Rail travel would enliven living here

Southeast Louisiana, including St. Charles Parish, is fast becoming a metropolitan area. Growth between Baton Rouge and New Orleans is making it difficult to travel the roadways between the two cities.

As we labor our way between them along Interstate 10, one wonders if there isn’t a better way to go. And one such way is being considered and could help serve the purpose - rail.

With so much communication between New Orleans and Baton Rouge these days, it seems logical we should have a fast rail route into which a traveller can catch a train, sit down with his newspaper or laptop and not have to keep his eyes glued to the busy highway for the next hour on his way to Baton Rouge. Or if he is going only partway, he can disembark enroute. Of course bus or taxi service would be needed in some cases to finish the trip.

What a breeze it would be to board a train, sit and relax while reading the Herald-Guide on the way to your destination. And all of that obstinate traffic would not be in the way.

Interstate 10 is a great avenue for transportation between New Orleans and Baton Rouge and other destinations. But it does get overcrowded too many times. A fast rail line would greatly relieve the traffic on that thoroughfare which often leads to traffic stops and slow downs that bear down on people who work and live along the route.

It’s time to combine southeast Louisiana into a unified area that plans its living patterns and other means of operating its overall existence into one that makes it easier for us to travel.