In the age of planes, trains and automobiles, Binghamton now claims a dismal one out of three.

Service to New York City from the Greater Binghamton Airport was cut this summer, and trains haven’t come to Binghamton for over 30 years. Only a four-hour bus ride (which stops 10 minutes outside Binghamton in either direction, always gets there late and smells like McDonald’s) can get us to Manhattan.

Nearly 150 years after the First Transcontinental Railroad was finished, we’re still a stunning six hours from Long Island.

But maybe not for long (see page 1).

The City of Binghamton may be getting service to Scranton soon ‘ with Scranton following suit with tracks to New York City ‘ and we’re thrilled.

Not only is the prospect of train travel reminiscent of both Platform 9 þ and the Polar Express, but a station here would put Binghamton back on the map as a major Southern Tier destination.

It’s no secret that both the campus and the city have been looking for a boost, and a (semi-)direct connection to New York City could be the catalyst for that growth. In just a few years, thousands more Bearcats will be moving to Binghamton for their education, and the city’s two bus stations can barely control the tides now.

Academically, BU has the reputation to create interest, but the area falls short on keeping it steady.

Buffalo, Stony Brook, Albany and Syracuse are all tapped into the locomotive network (note the flagship candidates includes in that list), and a shorter commuting time could attract professors with more prestige.

Imagine how our University’s ranking would explode among out-of-state students once Binghamton tapped into a national transport network. It could become a public temple of learning as well-known as Berkeley and as well-connected as Rutgers.

But there are impediments. A timetable for the project has yet to be released, and really, only a survey to study the feasibility of train travel is in the works.

DeFleur and her political clout need to make this happen if she wants to see her dream of a bigger, better BU come to life, complete with flagship status and a newborn law school.

There is no doubt that the president is a woman with influence. Her frequent absence from campus (and general aloofness) proves that much, and we’re sure she has at least one connection to someone of importance in this project.

As a public university, the growth and visibility of BU is a political game, and we urge DeFleur to go to the matresses for this round.