Editorial: Paranoia about All Aboard Florida train service... | www.mypalmbeachpost.com

The Palm Beach Post editorial board weighs in and supports the concept behind All Aboard Florida. In the process, they debunk some of the myths. These are the sorts of myths we've become used to hearing in Lake Worth. Usually built by stacking dark, conspiracy theories on top of others, they can take a life of their own if they aren't addressed early and often. This article does that. Click title for link.

"It is very possible that All Aboard Florida, which will include stations in West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale, will not be profitable for years or even decades. Even so, it still may be a wise investment for FEC because the service will vastly boost the value of the property it owns around the service’s planned stops, including 9 acres in downtown Miami and land near Clematis Street in downtown West Palm Beach. “I don’t know that they have to make a profit (on the rail service) for the project to be successful overall,” said Charles Banks, an Arlington, Va.-based railroad consultant.

Despite growing opposition in northern Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast, there is little that can be done to prevent the company from running passenger trains along its own tracks if it wishes to. And in fact, there is no good reason to oppose it.

If All Aboard is successful, it will be a boon to South Florida – a mass-transit alternative in an urbanizing region, established at no direct cost to the public. The plan’s novelty calls for skepticism. It does not call for paranoia."