The article "Push for rail study," May 7, was a good summary of the current issues in the ongoing debate over the railroad line that connects Lake Placid and Utica. The article reported a request to the state Department of Transportation and the state Department of Environmental Conservation to review the Utica-Remsen Corridor Management Plan.
Most significant to me was the quote from Railroad Executive Officer Bethan Maher who said the railroad carried 71,000 riders last year — the most since 1993. That was the second year of the Adirondack Centennial Railroad, an operation that benefitted greatly from all of the publicity generated from celebrating the centennial of the establishment of the Adirondack Park. The only ride offered in that year was a five-mile trip south from Thendara to the bridge over Moose River and back. After 1993, ridership dropped.
In 2012, the Adirondack Scenic Railroad ran four operations (Utica-Thendara, short Thendara excursion, Lake Placid-Saranac, and the Polar Express) but only managed to equal its earlier high-water mark established with only one operation. Additionally, a change in how railroads count their passengers allows the railroad to count many round-trip passengers as two riders.
So, let's say someone were to open a store and achieve a certain level of success their first year. Then, that person opens three more stores but only after 20 years do they achieve the same volume of business as the first year of the single store. I question whether that business would survive that long.
I trust these economics will be considered when the Corridor Management Plan is finally reviewed.
Tony Goodwin
Keene