When Amtrak arrives, parking needs to be secure

Residents of Quitman County were rightly proud at Friday’s groundbreaking for an Amtrak stop that will finally bring passenger service back to northwest Mississippi.
It takes inordinate patience, time and coordination for representatives of local economic development and government interests to get CN Railroad and Amtrak, plus federal and state officials to act in concert for a local project. Marks and Quitman County have persisted and will finally see their project come to fruition.
During Friday’s celebration, one speaker after another cited the revenue-generating potential the passenger stop shelter and raised platform can bring to the city. Riders will be attracted from across the north part of the state to board in Marks and connect with destinations everywhere. That could include the college students from Ole Miss who so frequently caught the train en route to New Orleans when Amtrak stopped in Batesville. It could include visits between local residents and their families in Chicago and other cities of the Midwest.
Amtrak could bring the increasing number of Blues Tourists who want to tour the Mississippi Delta and see the Birthplace of the Blues.
There remains a step that will help Marks meet the high expectations of those of us who celebrated at last Friday’s ground-breaking: make sure that secure parking is available for Amtrak passengers who drive there to board the train.
Batesville offered that up until September, 1995 when the service was moved to the western line that goes through Marks. Passengers knew that they could drive to the Square, park the vehicles beside the tracks and catch the train. When they returned, they knew there vehicles would be waiting there for them, undisturbed.
Parking is not secure at Greenwood’s Amtrak station. Against good advice I once left my vehicle parked beside the tracks only to return to find the window broken and the interior ransacked. I had attached a club-type theft deterrent on the  steering wheel, otherwise the vehicle may have left without me.
A vehicle is relatively safe when parked track-side in Memphis. The Amtrak station shares a parking lot with a police precinct station. Law enforcement has a visible presence that discourages would-be car thieves and burglars.
Leaders in Marks and Quitman County need to prepare to meet the continuing challenge to keep passengers’ vehicles safe while they are parked. Building a reputation among the rail-going crowd that vehicles will be safe when left behind will help the community realize the full benefit of what was celebrated last Friday.