I have just a few comments to make about today’s Kellar Branch editorial. I knew when I saw a pro-rail article on Sunday that a negative editorial had to be just around the corner, and the Journal Star did not dissapoint.

Titled “Commuter rail on Kellar line a fantasy,” the Journal Star tells us to “[f]ile this [idea] under the folder marked ‘Pie in the Sky.'” This, from a newspaper that thinks a hiking trail is going to draw tourists and residents to Peoria in droves, as if a hiking trail were some sort of unique geological feature not present in every other city.

They argue that riding the train downtown would take too long. “Peoria’s the 15-minute city, remember? It’s far easier to hop in the car.” “Even if gas was $5 a gallon,” they insist, “it’s hard to believe that North Peoria and Dunlap workers and shoppers in any number would park their cars at a depot” and take the train. Yet just four months ago (May 6), they one of their reporters had this to say: “Hikers and bikers hoping to save gasoline or work off calories on the Kellar Branch trail likely won’t be using it any time soon.” (emphasis mine) So, apparently, the Journal Star trail advocates believes that people will park their cars at a trail access point, walk or bike in the elements to their workplace or to go shopping, all in an effort to save gas. But they won’t go to an enclosed depot, get on a climate-controlled train, and ride it to work or go shopping. Somehow, that plan isn’t “Pie in the Sky.”

The next line is killer: “Beyond that, who’s going to pay for this? Where’s the feasibility study? If private sector folks were convinced they could do this without courting bankruptcy, they’d be lining up, wouldn’t they?” Ironically, Pioneer Railcorp, a private business, has already offered to pay for it. They’ve been lining up to purchase the line, provide freight service, help build the trail, and provide commuter/tourist train service. And they’ve had that offer on the table for two years. The city would get $565,000 for the line, $100,000 in help building the trail, yet the Journal Star implies this private development would be costlier to the taxpayer than ripping out the half-million dollar asset and leasing the whole right-of-way to the Park District for $1/year for 99 years! And speaking of feasibility studies, where is the Park District’s?

“Let’s call this proposal what it is: a misguided attempt to try to derail plans for a Kellar branch hiking/biking trail,” they say. First of all, let’s not mix metaphors. The hiking/biking trail proponents are the ones who want to “de-rail” the Kellar Branch. Secondly, that statement is patently untrue. Those who want to save the Kellar rail line are in favor of a trail side-by-side with the rail line. Pioneer has even offered to donate $100,000 in equipment and labor toward building the trail! Ignorance is bliss at 1 News Plaza. The Journal Star seems to be exhibiting a martyr complex.

This statement is puzzling: “The more shrill opponents erroneously assert that anyone who supports a Kellar hiking trail must then oppose trains, as if rail and trail were arch-enemies. Wrong. Central Illinois’ freight rail infrastructure greatly benefits the region.” This, after they just finished falsely accusing commuter rail proponents of opposing trails! Add projection to the martyr complex. And who are these “shrill opponents” of whom they speak?

“But let’s not kid ourselves. Peoria isn’t […] Napa Valley, Calif., drawing the tens of thousands of customers necessary to sustain a tourism train.” Did you know the Journal Star was an expert on how many customers are necessary to sustain a tourist train? I’m sure they’ve done an exhaustive feasibility study on this. Pioneer Railcorp actually owns and operates a tourist train in Gettysburg, Penn. Who do you think is in a better position to guage the feasibility of this plan — Pioneer or the Journal Star?

I won’t bother typing out the final paragraph as it’s just a summary of their faulty reasoning. Whether or not you believe commuter rail is feasible, at least it would be provided by a private company and the city would derive the proceeds of over a half-million dollars for the line. And if commuter service fails, the city would still have freight rail service and a trail alongside the rail line. So, what is there to lose?