Bill McClung: Rail trail is great, but rail’s more important

Published: 07-23-2023 5:40 PM

Rail trail is great, but rail’s more important

I have enjoyed the Rail Trail from its start, in Amherst from Station Road to the Hampshire Mall area (and beyond) for many years now. I am a runner and have used the rail trail in the Amherst area at all times of the day and night.

But after reading “A vision coming true” in the Gazette [July 10], about completing the rail trail from Northampton to Boston, with our world sliding down the slopes of climate change and these rail trails being built on what were once rail beds, I wonder …

As cool as I think it would be to be able to bike, hike, or run from Amherst to Boston, I believe it is even more important to use this rail system, rebuilt, expanded upon, and put to use in both commuter and high-speed systems like they have in Europe (which, only twice in my life) I’ve ridden on and was wowed by the experiences.

In the early 1980s, the state of Massachusetts was going to build a rail system from the New York border to Boston, right down the center of the Mass Pike at (wait for it!) a million dollars a mile? That would have been $90 million for a rail system in which in good old hindsight was a bargain. Sadly, the turnpike (as I well know) remains one of the world’s longest parking lots a good part of the time, then and now.

I do not at present have a solution for having both bike trails and use of railway. Like our area, Cape Cod, which I am also blessed and lucky enough to enjoy, has a great bike trail system, but again at the cost of a badly needed rail system to help deal with our overuse of cars (another topic/discussion in relation to climate change).

I would ask that the Gazette and other newspapers (those left) start exploring and sharing with the public the importance of mass transportation (including what Europe has learned over the past 50 years in providing rail service). There has been a lot of talk, but little action.

Bill McClung

Pelham

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