By William C. Vantuono, Editor-in-Chief, Railway Age Magazine; April 4, 2019
“Commuter rail,” says Metra CEO and Executive Director Jim Derwinski, “needs a distinct voice.” Derwinski and a group of current and former passenger rail industry executives led by former New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority Director of Regulatory Affairs, Corporate Standards and Benchmarking KellyAnne Gallagher, have launched the Commuter Rail Coalition (CRC), described as “an association representing the interests, needs and benefits of the nation’s commuter railroads.”
“The Commuter Rail Coalition is comprised of commuter rail agencies, operators and other interested parties acting together to engage and educate stakeholders and communities on the value of commuter railroads,” says Gallagher, CRC’s Founding Executive Director (who also spent many years at APTA advocating for commuter rail). “The coalition will give a stronger voice in Washington D.C. to the safest mode of surface transportation. Commuter rail transportation delivers 490 million passenger trips annually, reduces congestion, decreases commuters’ carbon footprints and increases property values as well as a region’s tax base.”