Because it will bring money, jobs and allow workers that work for cheaper wages, the ability to transport around the county to work. It will take traffic off of our clogged roads. I think all of the good citizens in Loudoun county that pay the same taxes that our friends in neighboring counties are entitled to the same services as they get.

Just say YES to Metro

Because it will bring money, jobs and allow workers that work for cheaper wages, the ability to transport around the county to work. It will take traffic off of our clogged roads.

How is it going to allow people to transport about the county? we are not getting stops all over the place? The reports i have seen say more cars will go onto our roads because of increased tolls.

Ride it to the bank, to get money to pay for it? Lots and lots of money to pay for it? Wait a minute, I guess we'll have to get the government to borrow that money, because this was such a great idea that no businesses or banks would finance it. Yeah. But now there is a forecast from one economist at GMU that claims big huge multi-hundred-million-dollar returns, so maybe a private business should approach a bank again? NO? Why not?

In terms of Loudoun's share, a tax district that would assess businesses in the Metro area is in consideration, which would put the cost in part on businesses. However, there aren't many businesses there now to pay in. Is there precedent for businesses doing such a large project? Is there a mechanism for the multiple businesses that potentially benefit to coordinate such financing in some other method?

Those are great points, Dusty. I'd like to hear those answers, as well.

Bob, stop raining on my parade. You're like the little engine (choo choo) that brings nothing but doom and gloom, suspicion and a lack of consideration for the happy people of Loudoun looking forward to taking advantage of the Metro.

Well CC, it's fairly clear that SOMEBODY is planning to take advantage of this Metro, because there appears to be about a Billion and a half dollars of overcharge in it. But I don't think that advantage will benefit the people of Loudoun County, or of Fairfax County either, for that matter.

Bob, *I* am planning to take advantage of the Metro, are you serious? I'd so much rather be on the train than stuck in this traffic. I'm so going to reap the benefits of what develops in the area, for my business, for my kids, it's just worth it to me.

Dusty, I'm not exactly sure of the answer to your question. But, I'm curious if Tax Increment financing (TIF) is a method of approach. It's is a method to use future gains in taxes to subsidize current improvements, which are projected to create the conditions for said gains. The completion of a public project often results in an increase in the value of surrounding real estate, which generates additional tax revenue. So, basically, Loudoun would be borrowing against the future increase in these property-tax revenues. We see this in large scale development projects such as the Marriott Marquis Conventions Center Hotel downtown & National Harbor. It's focus is to cover infrastructure related costs.

Dusty - I read that there was, some years ago, a proposal to make a Northern Virginia transportation tax district, but that it was voted down.

CC - that's great, you'll take the train to work, instead of being in traffic. But what if your job is in Centreville?

Bob, one of the things Loudoun has discussed is developing some sort of tax district around the two planned stations beyond the airport. I don't know all of the details, but that's one of the many things supervisors are examining as they weigh this decision. It would not impact anything other than Loudoun's share. Loudoun has little control over whether the project goes to the airport.

Dusty - don't you think that by now, the Loudoun County BOS should have at least -considered- how the County might pay for this rail project? Is this how they plan all of their jobs, or only the really big ones?

Loudoun County was considering a rail tax district in 2010. This was reported in loudouni.com on June 7, 2010 in an article "Loudoun May Pitch Tax District to Pay for Rail - Consultant to Help Craft Proposal to Present to Board of Supervisors" written by Jason Jacks. Unfortunately, loudouni was bought by another news business, and the article vanished.

The article quoted BOS Chair Scott York and Jim Burton on the rail tax district subject. It also stated that a reporter also asked two future rail station area landowners about it - and they acted like they never heard of such an idea. The article also stated that several other companies that owned land near the future station sites were e-mailed, but those companies did not respond.

The article stated that the multi-hundred-milion dollar cost was known, and the county had this planned in the Capital Budget plan, and that bonds backed by business/professional/occupational licenses, and gas tax money, were being considered to pay for it.

That was two years ago. This wasn't a secret, nor was it overlooked - so why wasn't it addressed?

(By the way - is York an Independent - as that report stated? I keep hearing that the LCBOS is Republican.)

Bob asks, "what if your job is in Centreville?" So, Bob, is your standard that a project is only worthwhile if it reaches every job in every locality? The people whose jobs are in Centreville will benefit, because as others take Metro, space will open up on the roads. That's how this works.

