Hillsborough Mayor Tom Stevens has joined the passenger rail bandwagon. Amtrak and the Triangle Transit Authority are both on his list of town wants, according to this News of Orange County story, in which Stevens also endorses the so-called “smart growth” principle of high-density living for this rural-suburban town of just 5,671.

Mayor Tom Stevens said AmTrak may not be the only option for passenger rail service. The Triangle Transit Authority, he said, should be left open as an option for more localized transit as more people travel locally within the Triangle

“If we are embracing managed growth … with the real issues of climate change, cost of living, cost of gas and transportation, there will be more and more people who will want to live and work in pretty close proximity,” Stevens said. “Rail fits into that very nicely.”

Increased attention to rail service helps town planners incorporate the possibility into Hillsborough’s future, he said.

“I think it’s having a synergistic effect, and it’s something we ought to give full attention,” he said. “I’d like to be optimistic that as rail service is going to more important connector of people in the future, we want to be part of it.”