04-18-2009, 10:49 PM
Grumpyguy wrote:
Seriously, about 15-20 years ago, they tore out a bunch a railroad tracks that the railroads themselves offered to the state.
Cincinnati and Hamilton County could have installed a light rail system.
Instead they tore up the tracks, tore down the trestles and put in a few bike paths and sold the rest of the land.
Was a missed opportunity.
Yeah, the railroads abandoned the lines years before that though and that was a way to get the property off their books and no longer pay property tax where that applied. Most of the track roadbeds they gave up would not have been suitable for putting in high speed rail though. They went to small towns, or did not go to or through areas where they would get much passenger traffic. Conversely, in the heavily populated corridors where they would get plenty of passengers, the railroads own the rails and make it difficult to get passenger trains through at normal speeds, let alone high speed.
Some ares did take the abandoned roadbeds and use them for commuter light rail, but not enough. Most did the same as you described.