Achievements
NIPRA Accomplishments Report for 2022
Leadership
Added a new board member Betsy Kachmar and elected her as Secretary
Craig Blume was elected the new NIPRA Treasurer
Recognized retiring board members Holly Munoz, Dorothy Hagan, Adam Welch & Curt Sylvester for their service
Steve Coxhead, MIPRC Commissioner and IPRA board member, agreed to become a NIPRA board liaison
Paul Spoelhof (previously a liaison) agreed to be board member
Changed banks for improved service & interest
NIPRA ordered 100 All Aboard Indiana “made in the USA” T-shirts
Reprinted Investing in the Future brochures
Reinvigorated NIPRA Facebook page – 2,378 followers
Advocacy
Supported Senate Bill 13, Indiana Passenger Rail Commission
Jack Daniel, NIPRA V.P. testified in favor of Senate Bill 13 at the Senate Homeland Security and Transportation Committee
NIPRA coordinated with Indiana Passenger Rail Alliance to market “All Aboard Indiana”
Coordinated with Greater Fort Wayne Inc. on promoting passenger rail service for Fort Wayne and Northern Indiana
Per NIPRA request Mayor Tom Henry of Fort Wayne met with Governor Holcomb to promote passenger rail service in Northern Indiana
Mayor Tom Henry wrote a letter, at NIPRA request, to the regional vice president of CSX Railroad promoting cooperation on restoring passenger rail service to Fort Wayne and Northern Indiana
Board member Geoff Paddock reached out to Secretary of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg, seeking support for passenger rail service improvement in Indiana
NIPRA held a candidate forum on passenger rail
Met several times over breakfast with Indiana State Senators Kruse and Johnson
NIPRA joined the Alliance for High-Speed Passenger Rail based in Chicago, Illinois
NIPRA officers and IPRA officers met with INDOT Commissioner Michael Smith and key staff to promote passenger rail in Indiana
NIPRA officers met twice at the State House with several state legislators, INDOT staff and a representative from the Governor’s office on promoting passenger rail in Indiana
Fort Wayne City Council passed a resolution in support of passenger rail service for Fort Wayne, sponsored by Councilman Geoff Paddock
Jack Daniel, NIPRA V.P., presented the Northern Indiana and Ohio Passenger Rail project to the Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission (MIPRC) Annual Meeting in Indianapolis
NIPRA sent a letter of support for the joint MIPRC and Amtrak CRISI grant for the Invest Midwest advanced planning project
NIPRA board passed a resolution in support of the proposed National Infrastructure Bank
Meetings
NIPRA board meetings and executive committee meetings were held nearly every month
Select NIPRA board members attended most Indiana Passenger Rail Alliance (IPRA) online board meetings
Meeting with Greater Fort Wayne Inc. leadership seeking support for passenger rail service
NIPRA executive committee members met with Mayor Tom Henry promoting passenger rail service for Fort Wayne and Indiana
Two NIPRA board members participated in a Zoom call on the Toledo Passenger Rail Forum including a member of the Surface Transportation Board
Participated in online Zoom calls with the Lakeshore Rail Alliance (LRA)
Board members attended the Greater Fort Wayne Inc Legislative Breakfast
Several NIPRA board members met with a candidate for mayor of Fort Wayne on support for passenger rail service for the city and northern Indiana
Representatives of NIPRA and IPRA participated in a phone call with State Representative Ed Delaney of Indianapolis
Met with INDOT representatives to coordinate on support for passenger rail service in Indiana
NIPRA board members met with a local political party chairman seeking support for passenger rail service
NIPRA president participated in telephone interviews with reporters from the Indianapolis Star and WFYI Radio
Betsy Kachmar and Craig Blume provided input on the Propel US 30 INDOT Planning session at the New Haven Library
Media Coverage
Letters to the editor in Journal Gazette on passenger Rail Service for Fort Wayne and Indiana
Journal Gazette article 7/13/22
Fox 55 report 8/10/22
Fox TV 59 Indianapolis – interview with Fred Lanahan on Senate Bill 13 (Passenger Rail Commission)
Article including NIPRA interview published in the Gary Post Tribune on Senate Bill 13
Fort Wayne Business Weekly – 6/22/22, 8/3/22, 12/18/22
ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN 2021
President Fred Lanahan shared the following accomplishments for 2021:
• Added two new NIPRA Board members
• Promoted Indiana Passenger Rail Commission bill that later died in the Indiana Senate
• Drafted a new Indiana Passenger Rail Commission bill with support and agreement on
wording from INDOT
• Met several times with Indiana State Legislators and INDOT
• Coordinated with partners at IPRA, All Aboard Ohio, Mid-Ohio Regional Planning
Commission and Lakeshore Rail Alliance
• Purchased 100 All Aboard Indiana T-shirts as a marketing effort
• Board members wrote 2 Op-Eds and letters to the editor promoting passenger rail
• Provided input on the draft Indiana State Rail Plan
• Reached out to mayors, local elected officials and three northern Indiana Metropolitan
Planning Organizations
• Maintained contact with Amtrak
• Maintained contact with the Federal Rail Administration (FRA)
• Attended Greater Fort Wayne Inc. Legislative Breakfast
• Staffed NIPRA Information Table at Fort Wayne Open Streets event
• Presented Northern Indiana and Ohio Passenger Rail project on Zoom to Rail Users Network
(RUN) annual meeting
• Kristen Brier, Multimodal Director, INDOT was guest speaker in October NIPRA board
meeting
• Reached out to freight railroads seeking to coordinate on passenger rail service
MEETINGS IN 2021
President Fred Lanahan shared the following meetings held in 2021:
• NIPRA board meetings and executive committee meetings were held every month
• INDOT management and staff
• Met with local political party leaders
• Participated in multiple passenger rail webinars
• Met several times with Senator Dennis Kruse
• Participated in monthly online meetings of Indiana Passenger Rail Alliance (IPRA) board
• Participated in several Zoom meetings with the Lakeshore Rail Alliance (LRA)
• Met with Mayor Tom Henry of the City of Fort Wayne
• Met with multiple state legislators at the Indiana State House
• Met with partners from Indiana Passenger Rail Alliance to develop All Aboard Indiana
marketing and promotion
• Sought meeting with Governor Eric Holcomb