On June 16, representatives from Stone Consulting are expected to meet with the Worcester County Commissioners to share information on the costs and infrastructure changes that would be associated with setting up a tourist train on the local rail line.
“They’re going to quantify that,” said Bill Badger, economic development director for Worcester County.
Local officials have been investigating the possibility of bringing an excursion train to the area since early 2014. The Worcester County Commissioners hired Stone Consulting to explore the concept and in November, the company issued a report detailing the interest in and marketability of the concept. While there was interest in a special event excursion train, the consultant said the condition of the track being used by the Maryland and Delaware Railroad Co. freight trains would need to be addressed.
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Make sure they invite the world , we don't want them to be accused of a closed meeting.....oh that's right it's in Worcester not Wicomico, it will be okay.
ReplyDelete"Gustafson told the commissioners at that time that an excursion railroad in Worcester County COULD (emphasis added) attract close to 77,000 riders a year."
ReplyDeleteOperative word being could. Yes if it was free it could attract that many people. Of course they probably would be tourists that had already come here for other reasons and would decide to partake of a free experience. Every 15 years someone brings up the idea of an excursion train on the lower shore and then the politicians spend money on a study and nothing happens except some consulting firm makes some money from doing a study. Reminds me of Salisbury with the multiple studies that have been done over the last 50 years to transform downtown. Including the study that led to the current plaza that was blasted by most people as soon as it came out. Of course the politicians didn't listen and went ahead with it.
It's not too late to change their minds on this.If the expense becomes overwhelming during the planning phase it will get much worse during execution.Budget breaking expenses cannot be recouped by tourism.If improvements to the railroad serve a dual purpose and "if" that line is used for freight first and tourism second it just might work.
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