Future rail connecting Albany to Boston secures $130M grant

This October marked a month’s worth of good news for anyone who rides the rails in the Northeast – especially in Massachusetts.

New federal funding, agreements and trainsets mean plans to better connect Albany with Boston are closer than ever to coming into station – though they’re still a long way’s off.

However, work on the metaphorical whistle stops is around the bend.

Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief James Paleologopoulos has done reporting on that, including a new announcement on Friday. He joined WAMC's Sam Dingman on Northeast Notebook to discuss more.

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Editor's note: This conversation has been lightly edited for clarity.

Paleologopoulos: Yes, WAMC has once again assigned a train story to the guy who might like trains too much.

Dingman: It probably wasn’t on purpose. That said, what can you tell us about the state of East-West rail?

Paleologopoulos: There is a lot to go over – of course, we have been reporting on all of this over the years – the Commonwealth’s plan to implement “Compass Rail” an overarching plan to have more regular passenger rail service flowing between not just Boston and Springfield, but Pittsfield and Albany, New York as well – and New Haven, Connecticut – can’t leave them out. So why are we talking about it again? It’s because this month has featured a lot of positive developments on this front, the latest being announcements made in Springfield Friday: that East-West rail plans – or rather, West-East Rail as MassDOT now calls it – received a fresh $130 million in funding. It was reason for celebration at Union Station Friday, where Gov. Maura Healey and a bunch of officials announced the federal money was coming.

Healey: We've made real progress, but there's always more to do, and we're going to continue to work at it, hustle and chase it every single day, and we are going to get the West-East Rail done once and for all.

Paleologopoulos: So, to make a long story short – this is a new infusion of grant money from the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements program. It’s a federal program that previously awarded $108 million for track improvements between Worcester and Springfield and another $36.8 million for track reconfiguration work that needs to happen in Springfield before. This new funding is for what’s being called the “Springfield Hub Modernization Project” – which the Healey administration says is a “key phase” of that reconfiguration work. Officials have previously said the current layout at Springfield’s Union Station can’t truly support the influx of new trains if west-east rail happens. So, a new railyard, new signals, new track and platforms – that’s all part of this and, as MassDOT Rail and Transit Administrator Meredith Slesinger explains, that design and construction work is going to be starting soon.

Slesinger: We're going to begin final design in January of 2027, so in just a few months. Once final design is complete, we will spend that $130 million on the construction of the track reconfiguration and the improvements to signals, so we can unlock that capacity to have more train service through Springfield, so we're beginning final design in early 2027. We also, at the same time, have our inland route project underway. That is the $108 million grant that was announced here a few years ago for improvements on the CSX territory between Springfield and Worcester, and that service on the inland route will result in two daily round trips beginning in 2030. So that work is underway. That construction we've been in design, we've been starting environmental work. That construction will also begin in 2027.

Paleologopoulos: I know it sounds a bit dry and detailed – but this kind of work has been hinted at and later defined for the better part of a decade now. Now, more critical funding is in place and the 2030 estimate for trains rolling between Boston, Worcester and Springfield – and New Haven, Connecticut, is looking more achievable.

Dingman: And that goes for Pittsfield and Albany as well?

Paleologopoulos: Technically, yes. So, the goal – dream, if you will – is to have better connections between Albany and Boston by 2045. That’s… a long time off, but, as The Times Union previously reported, a two-year study and analysis of that specific connection is getting underway. At the same time, we also had word earlier this month that MassDOT reached an agreement with freight company CSX to work on major infrastructure improvements in the Pittsfield area. As the Healey administration has said, it will mean less conflicts between the freight and passenger trains. It also helps set the stage for “permanent seasonal Berkshire Flyer service.” MassDOT’s alotted at least $31 million for track improvements so far. The department is also exploring the quote “feasibility of a new platform” at the Pittsfield station. Upgrading track capacity in Pittsfield is, of course, a major component of Compass Rail as well.

Dingman: And of course, just into the newsroom, we’re also learning Vermont is seeing its own federal rail funding injection.

Paleologopoulos: Yes! For context – about $2.3 billion in CRISI grants were recently announced by the federal Department of Transportation and Federal Railway Administration – 105 projects in 45 states. A lot of victory laps for rail projects are coming out all at once – that includes $60 million for Vermont’s Western Corridor Rail Line – that will help with 60 miles of rail. Officials say this means funding for finishing the Western Rail Corridor – and connecting it properly with the New York Penn Station line. Of course, all of this comes a month after an August federal grant package that included $2 billion for new, additional Amtrak train sets - the swanky Airo trainsets Amtrak has been amassing. As officials and rail watchers have previously told WAMC - fleet upgrades and additions also figure prominently into any west-east rail projects.