Exactly, Victoria. The growth IS going to happen. There is no getting around that. So you either pay for it now and get everything in place, before the growth happens. Or you do it later for a much higher cost. As years pass the price of construction and construction materials goes up and up. That is just the way it is, as with anything else. So lets build the thing now and enjoy its convienence!

Exactly...lets get ahead of the growth and attract good businesses to the area with a fantastic and convenient rail line.

Building it now, while they already have the equipment and man power in place will be a lot cheaper. Waiting doesnt make sense, all that extra money, all that extra pollution, all that extra wasted time. We all know that Loudon need good public transportation and we know that the Metro will be clean and dependable. Why wait until it is an epidemic. We already have the third worst traffic in the whole country, and not having Metro stations is one of the reasons why.

Yes to Metro

Ah, so it would be another no-bid contract?

Is rail only supposed to go to Ashburn? And can the roads from there then suddenly handle all of the bus and automobile traffic to get people to and from Leesburg, north, south and beyond?

This is the real world, these are real dollars, and this is a real decision, not some kind of a game. Face the facts - you simply do not have the necessary population density for rail now. That is why you can not get federal money or even a federally supported loan for this rail line.

Snap out of it. Build a bus road in the Phase II rail right of way, preferably extend it beyond Ashburn, maybe to Leesburg, maybe further, and use it for BUS - until such time as rail makes sense!

Bob, the truth is, when Metro came to Fairfax, Shady Grove, or Greenbelt, they didn't have the density to support it either. But it is smarter to build the infrastructure first, before the density comes. In any case, a terminus station with park-and-ride facilities doesn't have to meet the same density test as a neighborhood station, because it can draw its riders from a much broader area.

Well perhaps some of those 30,000 cars will actually, I dont know...try public transportation because the traffic is so bad and ride the rail?

Rob, your arguments against commuting by rail are that you forgot to pee and left the lights on in the car? Seriously? Not to mention that forgetting to pee before leaving home..something my 4 yr old knows to do..can be even more of a problem if you get stuck in traffic halfway to work because of an accident. Perhaps its time to remember you are a big boy and use the potty before you leave home?

Its not going to just benefit the people who commute deep into DC..how about those who right now cannot get work because of being limited to where and when the buses operate? The rail will bring new jobs as well as access to those jobs. I am well aware that it is an expensive project, and like everything the government is involved in, flawed. But the benefits seem to far outweigh any argument against the rail I have heard. (not counting needing to pee)

No, I won't shut up, Michael.

Why there are so few people able and willing to stand up to this farce of a rail plan, I don't know. If this region is going to have all these high paying jobs, we'll certainly need more people who can do addition, subtraction, and reality checks.

Given that the cost of Phase II is bloated two to one, I don't see how inflation will beat cost control any time soon.

What Loudoun County, and also Fairfax County, should build, possibly with Virginia DOT assistance, is bus lanes, in the track right of way for Phase II, and beyond. Establish and reserve the future rail right of way, create and run a sensible transit system for the population density you have now, and expand to rail if and when that becomes appropriate.

You'll need buses to get anybody into the central and western parts of Loudoun County from Ashburn and Dulles anyway; you aren't planning to use oxcarts, pogo sticks, skateboards or unicycles, are you? Or magic carpets, etc. Why not face facts, and do this like actual adult human beings?

Bob, you'll get further with your arguments if you stop insulting people. Just because some disagree with you doesn't mean they're not "actual adult human beings." We were not all made in your mold.

Forbes?

Phase II is a financial concern, of course it is, and one that benefits the entire region. Nit picking the Parkway - Maybe the Skins want people to slow down and admire the bubble? I don't see the comparison.

Hey - if Metro is so great, then why can't Virginia, Maryland and DC - PUT TOGETHER - pay for what they have now?

Bus is defunct? Who did that? What will you use to get people from the Ashburn and Dulles stations to jobs in Leesburg and the rest of Loudoun County? I keep asking this. Bus makes the most sense but the pro-rail people don't like bus, so I guess they are planning to use tricycles, unicycles, oxcarts, horse and buggies, and pogo sticks, or something.

No, silly Bob, they're in favor of bus for that after all? Then why is bus not good enough to go all the way to Wiehle Avenue in Reston? Maybe on the toll road, maybe on a bus road built in the rail right of way and used for bus, until such time as Phase II rail actually MAKES SENSE?

