Lawmakers and officials from northwestern Massachusetts are pushing for east-west rail in their neck of the woods. Rallies held this week were in tandem with stakeholders calling on the Healey administration to restart Northern Tier Passenger Rail.
A month after legislators representing districts across Route 2 voiced support for Northern Tier Passenger Rail service to return, they and other advocates rallied for the train service in Franklin and Berkshire counties Monday.
Gathering in North Adams and Greenfield, state lawmakers, county officials and others converged as a letter from a coalition of more than 100 stakeholders made its way to Governor Maura Healey and MassDOT officials.
Seen on a broadcast carried by Frontier Community Access Television, advocates at Greenfield’s John Olver Transit Center carried signs reading "Bring back the train!" and "We 💖 Northern Tier Passenger Rail."
Among them was Hampshire, Franklin and Worcester State Senator Jo Comerford.
“These tracks are down - they're down. Two freight trains run on these tracks: starting passenger rail - which was again, cut short, I think prematurely short - will not take us constructing new tracks entirely,” she said beside those standing at the center’s train platform. “Sure, there will be track improvements – absolutely, as there should be - but we can do this if we find the political and social will, and that's what people power is all about.”
A memo from Comerford’s office shows dozens of towns, including many in her district, as well as numerous local chambers of commerce and institutions support the rail service’s return.
The cities of Gardner, Greenfield and Northampton are among the municipalities, as are Hinsdale, North Adams and over 30 others. Organizations include MassMOCA, Baystate Franklin Medical Center and the Yiddish Book Center, while educational institutions range from Greenfield Community College to Williams College and the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Ideally, service would include trains running as far as North Adams (and potentially beyond), with stops between northern Berkshire County and parts of Worcester County, where passenger rail connecting to Boston currently extends.
“Two tracks over is the east-west Line, that runs from Boston out to North Adams and, thanks to the effort of Senator Comerford and Rep. Blais, a bill was introduced five or maybe six years ago to prepare a study … which is the first step for any kind of a new service, particularly this kind of new service on this rail line, which hasn’t seen rail since 1958,” said Ben Heckscher, co-founder of the group Trains in the Valley, which has advocated for better passenger and freight rail service in the Pioneer Valley since 2016.
According to Heckscher, that study’s currently “winding up” after a draft of the final report was released in August. It was the subject of a 60-day public comment period that went into mid-October and will soon have a final release.
General findings noted restoring passenger service in the region would likely not be able to offset capital costs, with proposed plans costing between $878 million to nearly $3 billion, depending on levels of track improvements and number of proposed stations, among other factors.
But, as Heckscher pointed out, the southern tier east-west rail project that’s been moving forward had hefty initial estimates as well.
“The study said you could spend billions of dollars to do this project - that's what the East West Rail study said, too - but the east-west rail study moved to planning and development and, shortly, to construction with far less money than that,” Heckscher continued. “Just as we did here, this kind of rail service can be offered in incremental steps, without waiting for billions of dollars to come from the federal government or from the state budget.”
Another point raised during the rally: constant advocacy from the public and lawmakers had a hand in rejuvenating north-south rail service that currently runs through Greenfield.
Also speaking Monday was 1st Franklin Representative Natalie Blais, who at one time worked for the late 1st district Congressman Olver
“Let me tell you that it is an honor and a privilege for me to have worked for Congressman John Olver and let me tell you that the location of this intermodal facility was very intentional,” the Democrat said. “It was intentional so that we could have connections to bus and rail and bikes and everything else that you can imagine here in Franklin County. So, the only thing that I have to say to you here today is let's continue this work, let's bring the train back to the Northern Tier Rail along Route 2, and let's make John Olver proud.”
