Train Time: The Podcast

Transit authorities like CTDOT often justify service cuts because they think nobody is paying attention. Let’s prove them wrong. On April 22nd, we’re heading to the public meeting to share our thoughts on CTDOT’s draft Connecticut 2055 plan. We want to show them thousands of signatures that say loud and clear, “We the people want more trains!” Train Time is a media project focused on passenger rai...

Josh Elliott is running for governor of Connecticut in the Democratic primary in August and joins us to talk about public transportation and the role trains play (and could play) in Connecticut, as well as to ask about the transit policies he would prioritize as governor. Elliott has a lot to say about Connecticut finances, based on his experience as Deputy Speaker and Majority Caucus Co-Chair and...

Matt and Karen explain the bad news about the Change.org petition, but there's good news, too, and a new plan for action! Get full access to Train Time at traintime.substack.com/subscribe

North Canaan officials have long been strong supporters of the Housatonic Line revival. Going back some years, former Rep Roberta Willis (D) filed a bill regarding the line. Later, Brian Ohler (R) expressed support. The Train Campaign met with Maria Horn (D), the current state rep, and held joint meetings with rail advocates in the town, who themselves had created a first online petition that garn...

In this show, Dave Strohmaier and Karen Christensen pick up a conversation after nearly 5 years—years during which Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority (BSPRA) has really been making tracks. In 2023, the BSPRA was selected by the Federal Railroad Administration for further development and study, with a grant of $500,000 in seed money to help kick-start the North Coast Hiawatha route revitalization bet...

While you might think passenger rail, as public transportation, would be the province of Democrats, there are many Republican backers of rail projects. There are also rail initiatives that depend on people from both parties to work together. Today’s tri-state conversation brings together train-pilled colleagues Matt Silber (CT), Ellis Simon (NY), and Karen Christensen (MA) to talk about projects e...

Karen Christensen shares stories about her train travel in Europe and Asia to explain how the Train Campaign and Train Time came to be—and survive, even into these tough times for public transportation. Train compartments in France, the cleanliness of Japanese high-speed trains, and the ease of train travel in the UK all get a mention. Most recently, Karen took Chinese high-speed trains between Ya...

History teacher Matt Silber took advantage of summer vacation to find out whether it’s possible to have an enjoyable, affordable trip around New England just for fun—not commuting to work but to visit friends and explore new places. As he says in this detailed post, he set out to visit multiple friends throughout the Northeast using public transportation. As he went, he took detailed notes, talked...

Matt Silber takes center stage in this podcast, explaining the strange trajectory of a piece of Connecticut legislation, HB5002. Karen Christense jumps in with criticism of the messaging, and they discuss details of the CT bill, factions and debates around it, and make comparisons to other legislation in MA and NY as well as across the country. Matt’s written a lot about HB5022 for the CT Mirror:...

As Karen Christensen prepares to head to China - first speaking about how civilizations learn from one another, and then exploring third places in Shanghai - she and Matt Silber discuss the social life of public transit. They draw from experiences in different countries and times, and explore how train travel is both a chance to interact with strangers and, sometimes, a way to develop the warm bon...

Karen and Matt talk about the new book Abundance and what it says about high-speed trains. The focus at Train Time is, naturally, how the book covers US passenger rail expansion in general and relates to our region in particular. Karen compares the US to China, where she will be traveling by train again soon, and asks why the California high-speed project has so clearly gone off track. Matt shares...

Matt Silber is a history teacher who’s been writing for Train Time recently. In this podcast, he and Karen Christensen talk about past and current efforts to restore passenger train service to our region, the benefits of train travel, and some of the misconceptions and worries they’ve heard about. This is an introduction to what we hope to be a new series of conversations about trains, public tran...

Today we’re talking with Gareth Dennis, author of How the Railways Will Fix the Future: Rediscovering the Essential Brilliance of the Iron Road in which he builds a case not simply for railways as a common good, but argues that railways are a critical tool for humanity to survive and thrive. We discuss technology, critical minerals, electrification, freight-passenger rail cooperation, manufacturin...

This show explains that the potential for a battery-powered electric train service from Canaan, CT to Pittsfield, MA via Sheffield, Great Barrington, Stockbridge, Lee, and Lenox (stops to be determined) and running every day of the year. This service would give people a chance to experience riding the train again, and serve as a stepping stone to full restoration of the Berkshire Line between Pitt...

Karen Christensen loves trains but is no fan of the transportation bureaucracy, in Massachusetts or in the US as a whole. In this show, she runs through a list of examples of waste and bloat, and highlights a sensible, economical proposal that never saw the light of day. How many proposals of that sort get squashed because they aren’t business as usual? Listen and comment! Show Notes These organiz...

This talk by world-renowned author Simon Winchester was part of an event in Canaan, Connecticut a couple years ago. Simon’s recounting of his travels by train, which include a trip from London to Hong Kong via Moscow, enchanted the audience that summer’s day. When we found we could create a podcast from the recording, we thought it would be an inspiring way to start a new venture, Train Time. More...

Get a look at our conversations with Deval Patrick, Governor of Massachusetts 2007-2015, Eric Lesser, Massachusetts State Senator, and Richard Neal, US Congressman, Massachusetts 1st District in this short preview from our work in progress. Donate at https://donorbox.org/train-campaign-film to help us qualify for a $5,000 matching grant from the Berkshire Film & Media Collaborative ( www.berkshire...