Advocates for passenger rail service and railroad officials gathered in Meridian on Saturday as the Rail Passengers Association held RailNation: Meridian, its 2023 fall advocacy symposium in the Queen City.

The RPA is an organization that advocates for expanded and improved passenger rail service, increasing railroad safety, high speed rail and greater transportation connectivity throughout the United States.

RPA President and CEO Jim Mathews said he had been trying to bring the annual symposium to Meridian for a number of years as the city is a good example of how passenger rail service can revitalize a community. The construction of Union Station under former Mayor John Robert Smith, which acts as a hub for both Amtrak and bus service, jump started a greater revitalization effort that transformed downtown Meridian, he said.

As advocates, Mathews said, RPA members highlight the economic boom created by passenger rail service, but the impact is theoretical in most members’ communities. In Meridian, however, the impact is tangible, and holding the symposium here gives members an opportunity to experience the benefits first hand.

“I wanted you to experience this yourself. I wanted you to see it all started with that train station and it all started with the vision of a handful of folks here in Meridian led by John Robert Smith,” he said. “Since that time, 25 years go by, you have the Riley Center, you have the Threefoot, you have the brewery. That’s the transformative power of passenger rail.”

Saturday’s event opened with an update from Federal Railroad Administration Administrator Amit Bose, whose office has been tasked with allocating more than $66 billion in funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act earmarked for railroad improvements. Bose said there are a number of programs being funded with those dollars that can help make improvements in local communities.

One such program, the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements program, is used to improve safety and reliability of rail service throughout the country. In September, the FRA announced $1.4 billion in funding for more than 70 projects, including $178.4 million for the Gulf Coast Corridor Improvement Project. The project, which is a joint effort between Amtrak and the Southern Rail Commission, will restore passenger rail service along the coast after it was lost following Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

The CRISI funding, Bose said, will build safer, more resilient railroads throughout the country.

“We’re going to improve nearly 1,900 miles of track, rehabilitate or replace more bridges, enhance highway rail grade crossings, build and rebuild sustainable infrastructure that protects against the threats of extreme weather and a changing climate,” he said.

By the end of the year, Bose said, the FRA is planning to announce $4.5 billion in federal-state partnerships to expand existing passenger rail service and the development of high speed rail. Additionally, he said, the agency is set to announce which proposals will receive funding under the FRA’s Corridor Identification Program.

The FRA is also working with Amtrak to study the need for long distance service and evaluate the need to restore previous routes and the potential need for new routes, Bose said. One such study, he said, is the Interstate 20 corridor study that, if instituted, would stretch from Meridian to Texas and would connect New York City, Atlanta and the Dallas, Texas, metro areas via Amtrak’s Crescent train.

The study is just the first step in the process, Bose said, but passenger rail advocates and residents in the communities impacted by the proposed routes can help. The support of those affected by the plan goes a long way in helping the plan move from paper to reality.

“Those efforts, again, are important and FRA absolutely needs to hear about those,” he said. “Congress needs to hear about those. The governors of those states where that service will help need to hear about your support for those routes.”

Bose also encouraged railroad leaders at all levels to keep an eye out for webinars, workshops, listening panels and application windows as the FRA, and the U.S. Department of Transportation works to identify projects and award funding through an array of programs and grant opportunities.

Meredith Richards, chairwoman for the Rail Passengers Association, said the organization looks forward to working with the FRA and other stakeholders to improve rail service on both local and national scales.

“We would love to be a part of that, and we are a part of that, and we’d love to continue to help,” she said.