More than 250 people, including city Mayor Wilfred Rosas and his wife, Rosita, attended the event at the Chautauqua County Fairgrounds.

Get On A Train Day, sponsored by the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Women’s Action Group and the Dunkirk Historical Society, exceeded expectations, highlighting public interest in trains.

More than 250 people toured the historic ALCO-Brooks Engine 444 on the Chautauqua County Fairgrounds. Under bright sunny skies, folk musicians played train songs and free ice cream donated by Fieldbrook Foods was distributed. Information about passenger rail routes and children’s materials were available.

More than 100 signatures were collected on a petition in support of reopening the Dunkirk Train Station. Opening the station in Dunkirk has the potential to revitalize the neighborhood of Main Street and Third Street. Trains are a valuable form of transportation, running when other modes are unable to. They use less fuel to move more people and freight.

Another 50 signatures were also collected in support of the Green New Deal, a sometimes misunderstood policy planning measure. One of the major goals of the Green New Deal is to build new railroad tracks and develop a system of high speed trains, as has been successfully utilized in Europe.

These efforts would employ thousands of people. Building tracks dedicated to passenger service would facilitate train travel. Currently, passenger train delays are often the result of freight train congestion in areas where the freight railroads own the tracks.

A passenger rail station in Dunkirk is an idea whose time has come around. Elected officials are being called upon to assess the needs of the public, and the viability of hosting a station in Dunkirk.