Posted on 07/19/2010 6:30:37 AM PDT by Willie Green
Project has $171M in financing, but much work remains
Once viewed as a possible relief valve during major reconstruction of Route 28, a commuter rail line proposed for the Allegheny Valley remains a distant dream.
With construction of the North Side section of Route 28 set to begin next month and disrupt traffic through the fall of 2014, the rail line to Downtown Pittsburgh, talked about for more than a decade, has yet to advance beyond preliminary studies.
Robert Ardolino, a consultant to the Allegheny Valley Railroad, which has been offering to provide commuter service along its line since 1999, said the current $220 million to $230 million proposal would provide service from Tarentum Bridge Road in Arnold to the Light Rail Transit station at Steel Plaza, Downtown.
It would have stops at New Kensington, Oakmont-Verona, Nadine Road in Penn Hills and 40th and 26th streets in the city. At 26th Street, new tracks would cross at street level to the Martin Luther King Jr. East Busway and follow that corridor into Downtown.
(Excerpt) Read more at post-gazette.com ...
Well aside from the usual arguments, there aren’t exactly any jobs for users of this train to commute to!
It goes from where to where ...
and ridership is “estimated “ to be ... ?
Like I been telling yinz guys... yinz need to be bringing back the streetcars and tunneling the “T” to the “Big O” in Oakland anat because yinz can’t keep dumping money into the potholes and PAT buses anat.
It goes from where to where ...
Do you suffer a reading comprehension disorder?
The article tells you that in the third paragraph.
You don't even have to click on the link to view the whole article.
If the rail line would make money, then let private enterprise build it free of government interference and support. If it works, great, they make money. If it doesn't then great we don't lose any money.
The greatest evidence that passenger rail does not work in this country is that no private entity is building it. Even the freight railroads (who already in most cases have the railbeds available) won't touch it.
Shouldn't that be first?
They would be better off putting boats on the 4th river. (You have to be from the Burgh to even know it exists.)
And how long before this goes the way of the Pittsburgh-McKeesport commuter train that we rode on as students 50 years ago? The station downtown is now under the PNC (or is it Mellon) site and the train went under about 40 years ago. There’s just no need for it.
Flatt & Scruggs, “The Wreck of the Old ‘97” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZsMQK2Z-So
Even the freight railroads (who already in most cases have the railbeds available) won't touch it.
The "Allegheny Valley Railroad" IS a privately owned railroad, pinhead.
Hi Willie!
Thanks for the rude answer!
Post #2 said “Well aside from the usual arguments, there aren’t exactly any jobs for users of this train to commute to!”
and since this was said by another poster, and not being familiar at all with the areas involved, then I meant from what work and job areas to what other work and jobs areas, so that I could judge if it were residential to residential or jobs centers to job centers. And I was wondering what post #2 meant or referred to ... perhaps my brief comment didn’t express what I wished to inquire about well enough, at least for you.
Sorry to show interest.
Won’t do it again!!!
And, Willie, BTW, my post was not to you, but to someone else.
Thanks for the rude answer!
There's no need to thank me,
It was a response that you earned.
And I was wondering what post #2 meant or referred to ...
It was obviously a sarcastic remark regarding the lack of job opportunities in the Pittsburgh area.
... perhaps my brief comment didn’t express what I wished to inquire about well enough, at least for you.
It is rude to require that others possess ESP to understand the meaning of your post.
Sorry to show interest.
Won’t do it again!!!
Disingenuous response to avoid accepting resposibility for any miscommunication.
And, Willie, BTW, my post was not to you, but to someone else.
So use the "Private Reply" button if you don't want others to respond to your posts.
Other than that, it is imperative upon YOU to make sure that your posts are clearly understood by anybody viewing this thread.
I’m asking everyone: what makes this single topic so religious? Why does mentioning trains in a conservative forum elicit exactly the same set of responses as mentioning nuclear power in a liberal forum?
