I don’t want anyone thinking I don’t like taking the train. All my griping about timetables and layovers and lateness aside, I love traveling by rail. What I don’t love are the various factors, political and economical, that have been nibbling away at passenger rail’s viability as a travel alternative.

These brief summaries of the industry’s history shows that rail travel has been, more or less, in a long decline since the rise of the automobile. That decline only steepened when air travel became more affordable. Increasing hours in the work week and decreasing vacation time in the year reversed the way we look at travel: most people now can’t afford not to take the plane. And those who have the time to see the country on the way tend to prefer the control over their vacation that driving gives them.

But this isn’t simply a matter of the dinosaur giving way to fitter evolutionary successors. It’s not inaccurate to say that passenger rail has been under attack. WWII-era taxes meant to discourage war-time travel stayed in place until 1962, unnecessarily inflating fares. Tracks were bought up–and then ripped up–by automobile moguls looking to squash the competition. The government subsidies that widen our highways and keep our airlines afloat have no parallel on the railroad. And freight carriers get priority over passenger trains, causing delays that disenchant many even among the scenery-loving, take-it-easy crowd.

Politicians have a useful strategy for killing off industries, government bodies, and other entities they don’t like. You might call it The Catch-22 of Inefficiency. Step one: you underfund the entity. Step two: you wait for the lack of funds to result in damage to the entity. Step three: you say, “Look how inefficient this entity is! See how it wastes tax dollars!” And on the strength of this, you cut funds entirely.

That’s how it goes. See if you can spot it in U. S. Transportation Secretary Minata’s position on Amtrak reform (entire speech here) from February 2005. Two years later, how’d that reform work out for you?

So what can we do? During my long layover at the Buffalo-Depew station I came across a brochure. It said, “You can keep America on track.” I figured I could get on board with a slogan like that (ha! I made a pun), so I picked it up. Turns out it’s an application for membership with the National Association of Railroad Passengers. Unaffiliated with Amtrak or any railroad or political party, NARP’s mission is “A modern, customer-focused national passenger train network that provides a travel choice Americans want. NARP is the only national organization speaking for the users of passenger trains and rail transit.”

If you want to see rail travel continue as a viable travel alternative, there are worse things you can do than join NARP. For $35 a year (individual member level), you get a newsletter, a cool bumper sticker, 10% off most Amtrak travel, and the satisfaction of having taken a small action towards the dream of securing a national treasure for another generation.

I’ll be sending in my membership application this weekend. It’s the least I can do.