It was very upsetting to read about Mayor Donchess being bullish on Nashua’s future. In reality, the Mayor is shoveling bull to the Nashua taxpayers.
Articles tagged as
Rail
Amtrak Wish-List Includes Rail into NH No One Will Use
Commuter Rail should not be a priority in New Hampshire for more reasons than I can count, but I’ve counted them for the past 12 years, with some success. Now, it looks like Amtrak has imagined a spur from Masskachusetts to Concord. Why? Seriously, why?
Trains and Trucks and Scandinavia Sucks
Fun fact, kids. Your Grumpy Observer has always been fascinated with the transportation and logistics industries. An intricate system of people and marvels, like the Antonov plane or Ro-ro vessels, all flawlessly coordinated to bring you your cargo, or in-laws, just in time for production or babysitting. C’est Magnifique.
Quick Shot: Reminder for Public Transit Rail Junkies – Your Fix Never Gets Less Expensive
Commuter rail for New Hampshire is probably one the stupidest ideas on which the left will not give up. There is no sensible application but one. Help New Hampshire residents leave the Granite State to work in Massachusettes. It has no practical application for us. Most of the state lives nowhere near it. Will never … Read more
Nashua Mayor Asks For 4 Million From Surplus None of it For Commuter Rail
I guess there are bigger priorities in Nashua than “Choo Choo.” Capital equipment. Playgrounds. Sidewalks. A few ‘plants’ to spiffy up the joint. Work on a community center. Repurposing technology and updating an online dashboard so residents can access information from about city projects and initiatives. Like choo choo?
Nashua has four million dollars (leftover) and not a penny of it earmarked for another rail study.
They did earmark some to remove invasive species. No, not out-of-state Massachusetts voters living in Dem. Rep. Cindy Rosenwald’s house; plants by the river, or something.
Railing Away…
The NH Heroin Train from Marxachusetts, Commuter Fail, Trump vs. Kelly, and Hobby News vs. the real deal.
NH Executive Council Votes To Explore Boondoggle
The Executive Council, by a vote of 4-1, has approved a 3.7 million dollar feasibility study–all three Democrats and sometime Republican Ray Burton voted to approve the expense. “Expanded rail service to Nashua and beyond has the potential to boost New Hampshire’s economy and create jobs. The only way we can understand the full impact … Read more
Commuter Rail in NH Is a Fools Errand
I don’t typically link to the Concord Fish Wrapper, but this is worth the trip. I am a retired highway engineer and transportation planner with more than 36 years of experience in eight states and Washington, D.C. My opinions are based on experience, 42 years of transportation policy observations and objective study of publicly available … Read more
Rep Leishman Lawsuit Tossed; Pan Am gets Revenge?
The Nashua Telegraph is reporting that Rep. Peter Leishman (D – Milford-Bennington Railway), recently re-elected to the NH House, just had his lawsuit thrown out by Judge Paul Barbadoro of the U.S. District Court in Concord. Leishman was suing Pan Am Railways for allegedly violating a contract by refusing to let him operate on their track. But apparently Pan Am can block Milford-Bennington from using their track and no amount of fussing by Rep Leishman will be able to change that. The judge noted that he did not condone Pan Am’s conduct in barring Milford-Bennington but there was no legal reason to allow Leishman’s lawsuit against them to proceed.
Pan Am has to be excited about the ruling. Keeping Milford-Bennington off their track sounds a lot like payback to me. Payback for what you ask?
Death To Rail (Bride Of RTA)
This is what we call the tits-on-a-bull defense. Chris wants rail. There is no good reason for it, he just wants it. And he could care less that we already have infrastructure that works, that is more adaptable, and which costs significantly less to operate.
Democrats, Trains And HB 218
The Union Leader has a great editorial in this mornings Sunday News titled "Free Trains." It is great for several reasons the least of which is that it mirrors concerns I have been expressing for years. That no matter who pays to build them, someone has to pay to keep them. That would be New Hampshire Taxpayers. But Democrats are aghast that the NH House would dissolve the New Hampshire Rail Transit Authority–the head of a beast seeking to force commuter rail upon us–because hey it doesn’t cost anything.
But it does cost and it could lead to something that costs us even more in the future. A lot more.
December 2009 at NH Insider – I hit it out of the park when someone compared road taxes to rail taxes.
Passenger rail costs are not limited to the root infrastructure itself. That would be rails versus roads. Taxpayers would have to subsidize passenger rail-cars, fuel the cars, maintain the cars, probably pay the workers and their benefits, and support the entire system when it fails to turn a profit, which will be always and probably forever. While roads have some other infrastructure nothing compares to rail.
In contrast people buy their own cars, and pay for their own fuel and maintenance. They may buy the car to get to a job that’s probably not funded by taxpayers either. (Except in Concord) Taxpayers do not need to subsidize any of that where with rail we’re supporting all of it. So there is no possible apples to apples comparison to road and rail taxes.
The state also makes a lot of money on registration fees and fuel taxes for road vehicles, tolls and license plates, and some towns rely so heavily on registration fees that even minor reductions can cause budget issues. Passenger rail offers no comparable net increase in revenues and in all likely hood a net loss. So Passenger rail risks reducing revenues and increasing tax obligations for no significant greater good.
But that’s hardly the most pressing point about the ongoing illusion of free commuter rail…