway Initiative Blue Ribbon Panel, which recently completed a year-long study of the Chicago rail gridlock situation, at a National Press Club Newsmakers news conference at 10 a.m. Monday, Oct. 26 in the Bloomberg Room.

More freight than ever is being transported along railways across the country, and a record number of passengers are riding Amtrak. As a result, rail congestion at cities around the country has become a critical issue – especially in Chicago, the hub of the Amtrak system and the nation’s largest rail hub.

Chicago’s rail network was essentially completed a century ago, but it struggles now to handle the traffic volume and traffic patterns it was never designed to handle, with serious consequences for passenger and freight traffic.

Joining Boardman for this discussion will be Blue Panel members Thomas Carper and a member of the Amtrak board of directors, Howard Learner, founder of the Environmental Law and Policy Center in Chicago, and Jack Quinn, former chairman of the Railroads Subcommittee of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and president of Erie Community College.

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported an unexpected surge in freight traffic in 2014 as a result of a record grain crop, increased demand for coal and a general uptick in the economy. The AAR also reports that, in 2015, there was a huge increase in U.S. rail intermodal, which are the containers and trailer traffic that can travel by truck, rail or both.

Amtrak’s northeast corridor had its highest ridership ever in 2014 (11.9 million), according to Amtrak research. Other Amtrak lines in the northeast and Midwest are experiencing increases in ridership.

Like all Newsmakers events, this news conference is open to credentialed media and NPC members free of charge.

For more information, contact David Hodes, Newsmaker event host, at 202-596-5037 or [email protected]

Correction and Clarification: Due to an editing error, an earlier version of this article misstated the title and name of one of the speakers, Thomas Carper.