Readers React: Get on board with Lehigh Valley train service

Trains are appealing, more reliable and vastly better for the environment than buses or cars — ridership will flourish.

THE MORNING CALL |

JUL 02, 2021 AT 10:30 AM

Paul Muschick’s recent column in The Morning Call regarding Amtrak is shortsighted and pessimistic.

If federal funds motivate Amtrak to extend routes to the Lehigh Valley, we should jump at the opportunity. Train service is exactly the kind of forward thinking we need to attract business, industry and jobs.

Business leaders, tourists and people wanting to relocate want accessibility. There are few bus or car commuters because the trip is uncomfortable, traffic unpredictable and parking an expensive hassle.

Trains are appealing, more reliable and vastly better for the environment than buses or cars — ridership will flourish.

Properly managed, the increased revenue from new businesses can be used to address other needs and services. And think of our property values. Vibrant communities with well funded services need thriving real estate markets.

The obstruction here is lack of train service. Nothing else can explain our relative obscurity.

The cities of the Lehigh Valley have been struggling to prosper for years; making slow, incremental progress toward an elusive prosperity that never seems to materialize. Train service would put us on the map and propel us into the 21st century.

Get on board.

Leslie Sackman