As rail enthusiasts continue to push for commuter rail service between York and Maryland, the conversation is changing.

Supporters are shifting their efforts away from light rail and more toward heavy-rail passenger train service they say is faster and less expensive.

Meanwhile, members of the York Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, which directs York-area transportation spending, say bus and van services are more feasible.

The metropolitan planning organization's members, who discussed the rail possibility yesterday, said the county's transportation budget is barely enough to cover road maintenance. Transit projects are already facing cuts because of the level of state support.

But rail proponent and York City Council Vice President Joe Musso said such a project is more doable than county planners suggest.

A passenger rail service linking York City to Hunt Valley, Md., would allow York commuters to connect to Baltimore's light rail system, Musso said. An additional rail link to downtown Baltimore could allow commuters to catch trains to Washington, D.C., and beyond.

"It may be something we can get up and running up and down in relatively short order," Musso said.

Costs unknown: No one has calculated what such a project might cost, but Musso said much of the necessary infrastructure is already in place and in the county's control.

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Nevertheless, York County Commissioner Doug Kilgore, who is the metropolitan planning organization's chairman, said the rail conversation is unlikely to leave the discussion phase.

"Certainly it's easy to look at that idea and say it is a great idea, but at the end of the day, there are tremendous financial hurdles for the idea," Kilgore said.

Funding troubles that have
hampered the Corridor One rail proposal connecting Harrisburg to Philadelphia are an indicator of the lack of support a rail project in York would likely receive, Kilgore said. Instead, he said it is inevitable that transportation dollars will go toward widening Interstate 83.

Two states: Felicia Dell, executive director of the York County Planning Commission, said van pools and buses are the transit options most likely to get the attention of the metropolitan planning organization's attention, because those options face fewer logistical hurdles.

Rabbit Transit is already soliciting commuters for its van pools to Maryland and other locations, in which users pay for a shared vehicle they use to drive together.

Connecting York to Maryland is more a priority for those living in Pennsylvania than in Maryland, where land just south of the Mason-Dixon line is an agricultural preserve, Dell said. Additionally, commuters from York County into Maryland might not have destinations that are close enough together to make rail transit convenient.

But Musso said van and possible bus links to Maryland could end up laying the way for passenger rail by helping planners gauge commuter demand. Ultimately, he said he does expect the federal government to get interested, because a rail link would allow federal workers living in York County to reach jobs in Baltimore and Washington, D.C.

--Reach Daina Klimanis at 505-5439 or dklimanis@yorkdispatch.com.