2025 Letter from the CEO

A Year of Transition 

This year made us rethink what progress means. Railtowns.org’s goal has been simple: to find the fixes and funding that enables the American rail ecosystem to stay safe, accessible, and thriving. A large part of that work has focused on strengthening the partnerships between railroads and the communities they serve - helping them to reconnect, work towards common interests, and leverage the knowledge and experience of communities and railroads who have experienced similar challenges. 

We saw our first real engagement from within the industry, as they began to understand that we’re strongly pro-industry. We want more shipping by rail, not less. And we hoped to leverage that understanding to bring more towns and railroads mutual benefits. 

But across the country, the environment that had begun to encourage collaboration and investment has shifted. Since late January, we’ve seen federal programs, funding, and oversight systems disrupted. Many experienced and reliable civil servants - including some in transportation - have been removed or reassigned. Decision-making has become more centralized and politically charged. For non-partisan organizations like ours that’s meant a sharp drop in access to administration officials, private funding, and growth opportunities. 

Early in the year, after Railtowns.org publicly urged that senior career officials tied to rail funding be rehired to maintain continuity, one of our largest publicly identified funders asked that we remove their name and logo from our materials. We did. The request made clear what we had already begun to feel: even seemingly reasonable calls for government continuity and accountability can be presumed partisan and carry serious political risk. 

Our mission was never meant to be political - it’s supposed to be common sense. 

Infrastructure and Democracy 

Rail is more than trains and schedules. It’s perhaps the most efficient and reliable way to move people and goods across a continent. In a healthy democracy, that reach creates shared prosperity. Clients served by rail bring jobs and revenue to their communities. But history reminds us that the same networks can be used to concentrate governmental power and quiet dissent. 

That doesn’t happen in a functioning democracy.

Looking Ahead 

We don’t know how long this instability will last or how deeply it’ll reshape rail communities, transportation policy, America, and the world. 

We do know that some of the broader rail ecosystem work we’ve been doing could be used against the interests of those who live or are served by the rails.

As such, we are pulling back from our broader initiatives to focus on ones closer to home. Individual and specific relationships across America - each between one railroad and one town.

Refocusing Our Work 

We’re still 100% volunteer. With volunteerism hampered by shutdowns and national uncertainty, we have further reason to step back from proactive advocacy and large-scale projects.

Our focus now is on what I believe may still add value in the current climate. We aim to continue compiling and publishing materials with guidance and lessons we make available to everyone touched by rail. We’ve already published REENGAGE, a resource for railroads seeking to reconnect and improve relationships with their host communities. We intend to produce a related resource for partner communities before the end of the year, and a new series that helps railroads and communities work to steer adversarial relationships towards partnerships and positive outcomes in 2026. 

These aren’t partisan concepts we’re pushing. They’re the basics of healthy ecosystems built to last.

Closing Thoughts 

Oversight, transparency, and accountability have weakened, allowing political actors to redefine how - and who - our national infrastructure serves. Federal efforts that once centered on serving the broadest public interests now are seen by some as rewarding loyalty and punishing dissent. 

Through this transition, railroads and communities have thus far remained our partners. They’re still keeping freight moving, creating jobs, and sustaining local economies. The problem that has us on our heels isn’t between towns and trains - it’s with the shifting ground under all of it. 

We are not adversaries of our government. We believe in and support our democracy and the Constitution on which it relies. 

We will continue doing what we can, where we can - quietly and in service to the communities and railroads that still see value in partnership. 

Whatever the national outcome, Railtowns.org remains committed to building the kind of infrastructure - physical, civic, and relational - that keeps us connected. 

Thank you for standing with us through a year of transition. 

Respectfully, 

Tate Linden 

Chairman & CEO