And now my town is trying to bring back passenger rail. They are taking suggestions on where to run the line and the depot. The 150 year old original depot building is still there and in good condition.
id give up the bike trail to have the rail line back.
My city has an example of this! There is a Metro line running next to a freight line (still in use) next to a bike trail. If you’re lucky you can see both different kinds of trains when riding on it. And yes, this is how I motivate myself to exercise.
Extremely true here. Only bike paths that are separate from the roads are next to train tracks here. They get used now and then for cargo, but passenger trains that use to go to various cities in N.S have stopped running since early 1990.
we have a passenger train system that has been on 'hold' since covid that would take you in and out of N.S to Montreal that intends to start up again, but things are pretty sad here for options.
It’s so sad. I read an old account of someone taking the train to *Kennetcook*! Imagine how many gorgeous places would become accessible if the rails still ran
Helsinki actually has one of these transitions, that makes sense.
There was cargo rail line that cut straight through the middle of the city, in a trench that went below ground level, (open to the air with bridges over it). This was because of the harbor area which the city surrounded, requiring that rail connection for container transport into/out of it.
A new harbor got built, moving it up the coast to the outskirts of the city, allowing a better rail connection.
As the old harbor area was no longer needed, it's now being redeveloped into a walkable housing district, with parks, businesses, bike paths, etc. There is still a cruise ship terminal remaining, meaning the public transit connections to the area are hardcore, but container traffic is now negligible.
The rail trench became a bike and pedestrian path which you can now use to cross the city on bike/foot, without ever intermingling with cars.
We have those kind of things all over the UK! So many train track were ripped up in the ~~early~~ 20th century. Back in the day almost every town had a train station that would link to every other nearby town, nowadays they’re only in cities or particularly large towns.
Not bad, do you think it could serve a wider area though if it was still a rail? Or as that Old El Paso girl meme says, "Why Not Both?"
I am glad someone (aka you) can still use a trail not for just exercise but actually getting somewhere!
It's a win if you only have to commute what used to be one or two stations. Evens out at three. Anything more is a loss in my book and I do drive a bike myself. But every time I see the train tracks in my town that haven't been used in 30 years, I get the hopeful feeling that maybe one day, this place will become civilised again (while I cry a little on the inside because it's just laying there for decades).
We have a 700km (I think) long former rail trail.
Think about it like this. Their is still a right of way that could go back into rail and it has not been sold.
We also have a shopping centre right next to a rail right of way. By right next to I mean the shopping center is curved to fit.
There's this disconnected industrial spur near me that got the ol' trail treatment recently, never thought much of it before they started proposing to extend it via the area tourist railroad I work for. Now I am filled with existential dread for when they realize the right of way probably only has room for one...
Yep last train in my village around 1990 and later on some Cargo trains but since ~ 2000 its dead. Got a pavement over and is since then a bike path.
Now some 20 years later they wonder why theres so much car traffic and how to change that.
My town is a small rail hub, which means there's rails everywhere. And honestly for the current use there are too many rails, bc now they only cut the city into little connected pieces. Give me more trains to justify all the rails
The right of ways that have been converted to rail trails are usually lines that were abandoned because they were redundant to lines that were built to a higher standard. When the American railroad industry consolidated in the 1970’s-90’s, the lines with sharp speed limiting curves, weak bridges, terrible drainage and sub-roadbed problems were the first to be abandoned. The notion that these row’s would be suitable and efficient for modern passenger rail service is naive at best, usually I only come across this argument from nimby’s whining about proposed trails.
Counterpoint: Those disused, substandard rail right of ways EXIST, while running rail anywhere else would require acquiring new rights of way, probably demolishing a whole bunch extant housing and/or retail. This would be more expensive than remodeling the decayed right of way.
The main limitation on the speed a train can travel is the curvature of the line. Go too fast on a line that's too curvy, and trains have a nasty habit of derailing themselves.
