I'm not sure why this is even being debated. Not many people are going to question a $3.00 bump on what was a $40 ticket. Prices go up. If someone asks you tell them increased maintenance costs which is the absolute truth. When the costs to operate go up you pass as much of that cost along to your customers as possible. This is just normal practice for any business.

I remember when the Durbin & Greenbrier River Railroad took over the operation of the Cass Scenic. Ticket prices doubled. Some people complained, but I don't remember an official reason being given. When the state of WV ran it, they kept the price low - in effect subsidizing the tourist attraction.

I wonder if the ridership is the same? If the goal was to attract more visitors to the state, seems like it may have been a good investment. I know the only reason I’ve ever taken a vacation to West Virginia was because of cass. But I stayed in hotels, ate in restaurants, and bought gas in the state as well.

So does anyone have any evidence that they plan to add a separate track maintenance fee -spelled out as such- or do they just plan to raise ticket prices by $3.00?

The quote from the article

“WMSR officials are proposing a $3 fee per ticket to help with track maintenance.”

It could very well be that the plan is to raise the ticket prices by $3 to cover the track maintenance and the article worded it poorly.