In the News

Springfield Union Station has received a $1.75 million federal rail infrastructure grant for track improvements, the U.S. The Department of Transportation announced Thursday.

The project will develop preliminary engineering and environmental clearance for track, signal, and infrastructure improvements, according to the statement.

The track work will include additional platforms, additional crossover tracks, storage tracks, a new layover facility, and other work that will support the Amtrak Springfield Line, the CSX Boston Albany Line, and small segments of the former Armory Branch and Knowledge Corridor, which runs north from Springfield through Holyoke and Northampton to Greenfield.

The project will improve efficiency, reduce travel times, improve passenger accessibility for intercity passenger rail services, and reduce freight and passenger rail conflicts on corridors in the Springfield area.

The federal government said the Massachusetts Department of Transportation will provide a 50% match.

Also Thursday, an Enfield, Connecticut, station project received up to $13.9 million.

At the station, construction will include a 500-foot level boarding platform, a utility building with a waiting area, and station parking. Track and signal work are needed to support the platform and the clearance will be improved by raising the bridge and lowering the road. The Connecticut Department of Transportation will provide a 50% match, and the project also includes additional federal funds, according to the release.

The Federal Railroad Administration announced over $368 million in Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements grant program funds to 46 projects in 32 states and the District of Columbia.

Union Station will be the center of planned expanded passenger rail service through Western Massachusetts.

In April, U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield, and Republican Gov. Charlie Baker emerged from a meeting confirming Baker’s support for east-west rail after years of skepticism on Baker’s part and steady convincing by Neal.

They also announced a framework to get the trains running. State lawmakers are now considering plans for a Western Massachusetts rail authority.

Also in April, CSX and the federal Surface Transportation Board reached an agreement where CSX promised cooperation with passenger rail expansion and access to the tracks in exchange for permission to buy Pan Am Railways. That purchase became official this week.

Neal was the driving force behind the now-completed $103 million rehab of long vacant Springfield Union Station into a multimodal transportation facility.

Link to article HERE.