Palmer passenger rail station

Designs for a potential passenger rail stop in Western Massachusetts are taking shape. So is opposition to the location that MassDOT and designers have picked. WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief James Paleologopoulos reports.

Officials in Massachusetts have selected a site that could be the home of a future passenger rail station in Palmer – part of the state’s West-East and Compass Rail plans.

Passenger rail service could be returning to the small Hampden County town of Palmer in the not-so-distant future – but where a future station might go is still being hashed out. Advocates for putting it downtown, at the historic Union Station site, have been making their case, even as officials consider other options.

A public information meeting in Palmer, Massachusetts, went slightly off the rails after officials described plans for a future rail station that seemed to steer away from a popular, potential site.

Massachusetts state transportation officials will be in Palmer tonight to collect feedback on plans for a potential new passenger rail station in the Hampden County town.