Or if you want rail - there should be a tax district at the rail stations. Where have your leaders been for the past two years since that was suggested and discussed? SOMEBODY owns that land. If the present landowners can't pay the tax now, then maybe they should SELL it to somebody who CAN. No matter what they paid for the land - they will be making out like bandits this year. Or are Loudoun County Taxpayers supposed to finance them? If so, there needs to be a tax lien and/or judgement against the property, with the usual 8% interest for a judgement, to be paid to the County at such time as the property is sold or becomes profitable - at the very least. They would get loans real quick.

Wake up, people! You are being robbed!

<< For the price of a singles day toll, you will be able to get to DC and back >>
Wrong, wrong, wrong, Melvin! The proposed DTR tolls would go up astronomically every year to subsidize that bucolic sweet dream you describe riding the train. The price of a single day's toll will go waayy beyond the cost of riding the Silver Line. Check out the MWAA-proposed toll numbers. Best to wake up from the "dream", before DTR tolls and clogged surface roads become a nightmare.

The tolls are going to rise period, as is the cost of gas, almost every argument I have heard against the rail involves spending money elsewhere, on buses and dedicated bus lanes for example, and road improvements. That has to be paid for somehow too. One way to ease those clogged roads is oh I dont know..ride the rail?
YES to metro!!

Yeah bus costs money - but less money, so it can extend further. How about all the way to Leesburg? And where roads are less congested, it can just transition to the regular roads.

The federal government considers Dulles Rail Phase II, aka Rail to Dulles, aka Rail to Loudoun, aka the Silver Line (Phase II), to be so ridiculous that it won't provide funds, or even underwrite a loan, for this rail extension. Maybe you should... you know... take the hint?

Has anybody asked USDOT, Virginia or VDOT if funds might be available for BUS? Maybe somebody should.

Seriously Bob..getting tired of your bus bus bus bus bus tune...its getting old.
Rail in conjunction with buses will get people who have no other means of transportation out to jobs and shopping that they would not otherwise have access to much easier than buses alone. Buses cause excess pollution, the rail would decrease the pollution as fewer cars were on the road. This would also decrease the already congested roadways. The economic growth that will come with the rail extension would not come with buses, that would only bring more pollution, more congestion and more roadwork.

Victoria, I can understand why you don't like me writing about bus - it's because you have to stop talking about rail to read it.

All of the jobs you are talking about would then have to be very close to the stations - and gee, Loudoun County conveniently forgot to plan for any tax districts there, until days before this momentous decision. Hmmmm.

And if people coming in want to get to a job farther away from the stations, which I think they might, then they would need (gasp) BUS, or as I have been pointing out, they would need unicycles, pogo sticks, skateboards and magic carpets to GET to those jobs. No? So why not bus in the rail right of way from Reston?

And people leaving the county by rail would need to drive and park (consider that cost, plus the fare), or they would need BUS, or they would need a folding pogo stick or skateboard that they could then put in their briefcases. No?

The reality is that rail makes no sense for Loudoun County for the forseeable future, but BUS does. It will take probably 20 to 30 years before you have enough population density - although people fleeing Fairfax County because of Dulles Rail might speed your growth up, if you have a bus system that works.

There will be a need for buses, which is why I said "in conjunction with" but buses are still prone to traffic delays, and to get these dedicated lanes will cost plenty, cause more delays because of construction.. Rail is much more efficient, and if anything will ease the already over-crowded roads.

Whatever bus costs, rail costs more. However long it takes to build bus lanes in planned rail corridors, rail will take longer.

How better to reserve a dedicated rail line route than by using it for dedicated BUS, until such time as the ridership and the transit corridors develop?

You want to drop everything and pay hundreds of millions of dollars, to run rail where there is no business now! You are so far ahead of yourselves that you will bring another Greenway bankruptcy onto the county - only a bigger one this time. Those who fail to learn the lessons of history, are doomed to repeat them.

Establish a transit corridor with BUS, and then convert it to rail mile by mile - when the ridership and business pattern have developed.

well don't forget to factor in the potential capacity of 1 train vs how many buses...and the maintenance costs, 1 train vs how many buses, and fuel, and road maintenance, and the impact of the pollution... Your math is oversimplified. The train may cost more than X number of buses initially, but you need to consider maintenance, fuel and long term effects to get a real picture.
YES TO METRO YES TO THE FUTURE !

