Eastside Rail Now! urgently needs your help to stop King County's senseless plan to dismantle the railroad and replace it with a bicycle trail. Removal of the tracks would set back transportation on the Eastside by decades.

There are several things that you can do to help save our threatened railroad as well as promote its development as an environmentally-friendly, multi-functional transportation corridor. They include:

(1) Becoming well informed about the issues (and beware of misleading statements in the mainstream media about them). One of the best ways to do this is to study this website. Another is to attend Eastside Rail Now! meetings.

(2) Contacting relevant government officials at the city, county and state levels to express opposition to removing the tracks. Please see the page Contact Data for Government Officials for names, titles, e-mail addresses and other contact information. Original letters typed, printed by computer or hand written can be highly effective, but e-mails and phone calls are also very useful. The most urgent point to mention at this time is that cutting the railroad south of Bellevue, even temporarily, for the I-405 widening should be prevented, as this would not only be the end of the Spirit of Washington dinner train but also perhaps the end of that section of the line for rail transit use for decades or forever.

(3) Mentioning eastsiderailnow.org to friends, neighbors and colleagues and asking them to attend meetings and contact government officials. Most people in the region are not yet aware of the plan to dismantle the railroad (as the newspaper articles have been misleading) and have not thought much about the great potential of this railroad for the future of our region.

(4) Providing statements of support from your organization that can be added to this website. The organization can be anything relevant, for example, a neighborhood association, a business that would benefit from improved transportation for its employees, a local governmental agency or an environmental group. Statements of support from well-known individuals would also be useful.

(5) Assisting with the eastsiderailnow.org website, including finding errors and making suggestions for improved content. Good quality photos are also welcome.

(6) Participating in Eastside Rail Now! meetings or organizing your own neighborhood groups to support the cause.

(7) Providing financial support.

Please address all inquiries to info at eastsiderailnow.org.

Thank you.

Eastside Rail Now!