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.
