Neal, along with a slew of state senators and representatives, gathered at Union Station to talk west-east rail and other projects to expand train service in the Pioneer Valley and beyond.
The 1st district Democrat spoke with reporters afterward, highlighting the work that is underway and will continue over the next decade.
“North-south rail has already worked splendidly, and now we're on to the east-west, west-east - whatever the derivative might be called - but the highlight is the geography, and Union Station will be the center of that activity,” Neal said. “My point is that we intend to make this work - the Valley Flyer has worked, we're talking about Albany, Pittsfield - this is a big deal.”
West-east rail ultimately aims to extend passenger rail service from Boston to Worcester, Springfield and Pittsfield.
Following years of advocating, gaining approvals and getting funding, the work has been moving forward, according to the state’s West-East Rail Director, Andy Koziol.
Just as he told WAMC back in February after being appointed to oversee the efforts, progress is being made in the form of smaller projects already underway.
That work includes the “Springfield Area Track Reconfiguration Project,” which aims to reduce travel times and potential conflicts between freight and passenger rail in the Springfield area.
“There's a lot on our plates right now and things are in different phases - we have things in planning, things in design, projects that are, in the near-term, will be under construction,” He said. “So, real, visible progress is going to be seen soon.”
Other projects laying the tracks for west-east rail include work on the Inland Route – expanding service between Boston and Springfield as well as New Haven, Connecticut.
Koziol says design work for the $135 million project will start this summer, with construction forecast to start at least two years later.
A majority of the project's funding came in the form of $108 million awarded by the U.S. Department of Transportation last year.
MassDOT officials indicated the Inland Route’s two, daily Amtrak-operated roundtrips will begin by 2029.
That, as transportation authorities like Massachusetts Rail and Transit Administrator Meredith Slesinger say ridership has only been rising.
“We have rebounded from COVID more successfully than we could have imagined,” she said. “Our ridership now on those current, state-supported services is higher than it was in 2019. So, we definitely see proof of concept there when we've added the additional trains, the Northeast regional trains to Springfield - we've seen tremendous growth on those and success since those were instituted.”
Other projects tied to west-east rail include a track capacity project in Pittsfield, as well as a station in Palmer, which is still in the planning and design phase.
Speaking with WAMC, Democratic Hampden, Hampshire and Worcester Senator Jake Oliveira says a public meeting covering planning for the Palmer station should happen by the end of the summer or early fall.
In the meantime, he says everything appears to be on track for ensuring Palmer is part of future rail service – a town, he says, was built on the rail industry and has a long history with locomotives.
“It is such a big part of the fabric of that community - to have a Palmer stop and have access to the northeast corridor, to Springfield to Pittsfield to Albany to New Haven to New York City and to Boston, is essential for economic growth for that community,” he said.
Many of the aforementioned projects fall under the state’s “Compass Rail” banner - a plan that also incorporates north-south rail service from Greenfield to New Haven.
By 2045, MassDOT says there are plans to have six daily roundtrips between Boston and Springfield, three between Albany and Springfield, and eight between the city and New Haven, in addition to four with Greenfield.
Assisting with that vision - a Boston-Albany Corridor being accepted into the Federal Railroad Administration’s Corridor ID Program last year.
The designation includes $500,000 to support planning for additional train service connecting Boston and Albany through Springfield.
