Boston Albany line to be resold?

[FCMA]

Originally Posted by rethcir

First of all, most of those trolley lines are now simply the bus routes. I bet a lot providing faster service than the trolleys they replaced. The bus numbers are right on the map you shared. So that map is a bit misleading.

Second, it’s a bit hyperbolic to suggest that people are less mobile today than they were a century ago. Setting aside poverty cases (who probably couldn’t afford train tickets either), it’s simply not true. I can drive to New York and back in a day if I want. I can drive from southern NH to a job on 128 or Boston if I want.

Yes, public transit is underfunded in this country, there needs to be some upgrades in infrastructure, but your points are a little dramatic.

Come out to Athol / Orange and I can point you to people who have never been to Boston. A century ago there was passenger rail here. Cars make us more mobile than ever, yes, if you're privileged enough to afford one. It's sad that a lack of public transportation options leaves some citizens less mobile than generations ago. Your points praise the societal endgame Henry Ford dreamt of, a sprawling auto oriented society with nary an alternative option to connect people and the broader range of places beyond large metropolitan orbits.

I prefer to envision a train option. Would benefit isolated small towns and urbanites alike to have train connections again. North Adams for example is now a supremely isolated place with virtually no connection anymore to the outside world yet has a fabulous art museum that attracts visitors from all over the region. A train connection would benefit isolated residents providing geographic and economic connection, and urban visitors to the local attraction.

Not going to claim any of this is realistic, just ideal and civilized.

[mdovell]

Well isolation varies. I would argue that GPS and the internet have made for better connections. Few people these days get lost. The article has since been a bit denied by CSX but it sounds like they are still selling off lines or considering. Maybe the leak was premature.

[timberline742]

Originally Posted by mdovell

Well isolation varies. I would argue that GPS and the internet have made for better connections. Few people these days get lost. The article has since been a bit denied by CSX but it sounds like they are still selling off lines or considering. Maybe the leak was premature.

Sadly, there is a good deal of this state where good internet is hard to get.

[mlhm5]

I thought the line between albany and boston had been torn up in the late 1060s

[mp775]

Originally Posted by mlhm5

I thought the line between albany and boston had been torn up in the late 1060s

No, the Lake Shore Limited still uses it daily. The only stations between Albany (Rensselaer) and Worcester are Pittsfield and Springfield.