Youth Passenger Citizenship Award

This award is given on occasion to students and young people who demonstrate exceptional leadership, initiative, or passion in making meaningful improvements in the train travel experience or in citizen advocacy for an expanded and improved passenger train network.

Recipients of Youth Passenger Citizenship Award

2013 - Purdue Student Government

The Purdue Student Senate passed a resolution in September urging the state to pick up the cost of running the four-day-a-week train after federal funding stopped in October. The state and communities along the route reached agreement with Amtrak to continue the service for 12 to 16 months. Micah Matlock, Purdue Student Government’s Secretary, prepared a power point presentation and unveiled it at the Amtrak Summit at Faith Community Center in Lafayette. He struck a chord with high profile representatives and mayors that attended the summit, including State Representative Randy Truitt of Indiana whose district includes Lafayette.

2006 - Dr. Helen Hudson's Crawfordsville (Indiana) High School English Class

For cleaning, refurbishing and landscaping the Crawfordsville Amtrak station, and for promoting rail travel in their community with letters to the editor and public presentations.

1998 - Trey Davis

For his tireless advocacy that resulted in the preservation of the 1904-built Amtrak station in downtown Spartanburg, which was damaged by a fire in 1996. Norfolk Southern was going to tear down the station, but Davis convinced the City Council to purchase and restore the depot, which they did by unanimous vote on Sept. 15, 1997.