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1. The United Rail Passenger Alliance (URPA) yesterday posted on its website a good history of the downsizing in Florida Amtrak service which has occurred since Amtrak's inception in 1971 as part of URPA's online This Week at Amtrak publication. You can find the piece on URPA's website at the following link:

URPA's Bruce Richardson also notes possible enhancements to Amtrak service which would help increase in the state of Florida. It's a thoughtful piece which should spur us on.

2. Incredibly, Jacksonville Mayor John Peyton is one of only 3 "on-line" Mayors on the route of Amtrak's suspended New Orleans-Florida service who have not spoken up to Amtrak, Governor Crist, and Congress about the need to immediate restore service to the line.

In an effort to correct this, FCRP member George Bollinger has been working with Mayor Peyton aide Adam Hollingsworth on this issue. George encourages us to contact Mr. Hollingsworth to demonstrate our support for the return of New Orleans-Florida through his city of Jacksonville. You can contact Adam Hollingsworth in Mayor Peyton's office by e-mailing him at adamh@coj.net

Sincerely,

Jackson McQuigg
President
Florida Coaltion of Rail Passengers
E-mail: fcrp@lycos.com
Website: www.fcrprail.org

The Honorable Charlie Crist
Office of the Governor
The Capitol
Tallahassee, FL 32399

Dear Governor Crist:

Your help is urgently needed to restore Amtrak service to the Panhandle of Florida.

Until Hurricane Katrina, Amtrak service linked the Florida cities of Pensacola, Crestview, Madison, Chipley, Tallahassee, Lake City, Jacksonville, Winter Park and Orlando, Atmore and Mobile in Alabama, Pascagoula, Gulfport, Biloxi, Bay St. Louis and Waveland in Mississippi, New Orleans in Louisiana, and points west.

The service was greatly important to tourism and commerce. Indeed, it provided the only rail passenger service to two of the Sunshine State's most important cities, Tallahassee and Pensacola.

The State of Florida has a vested interest in this service. In the early 1990s, the Florida Department of Transportation invested $7 million dollars in track and signal upgrades so that the Florida portion of this service could begin.

Hurricane Katrina passed through the upper Gulf Coast states many months ago now. But despite the fact that hurricane-damaged railroad tracks, signals, and bridges have long been restored along this route, Amtrak has yet to announce
a date when train service will resume.

Governor Crist the nonprofit Florida Coalition of Rail Passengers and our members throughout the state of Florida urge you to contact Amtrak's new CEO, Alexander Kummant, and our Congressional Delegation in Washington on this issue. Please ask them to end the dallying.

This vital service must be restored immediately-- for all of us.

Sincerely,
Jackson McQuigg
President
Florida Coalition of Rail Passengers
P.O. Box 5712
Deltona, FL 32728
E-mail: fcrp@lycos.com
Web: www.fcrprail.org

That's the headline of an item on page one of the local news section of today's St. Petersburg Times.

"While Tampa Bay keeps pondering the wisdom of building rail, South Florida is quietly setting records. Tri-Rail---which links Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties---carried more than 3-million passengers last year, more than ever and 21 percent over the year before, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports. The previous record of 2.9 million riders was set in 1993, after Hurricane Andrew scrambled commuter patterns."