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"Amtrak sets debut for second train" was the headline atop the Mirror's Aug. 25 edition.
However, there is much more to the story than that headline was able to communicate, and that includes the message that appeared beneath the headline: "Added Pennsylvanian route scheduled to start in November."
That "much more to the story" came from Mark Spada, president of Western Pennsylvanians for Passenger Rail. His message, one that cannot be spoken or referred-to too often, is that the ridership that the second Pennsylvanian draws will be key to any further service advancements.
That means that any possibility of adding additional trains in future years will depend on how well the proverbial homework is done to encourage potential passengers to remain fixated on leaving their personal vehicles at home and "taking the train."
Good reasons for train, rather than personal vehicle travel, especially on business trips, are, for starters, these: avoiding the challenges of getting in and out of places like Pittsburgh, Harrisburg and New York City on congested roadways; avoiding the need to purchase gasoline for such trips at fuel costs most drivers consider to be outrageous; eliminating the oftentimes-burdensome task of locating open parking spaces in the inner-city business districts; and paying the huge parking fees in business-district parking lots to which business people of the six-county Southern Alleghenies region are unaccustomed.
Stack up the costs, inconveniences and challenges referenced above against the conveniences associated with "taking the train" and it is easy to calculate that train travel is the better bargain, especially for those on a business mission.
The solution to ensure that passenger-train travel numbers here will enable continuance of the second train and possibly show the benefits of adding an additional train or trains in the future is to engage in a nonstop promotional effort on behalf of this added travel opportunity soon to be launched.
One obvious promotional tactic is to provide examples of how business people and recreational travelers in, for example, the Cumberland, Md., area can benefit from opting for train travel by making the quick, economical trip up Route 220 and Interstate 99 to Altoona to "catch the train."
Such examples can be promoted for those for whom Johnstown would be a more convenient location for beginning and returning.
Steve McKnight, CEO of Altoona Blair County Development Corporation, was right in pointing out in the Aug. 25 Mirror article that the ultimate gold standard for passenger rail service is the high-speed intercity system in Europe, where there are 10 to 20 departures from any given location daily.
But Rob Gleason of Johnstown, an Amtrak board member, was also on target when he pointed out that, while the addition of the second Pennsylvanian still leaves passenger service far short of that ideal, it's nevertheless "a step in the right direction."
There still are people who are skeptical about the potential success of the second train and about passenger-train travel in general. The goal must be to prove them wrong -- very wrong.
One roadblock to increased passenger-train opportunities always has been the issue of interference with freight-train operations. But ways have been found to minimize such interference, thanks in part to state and federal money paying for right-of-way improvements as well as station upgrades.
The bottom line is that a great opportunity is before this region. The only question is whether this region will succeed in taking full advantage of it.