Oklahoma Rail member-sponsored advertisements
Association members sponsored these newspaper advertisements. They were designed
to convey a message about the availability, and comfort, affordability of travel by train
in the Sooner State.
Association members sponsored these newspaper advertisements. They were designed
to convey a message about the availability, and comfort, affordability of travel by train
in the Sooner State.
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Accomplishments For a quarter century, the association's members and officers have worked diligently on behalf of rail passengers and overall improvement of train service. No one at Oklahoma Rail benefits commercially or monetarily from this work. This demonstration of volunteer support is unique in intercity travel. Amtrak marketing assistance We realize rail's benefit to the state and nation can only happen if the trains are heavily utilized. For the public to use the train, it must know where service is available and how to go about using it. Oklahoma Rail helps market Amtrak travel in two ways. First, the association is represented on the Heartland Flyer Marketing Coalition (HFMC). You can often find our members helping with HFMC activities which are designed to generate increased awareness of Amtrak service in Oklahoma. These include special on board events and staffing at fairs and public shows. Because there are limited funds available to advertise the service, Oklahoma Rail independently markets rail travel as well. Our members sponsor and design advertisements that fill in gaps that Amtrak and HFMC are unable to fill. We staff tables at rail conventions statewide and have been guests on radio programming when the rail issue is being discussed. |
About the Oklahoma Rail
The Oklahoma Passenger Rail Association -Oklahoma Rail- is a grassroots,
passenger-oriented consumer organization. It is made up of members, rail
passengers, who have a common goal: improved and expanded rail service into and
through Oklahoma. We are a non-profit and non-partisan.
Oklahoma Rail is not a train fan group. Our members actively participate in improving
rail travel for Oklahomans. We seek to inform the public, and our elected
representatives, of the benefits of modernized passenger trains and how our well-being
as a state and global competitiveness as a nation in the 21st century will require the
use of modern railway technology.
This is a team effort. We work with elected officials, state transportation departments,
city governments, chambers of commerce, convention and visitor bureaus, railroads,
business, and like-minded consumer groups in other states, to help develop an
effective approach for achieving an multimodal transportation system with a useful rail
component -one that is well coordinated with our aviation, highway, and public transit
systems.
We are not radicals. Our elected officials work for us. But there are many competing
interests seeking public resources for transportation. Relationships have to be created
and nurtured, sound arguments for rail laid out, and transportation policy influenced.
Yelling, name calling, and demonizing will not help advance the cause. Telling the truth
will. That is why Oklahoma Rail surveys candidates at election time and publishes the
results on line and in print.
The Oklahoma Passenger Rail Association -Oklahoma Rail- is a grassroots,
passenger-oriented consumer organization. It is made up of members, rail
passengers, who have a common goal: improved and expanded rail service into and
through Oklahoma. We are a non-profit and non-partisan.
Oklahoma Rail is not a train fan group. Our members actively participate in improving
rail travel for Oklahomans. We seek to inform the public, and our elected
representatives, of the benefits of modernized passenger trains and how our well-being
as a state and global competitiveness as a nation in the 21st century will require the
use of modern railway technology.
This is a team effort. We work with elected officials, state transportation departments,
city governments, chambers of commerce, convention and visitor bureaus, railroads,
business, and like-minded consumer groups in other states, to help develop an
effective approach for achieving an multimodal transportation system with a useful rail
component -one that is well coordinated with our aviation, highway, and public transit
systems.
We are not radicals. Our elected officials work for us. But there are many competing
interests seeking public resources for transportation. Relationships have to be created
and nurtured, sound arguments for rail laid out, and transportation policy influenced.
Yelling, name calling, and demonizing will not help advance the cause. Telling the truth
will. That is why Oklahoma Rail surveys candidates at election time and publishes the
results on line and in print.
| Towns along the route of the Amtrak Heartland Flyer have been able to access special matching funds to redevelop or build new depots like this one in Pauls Valley. It is the centerpiece of a plaza which anchors the east side of their downtown. Oklahoma Rail encourages the development of Amtrak stations into regional multimodal transportation hubs. |
For passenger rail in Oklahoma there is more to be hopeful about than ever before. Leaders from both parties recognize the need for a transportation system with a strong rail component that is less dependant on foreign oil, creates fewer emissions, improves quality of life, increases safety, drives activity in the centers of our towns, and allows all Oklahomans to travel, not just those who can drive a car. There is now a strong federal framework in place that permits states to apply for matching federal rail funds nearly as generous as for highways. Unprecedented cooperation now exists from our neighbors in bordering states. |
