by Nester
Interesting presentation, but what solution does it offer? You have a bus that currently runs from Beacon's train station up to Main Street, and on to Route 9/Walmart/Westage Center. It's not full. Competing with that using a diesel MU or something similar is going to be more expensive and also run empty. It also fails to serve the two destinations that fill the bus (Main St. Beacon traffic and Westage/Walmart)
Also, the idea of placing the Fishkill station in the village behind the shopping plaza with CVS is likely to be a non-starter without additional traffic improvements on Main St/Route 52. It's a two-lane road that is a mess during "rush hours". That says nothing for the people on Blodgett or the folks who use the businesses in the CVS plaza. It also doesn't serve the Route 9 corridor (the same person using the bus isn't going to walk to Route 9 and then south to get to Westage or Walmart).
The population growth does not (nor does the original population number) take into account the number of residents who work in New York City or other communities served by the MNR Hudson line. How many of these new residents work in Manhattan? How many work at other businesses on Route 9? Or in Brewster? Or White Plains?
A DMU could be a nice feeder to Beacon from Hopewell if you could get enough cars off the road to make difference or attract new riders to use the system. As you have half-empty buses already running a portion of the route, experimenting with service that would cannibalize it seems like a waste.
If MNR had a spare $400MM (ha!) you could upgrade the line and eliminate some killer grade crossings (like Route 9) and provide service from Beacon to Brewster. But how many people live up here to take advantage of it? Unless White Plains becomes the new Manhattan and generates a job boom and related population growth, this seems like a railfan/policy wonk fantasy for our lifetimes.
Also, the idea of placing the Fishkill station in the village behind the shopping plaza with CVS is likely to be a non-starter without additional traffic improvements on Main St/Route 52. It's a two-lane road that is a mess during "rush hours". That says nothing for the people on Blodgett or the folks who use the businesses in the CVS plaza. It also doesn't serve the Route 9 corridor (the same person using the bus isn't going to walk to Route 9 and then south to get to Westage or Walmart).
The population growth does not (nor does the original population number) take into account the number of residents who work in New York City or other communities served by the MNR Hudson line. How many of these new residents work in Manhattan? How many work at other businesses on Route 9? Or in Brewster? Or White Plains?
A DMU could be a nice feeder to Beacon from Hopewell if you could get enough cars off the road to make difference or attract new riders to use the system. As you have half-empty buses already running a portion of the route, experimenting with service that would cannibalize it seems like a waste.
If MNR had a spare $400MM (ha!) you could upgrade the line and eliminate some killer grade crossings (like Route 9) and provide service from Beacon to Brewster. But how many people live up here to take advantage of it? Unless White Plains becomes the new Manhattan and generates a job boom and related population growth, this seems like a railfan/policy wonk fantasy for our lifetimes.
"Beacon next; make sure you're right"