All one really has to do is look at the WMATA Metro system now. Virginia, DC and Maryland PUT TOGETHER can't pay for it.

How is it that Loudoun County is richer than Fairfax County, when Fairfax County has had Metro to Falls Church and Vienna for years? I guess people in Loudoun are tired of having wealth. Well, no problem - this rail plan can fix that!

Bob, VA -MD-DC together can't pay for their roads either. That's not a function of wealth, nor is it a function of the cost of rail. Its a function of the lack of political will and conservatives keep insisting that nothing actually needs to be paid for.

Michael, here in Northern Virginia, we need the political will to do what will actually WORK - put BUS lanes into the future rail right of way to reserve them for the future, and to use them today and for the next 20 to 30 years, until rail might become realistic in western Fairfax and eastern Loudoun Counties. Jumping to rail out here now, is such a bad idea that the federal government won't fund it, or even underwrite a loan for it. We should take the hint, and do things right, instead of caving to pressure from construction interests and rail area landowners. Fairfax and Loudoun Counties, the Commonwealth of Virginia and the US Federal Government are not, and should not be, their finance agents.

Melvin, I'm with you that rail is good, but consider the air pollution that will come if they insist on paying for it though the planned absurd Toll Road increases. Just imagine the thousands of cars fleeing the crazy-high tolls, sitting in gridlock, putting out exhaust fumes, on the already-crowded surface roads. They must find other ways to fund it. That's all I'm saying.

The mistake that the toll road people are making, is that their argument will simply be twisted into a justification for more borrowing and more taxes, for a rail line that is ridiculously premature.

Use your heads, people. Yes the tolls will go up, because Phase I was foisted on Fairfax County. You don't think that Phase II will make things worse? Didn't you learn arithmetic in school? Use your heads and look at the prices. $26,394 per space for parking garages, when they should cost $15,000 per space! $83 million per rail station, when they should cost $40 million! About $270 million per mile, when this line should cost MAYBE $150 million per mile! And no rail tax district around the rail station areas! Oh wait - THE BOS JUST THOUGHT ABOUT THAT TWO MONTHS BEFORE THE DECISION? Except THEY WERE DISCUSSING IT TWO YEARS AGO! WHO'S KIDDING WHO? Think about it - don't you think that people who will be pocketing incredible windfall profits would be urging you to approve this plan? JUST SAY NO!

This Phase II farce will bring you a couple of stations on the east end of your county that will only make things worse for you. Snap out of it and say NO!

Bob, do you even live in Loudoun? Just curious, since you seem to be running around, waving a banner about how horrible Phase II is, but saying "the east end of your county that will only make things worse for you."

Also, a head of cauliflower should only cost $1.50, but here, it's $4.00. I'd expect no less from a parking space, a ticket to the Spy Museum or a bottle of wine.

No CC, I live in Herndon, just over the eastern border from Loudoun County.

Well if you like expensive things, you'll love Dulles Rail. I guess if you like expensive produce, why not have expensive transit as well?

Despite several Metro lines on Fairfax County's east side, (3 lines, if you count the Orange line to Vienna, the Blue line to Springfield, and the Yellow line to Huntington), Loudoun County is still richer than Fairfax County. I guess you'll fix that with these rail stations?

Bob, I love how you try to twist words. But, why do you care so much about Phase II if you're not going to be affected, at least according to whatever else you've been saying?

CC, for the benefit of people who do not even live in northern Virginia, I live in Herndon. Herndon is actually one of the rail station locations on Dulles Rail Phase II, aka Rail to Loudoun, aka Rail to Dulles, aka The Silver Line (Phase II).

How does it affect me? I live right here where traffic is about to take over my town's roads, because of drivers avoiding the ridiculous tolls that are coming to the Dulles Toll Road. Will those drivers be able to use the Silver Line? Probably not, coming from Maryland via Rt 15, and from Loudoun County, and probably headed to Vienna, Fox Mill, Fairfax, VA, etc. Maybe a few will park somewhere and take rail into Tysons Corner or DC.

I pay Town of Herndon property tax. And my town has to deal with the coming rail station just outside of our southern border. I'm sure it will all benefit the landowners down by the station, but I doubt that it will benefit me at all.