And how long before this goes the way of the Pittsburgh-McKeesport commuter train that we rode on as students 50 years ago? The station downtown is now under the PNC (or is it Mellon) site and the train went under about 40 years ago. There’s just no need for it.
I don't think this is running on the old streetcar tracks, mak.
(Although I would not be opposed to refurbishing any of those old rights-of-way if they're still around.)
The Allegheny Valley Rairoad is a private, local railroad that carries local freight for transfer to the main lines. It wants to continue to do this at night and haul passengers during the day. Sounds like a good deal to me. All they really want is for PAT to give them permission to travel a little bit further from the train station to the light rail station. (Click on the link for more details at the Tribune-Review)
That train didn’t run on the streetcar tracks, either, it ran on the B&O or Pennsylvania Railroad tracks.
Wonderful. Now when are they going to pay back the $500,000 in tax money they used for their study? They also need to sign a contract stating they will never ever ask for a single dime in taxpayer subsidies. They don't need our money to build their railroad.
More importantly though I would like you to point out where I have ever called you a name. When you can't find it I expect an apology here.
Either we can discuss mass transit and high speed rail like adults or we can stoop to liberal tactics such as name calling etc. I'd rather stay on the adult level thank you.
1. We are tired of Willie championing every new attempt by the mass tranist folks to pick our pockets. Subsidies for non-feasible and non-essential endeavors is not conservative.
2. Consumer rail demands that it's riders live in geographically restricted areas. (Can't ride the train if you can't get to the station). It is usually seen as (and usually is) a thinly veiled attempt at control over the masses.
3. Consumer rail has a huge history of never making a profit. yet they try to pick our pockets based on projected ridership. No one rides the trains if they can help it. And only a very small percentage of the population would even find the trains useful. It is advancing someone else's hobby at our expense.
I’ve checked...it was a B&O train that ran through the mills, etc. from Pittsburgh to McKeesport...conductors, diesel engines, the whole works. The best part was the final 60 mph cruise along the Mon to the downtown Station at Grant and the Blvd. of the Allies. The station, tracks, are gone now.
Wonderful. Now when are they going to pay back the $500,000 in tax money they used for their study? They also need to sign a contract stating they will never ever ask for a single dime in taxpayer subsidies. They don't need our money to build their railroad.Don't be silly, pinhead.
Allegheny Valley Railroad never received any taxpayer monies. They're a private short-line railroad.
The $500K was given to The Westmoreland County Transit Authority (and the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission) to explore passenger rail from Latrobe/Greensburg to Pittsburgh in addition to this NewKen/Arnold to Pittsburgh Route. All Allegheny Valley Railroad is doing is citing this study and offering an alternative that the study didn't consider. So why make THEM pay for the study???
More importantly though I would like you to point out where I have ever called you a name. When you can't find it I expect an apology here.If you don't want to be called a pinhead, quit posting like a wimpy pinhead.
Hells bells.... you're such an anti-passenger rail bigot and flying monkey that, when I post an article about a PRIVATE short-line RR wanting to offer commuter passenger service, you right away start with the knee-jerk anti-rail rants and pinging the Mod like a pansie to censor any PRIVATE pro-passenger rail support.
Grow up, Johnnie... and quit hiding behind the moderator's skirts.
I am not an "anti-passenger rail" bigot. I am an "anti-using my money to pay for these projects that will never show a profit and which will never, ever be useful to me" bigot. Huge difference.
I love passenger rail and would ride the trains more if I could afford it in terms of time and money. That's the problem with the whole thing. Very few can afford the time and the money to ride the rails. Passenger rail is a great idea whose time has passed. (sadly)
If this particular example of passenger rail works out then I will be thrilled. Private enterprise using no public money (ever) and serving a need. Fantastic.
This would be the very first instance of a totally private endeavor that I have ever seen you post. Almost all your posts are putting your hands in our pockets to get the cash to pay for your rail hobby.
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