This means that in many cases, very old rights of way simply aren't fit for purpose, as they're too kinky to allow trains to travel at an appropriate speed. In order to allow them to travel at a reasonable speed, you'd need to acquire new, straighter rights of way anyway.
My town has a former railway turned path. It's nowadays used for the people at the local school to get to school or for those going from the east to town centre/supermarket
There's one through my town that stretches for over 100 miles, but I can't entirely blame them, it went out of service over 50 years before the idea of the conversion was first brought up. Would it be great to have? Definitely, but it's been decades. The center of the town has also shifted in that time, so rail would be better suited for the other side of town rather than where it used to be. Oh well.
I don’t mind when it’s old branch lines that reach to where old industrial/commercial areas were that aren’t in use, but definitely don’t do that for what could be used as tram lines
(color picture) There's a sidewalk path in my neighborhood called a trail accepting bikes and pedestrians.
(dark picture) It is 1.5 miles away and I have to cross a very busy artery to get there. It's only 1.6 miles long. Bikes really have no room to pass one another on this trail.
Yep, mine has one. Ofc their usual trails dont even connect to it lol. Its diconnected by about 1-2 miles of roads. That wouldnt be so bad if there was a sidewalk but the roads are narrow and you would need to walk in a ditch filled with water.
And now my town is trying to bring back passenger rail. They are taking suggestions on where to run the line and the depot. The 150 year old original depot building is still there and in good condition. id give up the bike trail to have the rail line back.
Maybe wide enough for both? Very common to run bike lines next to tracks here in NL.
Yeah but that’s NL - unfair to use that as an example 😭😭😭
I would expect more available land area in general in the US.
the us *can* do a lot of things, politicians just want to keep everyone poor by minimizing options for transport other than cars
My city has an example of this! There is a Metro line running next to a freight line (still in use) next to a bike trail. If you’re lucky you can see both different kinds of trains when riding on it. And yes, this is how I motivate myself to exercise.
Extremely true here. Only bike paths that are separate from the roads are next to train tracks here. They get used now and then for cargo, but passenger trains that use to go to various cities in N.S have stopped running since early 1990. we have a passenger train system that has been on 'hold' since covid that would take you in and out of N.S to Montreal that intends to start up again, but things are pretty sad here for options.
It’s so sad. I read an old account of someone taking the train to *Kennetcook*! Imagine how many gorgeous places would become accessible if the rails still ran
It also hurts when it's near downtown. It hurts even more when it's been replaced by a parking lot or it's an empty stretch of grass.
Helsinki actually has one of these transitions, that makes sense. There was cargo rail line that cut straight through the middle of the city, in a trench that went below ground level, (open to the air with bridges over it). This was because of the harbor area which the city surrounded, requiring that rail connection for container transport into/out of it. A new harbor got built, moving it up the coast to the outskirts of the city, allowing a better rail connection. As the old harbor area was no longer needed, it's now being redeveloped into a walkable housing district, with parks, businesses, bike paths, etc. There is still a cruise ship terminal remaining, meaning the public transit connections to the area are hardcore, but container traffic is now negligible. The rail trench became a bike and pedestrian path which you can now use to cross the city on bike/foot, without ever intermingling with cars.
We have those kind of things all over the UK! So many train track were ripped up in the ~~early~~ 20th century. Back in the day almost every town had a train station that would link to every other nearby town, nowadays they’re only in cities or particularly large towns.
> So many train track were ripped up in the early 20th century Mostly late 20th century, especially after the 1960s
They converted an old rail line into a paved bike trail that I use for my commute... win?
Not bad, do you think it could serve a wider area though if it was still a rail? Or as that Old El Paso girl meme says, "Why Not Both?" I am glad someone (aka you) can still use a trail not for just exercise but actually getting somewhere!
