LV Rail Advocate Chugs Away

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Back in 1992, rail advocate Kirk Raub was pitching Lehigh Valley Scenic Railways, a tourist attraction that would follow the Monocacy Creek between Bath and Bethlehem. That proposal ran out of steam, but Raub is still chugging away.

At a City Council meeting on April 17, Raub suggested that Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton establish a rail transit agency and then approach both counties for a referendum on a funding mechanism.

"It's not the impossible amount of money that had been suggested by the study that had been done," Raub assured everyone.

A $250,000 regional rail study, released in 2010, revealed that it would cost $1 billion for a passenger rail line to New York City, serving about 800 riders. In a floodplain.

Raub nevertheless insisted that rail service would still be an "efficient" way to move people into the Lehigh Valley so they could send their money here. He also claimed to have had "a very good talk" with Easton City Council. "Things may actually be rolling in Easton more quickly than anywhere else," Raub stated.

Bethlehem City Council took no immediate action in response to Raub, who said he'll be back.