> This has become nothing more than the theatre of the absurd. We get to > sit > in traffic and at roughly $85 round trip from New York to Scranton, it's Rick -- you should look at Martz fares for two or three or four people traveling togther. It might be $85 for one, but it's only $90. You need to bring a date <g>. > ridiculous. The same run from New York to Harftord CT is half the cost. > Why? > Simple. Harftord has train service, competition. Scranton doesn't. Heck, Hartford has the $10 Chinese Buses too . . . It is unfortunate that government financing and budget processes and legal and liability issues and related inability to do projects "in house" all conspire against rail. Taxpayers get shafted, but if the rail system would run like a business, taxpayers would really scream. There were a pair of lawsuits pending against Pocono Real Estate operators who promised "High Speed Rail" fifteen years ago to homebuyers. My understanding is that one of the suits may be dead because of the two lead plainteffs, one has retired, the other foreclosed, and the Real Estate company itself has ceased doing business (though plaintiffs were trying to hold the sales people personally liable) When we took the NYS&W T&HS RDC car Scranton to Mt Pocono years ago, people along the way were so pleased to see "their" new modern "High Speed Rail" train. It was a shame to burst their bubble. When the car was newly restored and strutting its stuff at the Hoboken Festival, NJT commuters thought such beautiful new, modern equipment should replace the "ratty old" Comets and Arrows. I wish it would have been possible to see their reaction to a string of beautifully restored Stillwells. In any case, the only way the Cut-Off will ever get done will be if Pennsylvania funds it to reach the current end-of-service. Cheers, Jim The Erie Lackawanna Mailing List http://EL-List.railfan.net/ To Unsubscribe: http://Lists.Railfan.net/erielackunsub.html ------------------------------
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