NARP to rally for funding of Amtrak long-distance trains

The National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP) on Friday and Saturday will host rallies across the country in support of federal funding for long-distance Amtrak routes.

President Donald Trump's fiscal-year 2018 budget calls for eliminating federal support for Amtrak's long-distance routes. The budget calls these services a "vestige of when train service was the only viable transcontinental transportation option."

However, Trump's proposal would cut passenger-rail service to more than 220 towns across the United States, NARP officials said on a website about the rallies.

"Towns without trains have fewer jobs, less tourism, lower economic activity, lower real estate values, less healthy people, more traffic congestion, less mobility and fewer travel options," they said.

The rallies will take place in 25 cities across the U.S., including Cincinnati, Denver and Chicago.