From today's "Your Views" in The Record:
Regarding "On the wrong track?" (Page A-1, Feb. 18) on the Passaic-Bergen railroad, I would like to say the proposed service is a good start, but the line needs to actually go somewhere.
For this line to work, it must extend several miles east, from Hackensack to North Bergen, where it can connect with the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail line. I think then you would tap into a much bigger market and make the line worthwhile. Maywood and Saddle Brook should also be stops.
Another option would be to extend the line westward from Hawthorne to Butler. Towns that need and want rail service, like Oakland and Pompton Lakes, could benefit; apparently, the mayors want it ("Towns' dreams derailed," Page A-1, Dec. 3, 2006). You would take cars off Routes 23 and 208 if it went westward.
Keith Smollin
Maywood, Feb. 18
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As a convinced partisan of rail transport, I was most interested in "The wrong track?" (Page A-1, Feb. 19).
However, investing nearly $7 million to "test" diesel multiple-unit cars is a travesty. Such cars were fully tested, proven and extensively used on major railroads, including the New York Central and the Southern Pacific, more than 50 years ago.
Built by the Budd Co., they were known at the time as RDCs -- rail diesel cars. Budd was a very innovative firm, and these sleek cars, with their gleaming stainless steel exteriors, would not look the least bit outmoded today. There are some still around, and they could probably be put into service quickly, perhaps needing only sprucing up (the stainless, of course, requires only periodic washing). This would permit the testing of a new passenger service at minimum cost.
Then, and only then, if additional ones were needed, they could be built using virtually the same drawings, although some improvements would undoubtedly be incorporated. With this in mind, one wonders why we must re-invent the wheel in cases such as this!
Daniel LeMaire Bauch
Ridgewood, Feb. 20
