What Might Have Been
Ever since Bermuda decided to abandon "Old Rattle n'
Shake" in 1948, many people have questioned the wisdom of
closing the Bermuda Railway. Every few years or so the
suggestion has been made, more or less seriously, that the
railway should be rebuilt.
So far it hasn't happened. For now the only "railway"
operating in Bermuda has rubber tires, providing rides for
tourists at the Dockyard and in Hamilton and St. George's
courtesy of the "Bermuda Train Company Limited".
The Bermuda Train Company "train" parked at Dockyard in the
off season. It seems to have rubber tires, and I can't find
any tracks!
A monorail was among the various suggestions for
rebuilding the railway made over the years. If that idea had
been carried out, perhaps it would have looked something
this.
The "Bermuda Monorail" crossing Frank's Bay trestle.
Given Bermuda's many thousands of
cars, and even more thousands of scooters, the question of
internal transportation remains a difficult one. In an
attempt to take some of the pressure off the roads, the
Bermuda government has inaugurated a fleet of fast ferries to
ply the waters of the Great Sound and to connect Hamilton and
St. George's.
This innovation has had some success, and many
commuters from the west end of the island seem to be parking
at Rockaway in Southampton and taking the boat to work in the
city.
It doesn't seem to have had a very noticeable effect on the
roads, though.
One of the fast catamaran ferries now operating in
Bermuda.