I also pay Fairfax County property tax. And when Fairfax County floats a Billion dollar bond to pay down the tolls, I get to help pay down the bond. Whoopee!!! No doubt this is the plan in Loudun County as well.

By the way - FTA claimed, and MWAA did not protest, that parking garages cost $26,394 per space. But in very nearby downtown Herndon, VA, they cost $15,000 per space. Isn't this false inflation in Dulles Rail Phase II? Why are parking garages so much more expensive when MWAA and FTA cost them? I think we need to take the keys away from that bunch, and get Phase II costs under control.

Bob, correct me if I'm wrong (and I have no doubt that you will) but you are okay with the Rail to Dulles part of the project, correct? Yet, that still affects your traffic.

And, again, why do you care what happens in Loudoun?

CC, I am against this Phase II project whether it goes to Ashburn or only to Dulles Airport. I've seen enough and read enough to know that it is no good. The Phase II ripoff was originally sold to Fairfax County residents as 'Rail to Dulles', because "OH! Well, air travelers needed to get from DC to the International Airport!" Except later, when the insane MWAA below ground plan was going to cost so much money that even our so-called 'leaders' balked, we were told "OH, well actually, it's mostly for the Dulles Airport Employees - so, it's OK if it's a quarter mile from the air terminal." Hmmm. About then, I happened to notice that the FTA was on drugs or something, and they had bungled the price estimate for the Rt 28 rail station. And although I brought this to the attention of quite a few people, it was NEVER reported in the news. This was a $53 million error! So I began to question the figures. Ultimately, I came to the conclusion that the Dulles Airport rail plan is horrible, and that Dulles Rail Phase II costs almost two times what it should.

Everything in Dulles Rail Phase II costs about 1.7 to 2 times what it should, and there is a near civil war raging about who is going to PAY these costs, yet NOBODY is interested in the FACT that the costs are high by 70% to 100%. In addition, rail in this low-population-density area is premature, so it will be a burden even if the price is brought down to earth. This will affect me, because I will be paying road tolls and taxes, and I will be paying higher prices because everyone else will be adversely affected by these overcosts as well, and the cars escaping the toll road will flood my town. Ultimately I am convinced that Fairfax and Loudoun Counties will float billion dollar bonds to pay for it, and I will of course be left paying that off. No, thanks!

I see the need for BUS - to reserve and establish the transit rights of way, and to provide interim transit for the next 30 years, until rail becomes a sensible option. Rail just isn't a sensible option now.

I believe that the billion dollars plus of excess charge is padding some important pockets around here, so we are having this overpriced ripoff of a rail line forced upon us thanks to our so-called 'leaders', who have not even thought about how to PAY for this mess! Most people can't study and fight like I study and fight, and the media feeds them disinformation, and hides inconvenient things like the $53 million FTA blunder and the 70% to 100% project overcost. And so, people are confused and deceived.

I am opposed to the rail even just to the airport because our 'leaders' already admitted that it is not even for air travelers! I prefer BUS. I also want a total redesign of the Dulles Airport rail station and track as a mostly on-ground 'dead-end spur', rather than a big expensive 3-mile elevated track loop, with an expensive elevated station 1/4 mile from the air terminal. (Ridiculous!) Maybe if Loudoun County gets smart and says NO, the job will go back to the drawing board, and MWAA will be pushed out of the process, so it MIGHT get done right!

Wait..so you don't even live in Loudoun, and yet are so very very vocal about what happens here. You don't live here yet seem to have all the answers as to what needs to be done here. Interesting.
Many of us who DO live here want the RAIL, we need the RAIL. The area is growing and the RAIL will bring needed transportation now, not as an afterthought. It will attract the best businesses and thus provide much needed jobs as well as a way to get to them.

Victoria, how do I know that YOU live in Loudoun County? Some people who claim to live here have a strangely distorted idea of the actual geography of Fairfax and Loudoun Counties, and obviously are not from here.

