Neurodiversity and Passenger Rail Advocacy - The Crossover
Politics Travels Rail advocacy
April is World Autism Month, and I felt it appropriate to share my story and explain the link between passenger rail advocacy and neurodiversity.
From an early age, I was exposed to rail. I was born in New York City, known for having one of the largest rapid transit networks in the world. Its suburban communities have far-reaching commuter rail lines that extend almost to eastern Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. When I was two, my parents moved us to Brewster, about 50 miles from New York City.
My mom has been an avid passenger rail user since her childhood, although I don’t think she’s been on a train in years. In her 20s, when her parents moved from Long Island to Harrisburg, PA, she would take the Broadway Limited from Chicago to visit with them. When she moved back to the New York area she and my dad, who did not have a car at that point, would take the Long Island Rail Road to Montauk for vacation.
As a child, my mom worked for Holt, Rinehart and Winston (now part of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), and to meet editorial deadlines, sometimes had to go into the office on Saturdays. On those days I would go with her and we would take Metro-North’s Harlem Line to Grand Central Terminal from Brewster North (now Southeast station). We would be in the first car of the train, and in those days it was the M1A/M3A cars, whose corner cabs allowed for the famed “railfan window” which I spent many an hour looking out of. That, and the romance of the rails made me a railfan from an early age. However, it was the saga of the Harlem Line’s history that made me aware of rail advocacy, as the birthplace of state-level rail advocacy started on the Harlem Line, when Lettie Gay Carson started the Harlem Valley Transportation Association in the late 1960s to preserve Harlem Line service north of Dover Plains, which proved futile as service north was discontinued in 1972 and only restored as far as Wassaic in 2000. The HVTA was a forerunner for the Empire State Passengers Assocation (ESPA), the organization that advocates for improved passenger rail and connecting bus service across New York State.
I had developmental delays as a child (was a late talker, was prone to meltdowns as a kid) and was as a teenager diagnosed with autism after a decade long process of figuring out why I was different. And I’ve turned that struggle into a gift. Since becoming active in passenger rail advocacy I’ve written countless letters to elected officials and have spoken with them regarding the need for increased funding and support for both passenger rail and public transit. I took comfort (and at times, frustration) in trains. When I was in middle school I obtained a copy of Microsoft Train Simulator and enjoyed running trains on my computer between Washington and Philadelphia, a stretch of track I would not enjoy being on a real train until I was past college.
But enough about me! You came to hear about the link between neurodiversity and passenger rail, and the simple answer is there is definitely a link.
There is a stereotype that neurodivergent people love trains. And there is a bit of truth to that, as I know many people who are neurodivergent who have a fond appreciation for trains, and find the term “foamer” not a slur but as a badge of honor. It is not a universal love for neurodivergent people, however. For me, I generally find travel by rail less stressful than flying, despite having TSA PreCheck. Travel by rail is less claustrophobic, is at a somewhat lower place and generally involves less transfers. I can’t completely agree with Autism Speaks' Amanda Bennett as trains are generally (at least in 2023) not predictable-something that the Rail Passengers Association is working to make more predictable.
I don’t care what the reason is, but I just appreciate the train as a mode of transportation.