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| Re: Significant part of former LIRR Wading River Branch to become rail trail (769770) | |||
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Re: Significant part of former LIRR Wading River Branch to become rail trail |
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Posted by GP38/R42 Chris on Mon Apr 13 12:08:26 2009, in response to Re: Significant part of former LIRR Wading River Branch to become rail trail, posted by RonInBayside on Mon Apr 13 11:23:54 2009. Wrong. Currently some diesel trains stop at Huntington or Hicksville and transfer passengers to the electric service.Huh? What does that have to do with anything I posted. You misunderstood my post. Extending electrification would improve service and reduce operating costs. The electric trains would continue further east (the "one seat" ride to Penn) and the same diesel equipment could make more frequent trips from Port Jeff to the new transfer station at the last electrified station (wherever that might be). It would have a shorter route. Ridership would be higher at all stations and commuters who now drive might be persuaded to try the railroad. I never said any of that wasn't true. That is all true. I didn't say they SHOULD NOT stop short of electrifying partly. I said that the remainder of the line would become less used, and yes, "ghost towny", as the closer it gets to the terminal, the more people will instead drive to the "last electrified" station instead of using their home station. If I lived in St James, and electrification ended in Smithtown, and that's where the one seat ride was, I would drive the short distance to Smithtown. And the same can be said of Stony Brook, or any of the stations east of there. I mean, currently the same thing happens, except they drive ALL THE WAY to Ronkonkoma! Don't underestimate people's allure of the "one seat ride". People rather spend the extra 15 minutes driving in their own car, than the exctra 15-20 minutes on the train just to switch. Ronkonkoma already proved that, as it canniblilized much of the Port Jeff line and the Montauk line too. Ronkonkoma is living proof of this phenomena. |
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