From trains and tourism to overrides and beyond, the candidates for Selectmen covered it all at Monday night's WCTV Candidates forum.

Selectmen Peter Teitelbaum and Judith Whiteside are running for re-election while Wareham resident Michael Frates is challenging for one of their two seats.

The first question was about the possibility of Commuter Rail service in Wareham. Frates said he previously worked on Commuter Rail projects before retiring from the railroad industry on disability in 2004. He said the likelihood of commuter rail depends on how the state feels about the location, specifically if there is adequate parking.

Teitelbaum explained there is a $75,000 earmark in a $12 billion transportation bill going through the state legislature for the design and permit scoping of a station in Wareham. He said there isn't enough parking to have a station in the center of town and the most likely location would be somewhere in West Wareham.

Whiteside said getting a commuter rail station is important and the success of the Cape Flyer service is important as well.

One place where the candidates differed is on support of a Proposition 2 1/2 override at Town Meeting. Both Teitelbaum and Whiteside said they would support an override, "if it made sense" and provided a detailed five-year plan.

"These aren't scare tactics. We don't have the reserves," said Teitelbaum. "We can't grow our way out of this. The voters have to decide what kind of town they want and if they want more, they'll have to chip in more."

Frates said he would not support an override as one has never passed before in Wareham. "People are not working. We have to adjust to our population," he said.

On making Wareham more of a tourist destination and improving business areas in East Wareham, all the candidates had idea.

Teitelbaum said the Beach and Tourism Committee was a major part of his first run at office two years ago, and he wants to help business attract people coming off the Cape Flyer train in the summer and get them to say, "Hey I really like it here." On the topic of the retail areas along Cranberry Highway in East Wareham, Teitelbaum said, "that road is a death trap," and that the town is working with the state to improve the safety of the road. He also said with the loss of chain stores in that area there needs to be support for local businesses along that stretch of road.

Whiteside said a state study will include more turnarounds, more traffic lights and make entrances to malls along Cranberry Highway simpler and more attractive. She also said the town is already doing a lot to make the town a tourist destination. With the Beach and Tourism Committee, the upcoming Oysterfest and Summer of Celebration she hopes the town will catch on as a place to come in the summer and avoid the traffic of going over the bridge to Cape Cod.

Frates said parking can be an issue with an influx of people coming to town, and that the town should welcome more water traffic, proposing the possibility of a regatta in town. He said businesses are failing along Cranberry Highway in East Wareham because, "A lot of traffic is just not going there anymore." He urged people to patronize local businesses as much as possible and said as a selectman he would be open to any suggestions from residents.