Why don't nimbys ever try to get railroads removed from cities?

[cpzilliacus]

Rail bypass plans have been discussed for Washington, DC.

Both proposed bypass routes run mostly through Charles and Prince George's Counties in Maryland (with some short distance in Prince William County or a longer run across Stafford and King George Counties).

The reaction to those proposals were met by a stony silence by Maryland officials.

[golden eagle]

Besides the examples that SPUI and Oscar noted, right after Katrina there was talk of relocating the CSX line through Harrison County, MS to the north and away from the coast.  Instead, CSX opted to spend ~$250M to rebuild along the existing line, and so the trains still cut through Biloxi and Gulfport.  Relocation probably would've cost over $1B, but there was good potential at the time (given all the Katrina cleanup and whatnot) to get the Feds to chip in.  Alas, it didn't pan out.

One note about this rail line: there's a TV station that was built right next to the line. If a train ran by during a newcast, you can hear it!

[PHLBOS]

Back when the NJTransit RiverLine was being proposed; it was indeed met with a sizable amounts of NIMBY complaints despite the fact that much of the line utilized an abandoned railroad bed (less land or home takings).

If the Schuylkill Valley Metro ever became closer to actually being constructed (such would link Reading to Philadelphia be rail mostly utilizing abandoned track or sharing the same corridor as a frieght rail line); you can bet your bottom dollar that NIMBYs along the corridor would scream.

The only form of mass transit that the wealthy town of Wellesley, MA has is the commuter rail line that has been there for decades.  A friend of mine who lives there informed me the town won't even allow MBTA bus routes to serve the town let alone a light-rail extension.  The reasoning for such being that the NIMBYs don't want undesirables (I'm not making this up) coming and going through their town.

Bottom line: NIMBYism isn't just directed towards highways & airports; it's also directed towards transit project as well.

[lepidopteran]

In Maryland, there is opposition to a light-rail line that would roughly parallel part of the Capital Beltway (I-495).  Ironically, the part with the most resistance is the section that would run along the abandoned B&O Georgetown branch, now a hiking trail, rather than the part on new right-of-way.

Similarly, when Phase 2 of the LA's Expo light-rail line was being planned (now under construction), a group of homeowners tried to get part of the line routed along local streets, away from their homes, rather than follow the abandoned Southern Pacific route that the rest of the line does.

In Lafayette, IN, not one but two freight lines were rerouted around town. The first of these was moved in 1994, until which time the trains, including Amtrak's Hoosier, ran on a city street.  There are still a few places with street-running of freight trains.

And I'm not completely sure about this one, but I thought I heard that there was a section of a railroad in the Adirondacks that some people want to shut down to turn into a hiking/snowmobiling trail.  Not exactly NIMBY, though.

[hm insulators]

They are anti freeway but I've never heard of them wanting to reroute a railroad to bypass a city.  Railroads can cut cities in two.  They can be as hard to cross as freeways.  They cut cities from their waterfronts.  Some cities have large rail yards that cut the city in two (look at a map of Minot, North Dakota sometime).  But you never hear of nimbys complaining about railroads.

The retirement community called Sun City West in Arizona is one place where the senior-citizen NIMBYs that moved there knowing the railroad was there long before the community was even a dream in Del Webb's eye forced the railroad company to silence the train horns.