Who told you that rail was the solution to everything? It hasn't solved much in Fairfax County - Loudoun County was richer than Fairfax County -without- rail! But don't worry, we're rich enough with rail, and you will be too. You'll just have to do without a few things, and you can ride a train! You can fume about your taxes as you ride to work. Try not to remember how you actually supported the double priced rail line, or how you didn't want to hear facts from that awful BOB from Herndon. Just pay the bills, and don't even THINK about that job in Fair Oaks. Enjoy!

oh bob I never said you were awful....annoying at times, but not awful. You also know nothing about me about my life or my struggles to keep my family of 5 running. We may live in one of the richest counties in the US but not all of us have it easy and make ends meet with no issues and enjoy our commute to work in our BMW. Some of us have spouses who work ridiculous hours as it is, then add to that the hours spent commuting in gridlock, the stress that goes along with that and feeling like all you do is work and commute and not have time to spend with your kids or wife. Yes i have high hopes that being able to take the rail from a station closer to home will ease my husbands stress, shorten his commute, give us more time together as a family and have that time be more pleasant because of reduced stress. We could potentially get rid of one car, reducing our expenses some if i can drop him off and pick him up at the station, or he can carpool with a neighbor. once the kids are all at school, the rail will provide more job opportunities for me as I reenter the workforce. Do I know for a fact that this is how it will be..no. But I am very hopeful that the rail will indeed improve the quality of life for my family and I. I am certain also that I am not alone in this...most of my neighbors feel the same way.
We need the rail for many reasons, these are just my personal ones.

Michael, do you even live in Northern Virginia? Take a look.

http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huntington,_Virginia
"Huntington is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States."

http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Springfield,_VA
"Springfield is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States"

And I guess I'd better include Vienna, since it seems some people don't even live anywhere near Northern Virginia.

http://www.homesviennavirginia.com/town-of-vienna-va-in-fairfax-county-va/
"About Vienna VA. Vienna VA is located in Fairfax County VA just 16 miles from Washington DC."

Oh, and here is the WMATA Metro map. Funny, those stations look to be on the east side of Fairfax County to me. Well, Springfield and Huntington are a bit to the southeast. Close enough!
http://www.wmata.com/rail/maps/map.cfm

You know, Fairfax County had all that rail and all that proximity to the juicy, high paying jobs in DC, but yet Loudoun County is richer. Why don't you want to keep things that way? But no, you are falling for overpriced rail, when what you need is BUS - until rail becomes practical. You need to snap out of it, and start using your HEADS!

Actually, Michael, Fairfax is more central. Centreville is west. I have to look at a map to see what is the furthest west.

The point of the Metro stations being on the east side of Fairfax County (which is not surprising, because they come from DC), whether they might be on the northeast or the southeast, is that the situation for Fairfax County now, is similar to the future situation for Loudoun County - if you want to get from, say, Herndon, to a Metro station, you have to drive, take a bus, or ride a bicycle, or something, to get to and from there - much like the situation will be in Loudoun County, with Metro extending only as far as Ashburn. Now, some economist is saying that a few Metro stations on the east side of Loudoun County will cause money to gush out of office buildings and paychecks all over Loudoun County, but why didn't that happen in Fairfax County? Why was Loudoun County, with NO Metro at all, richer than Fairfax County, after Fairfax County - for YEARS - has had so much more Metro than Loudoun County will have? Why was there little business development, for example, at the Vienna station? Has anybody asked the economist why he wasn't pushing for a high-density business center at the Vienna station?

The experience of Fairfax County says that a couple of Metro stations on the east side of Loudoun County aren't going to make Loudoun County rich - actually, it seems to me that the evidence actually suggests that it will make Loudoun County poorer.

http://www.fairfaxcountyeda.org/sites/default/files/pdf/fairfax_county_map.pdf

Are you really going to go looking for concentrated neighborhoods and run a rail line to them, Michael? Why not start with a dedicated BUS line? When you get to the point where the transit route is established, then go to rail.

If Dulles Rail is going to ratchet its cost up to the neighborhood of $260 million per mile, until it has to shed its components and dump them onto the counties to hide its real cost (such as was done with the Rt 28 rail station and the Phase II parking garages), then I think the more stringent rules should be applied for population density. Maybe you should push to get its cost down to earth?

Rail to Loudoun is a solution in search of its proper application - which eastern Loudoun County is not. But you make a good point for a rail tax district around the stations - which was conveniently forgotten, wasn't it.

Well, I'm very good at dropping my notes when I stand at the podium, CC. I might bonk my head when I straighten up after picking them up, too. It's important credibility stuff. You'd be amused.