Take the "Gondola" to your train.

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Just-Thinking-51

Very bored and cranky pundit
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It seem the Mayor of Albany, NY know there a train station in Rensselaer NY.

From the Passenger Train Journal 2016-3 published by White River Productions.

The Mayor of Albany and a engineering group are conducting a feasibility study on a "gondola" or overhead tram - to bring people across the river from downtown Albany to the Rensselaer station. "It's about how we can make it as easy as possible for people to visit our city, to come to our city, and do business here or to come here for recreation." Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan.
It's a short General News story. While I will not be riding it myself, I am glad to see someone thinking outside of the box.

The cost is estimated $20-30 million.
 
It seems the Mayor of Albany, NY know there is a train station in Rensselaer NY.

From the Passenger Train Journal ...

The Mayor of Albany and a engineering group are conducting a feasibility study on a "gondola" or overhead tram - to bring people across the river from downtown Albany to the Rensselaer station. "It's about how we can make it as easy as possible for people to visit our city, to come to our city, and do business here or to come here for recreation." Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan.
While I will not be riding it myself, I am glad to see someone thinking outside the box. The cost is estimated $20-30 million.
Madam Mayor is on to something. In NYC we have such a thing between Manhattan and a sliver of land called Roosevelt Island, which has been developed as a quality residential neighborhood. It was built before the subway station could be put on an existing line. But even tho it's a bit pricey, it seems to have a good ridership. Most riders are residents commuting, some are tourists, others are 'tourists' from NYC just day-tripping. (Where cars are very limited, this is one of the best places to take a stroll or a run.) The Roosevelt Island Tramway gives a spectacular view of high-rise Manhattan, the East River, and Roosevelt Island.

Looks like the Albany-Rensselaer crossing of the Hudson could combine the usefulness of public transit with a photogenic tourist to-do, in a city that doesn't have much of a fun city image. If Albany had more fun things to see and do, it could develop some weekender tourist business from NYC. People do an overnight or two in Philly or even Boston, but I don't hear anyone talking of Albany.
 
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Here's a link with some more details.

Seems plausible to me, and a good idea. I'd be wary of the cost estimate (seems low, but what do I know?) and of the notion

that fares will eventually cover the operating costs.
 
That's actually a reasonable idea. Usually gondolas are a ridiculous and terrible idea, but in this specific context, it actually makes a lot of sense. Even if the Albany station were relocated to the Albany side of the river it would still be in the wrong part of town; there's no real way to get the tracks back into the center of town; Albany has a pretty well defined center of town, so the train station really only needs a better-than-bus public transport connection to the one location; a gondola from the center of town to the train station would provide the necessary connectivity while avoiding most of the right-of-way issues.
 
While gondolas will never make good mainline transit solutions, this is a case where it makes sense to build one, for automated, low capacity transit. While I'm not sure if fares will cover operating costs, there is relatively little operation costs in a gondola.
 
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