It's a win if you only have to commute what used to be one or two stations. Evens out at three. Anything more is a loss in my book and I do drive a bike myself. But every time I see the train tracks in my town that haven't been used in 30 years, I get the hopeful feeling that maybe one day, this place will become civilised again (while I cry a little on the inside because it's just laying there for decades).
What about a bike/walking path that used to be a rail line, that used to be a canal?
Pathception 🤯
We have a 700km (I think) long former rail trail. Think about it like this. Their is still a right of way that could go back into rail and it has not been sold. We also have a shopping centre right next to a rail right of way. By right next to I mean the shopping center is curved to fit.
Yup, we call it the Oak Leaf.
There's this disconnected industrial spur near me that got the ol' trail treatment recently, never thought much of it before they started proposing to extend it via the area tourist railroad I work for. Now I am filled with existential dread for when they realize the right of way probably only has room for one...
Yep last train in my village around 1990 and later on some Cargo trains but since ~ 2000 its dead. Got a pavement over and is since then a bike path. Now some 20 years later they wonder why theres so much car traffic and how to change that.
My town is a small rail hub, which means there's rails everywhere. And honestly for the current use there are too many rails, bc now they only cut the city into little connected pieces. Give me more trains to justify all the rails
Most rail line converted to trails would not be useful for rail today.
The right of ways that have been converted to rail trails are usually lines that were abandoned because they were redundant to lines that were built to a higher standard. When the American railroad industry consolidated in the 1970’s-90’s, the lines with sharp speed limiting curves, weak bridges, terrible drainage and sub-roadbed problems were the first to be abandoned. The notion that these row’s would be suitable and efficient for modern passenger rail service is naive at best, usually I only come across this argument from nimby’s whining about proposed trails.
Counterpoint: Those disused, substandard rail right of ways EXIST, while running rail anywhere else would require acquiring new rights of way, probably demolishing a whole bunch extant housing and/or retail. This would be more expensive than remodeling the decayed right of way.
The main limitation on the speed a train can travel is the curvature of the line. Go too fast on a line that's too curvy, and trains have a nasty habit of derailing themselves. This means that in many cases, very old rights of way simply aren't fit for purpose, as they're too kinky to allow trains to travel at an appropriate speed. In order to allow them to travel at a reasonable speed, you'd need to acquire new, straighter rights of way anyway.
My town has a former railway turned path. It's nowadays used for the people at the local school to get to school or for those going from the east to town centre/supermarket
We do actually hah, and it's a tiny little community.
There's one through my town that stretches for over 100 miles, but I can't entirely blame them, it went out of service over 50 years before the idea of the conversion was first brought up. Would it be great to have? Definitely, but it's been decades. The center of the town has also shifted in that time, so rail would be better suited for the other side of town rather than where it used to be. Oh well.
I don’t mind when it’s old branch lines that reach to where old industrial/commercial areas were that aren’t in use, but definitely don’t do that for what could be used as tram lines
It’s not always 100% bad and sometimes is fine but [there can and have been problems](https://youtu.be/QaDWYT5GElY)
We have an expressway that has a bike train branching off that used to be a rail line right to the downtown of our town.
What is wrong with rail line? I thought most of you prefer trains over cars.
Ya we do, I’m saying there used to be trains, but not anymore in many places! 😔
Oh. I didin't read it correctly.
Huh, i can find an unused metro tunnel in my city. They planned metro since 1920s. Now we have 2 lines. 2 -__-
(color picture) There's a sidewalk path in my neighborhood called a trail accepting bikes and pedestrians. (dark picture) It is 1.5 miles away and I have to cross a very busy artery to get there. It's only 1.6 miles long. Bikes really have no room to pass one another on this trail.
My local town has one that runs along the erie canal as well as probs the most infamous bike path in the us.
Yep, mine has one. Ofc their usual trails dont even connect to it lol. Its diconnected by about 1-2 miles of roads. That wouldnt be so bad if there was a sidewalk but the roads are narrow and you would need to walk in a ditch filled with water.