Former Stonington Selectman Stephen Bessette has been waging an interesting campaign to stir interest in the idea of extending Shore Line East train service to Mystic and Westerly.

Bessette made a stop this week at a meeting of the Connecticut Commuter Rail Council, a train rider advocacy group appointed by the governor and legislative leadership, which convened at New London City Hall Wednesday night and took public comment.

The meeting was well attended, mostly by Shore Line East riders who complained about plans by Amtrak to stop accepting commuter rail tickets on an early-morning Acela run, from New London to New Haven.

The problem, a state railroad guru explained to the group, is that Amtrak owns the track bed and so generally calls the shots in negotiations with the state over Shore Line East, its use of the rails and whether commuter tickets are honored on Amtrak.

In this case, the federal railroad claims ridership on the expensive Acela is up, and they can no longer accept the daily gaggle of commuters who board in New London, the group was told.

Bessette was not alone but part of a smaller number of speakers Wednesday advocating for expansion of Shore Line East service. There was also testimony in favor of plans for a new Niantic commuter rail station.

The former Stonington selectman, who has also been conducting a letter-writing campaign to rally support for the idea of Shore Line East going farther east, made a good case in front of the rail council.

A stop in Mystic, after all, would entail putting the state's largest tourism destination on an affordable commuter rail line.

Extending the service to Westerly, Bessette and others noted, could eventually allow a connection to Rhode Island's growing commuter rail system.

Imagine someday boarding a regional train in New London and going by rail to T.F. Green Airport in Warwick, R.I.

An economic development representative from Groton noted, in support of extending Shore Line East, that Electric Boat has some 11,000 commuting workers, some from southern Rhode Island, who might welcome commuter rail through the region.

After all, it's not even a new concept. Streetcars once crisscrossed the region, before cars became king.

A new generation of young people, too, are rejecting cars and driving and choosing to live close to mass transportation. Better commuter rail would make this part of the world much more appealing.

The idea of extending the commuter line east seems technically simple. But I would venture a guess that it will never happen in my lifetime.

The state Department of Transportation railroad delegate to this week's meeting noted that an eastern expansion is "on the radar" but is not going to happen anytime soon.

Indeed, there is a $200 million estimate for the concept included in Gov. Dannel Malloy's 30-year blueprint to spend some $100 billion to remake transportation infrastructure, including many Herculean projects, like widening Interstate 95 through congested Fairfield County.

I find it hard to think how extending Shore Line East on existing track to existing stations would cost $200 million.

When I asked the DOT for a breakdown of that estimate I was told the money would be needed to "construct passing sidings, upgrade the electrification system, increase the number of rail cars and make station improvements to accept the trains."

Bessette had a good idea: Make a trial run on the busy weekend of the Mystic Outdoor Art Festival and see how many people leave their cars behind and come by train.

I would think that would be easy. But then I thought it would be easy to install a water taxi on the Thames River and create an instant and memorable new state park.

Still, it would be nice if Bessette's efforts were to catch the attention of local lawmakers who are the ones who would need to put a shoulder to the concept of extending commuter rail, which has so many economic and environmental benefits.

They could start by whittling down that $200 million estimate.

All aboard?

This is the opinion of David Collins

d.collins@theday.com

Twitter: @DavidCollinsct