In the News

Governor Charlie Baker, state transportation leaders, and Congressman Richard Neal were on a train ride from Boston’s South Station to Union Station in Springfield Tuesday.

Baker and Neal discussed what's needed to improve rail travel with Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner. Neal grew up in Springfield and said it's his goal to make the city what it used to be known as, the 'east-west-north-south corridor of America.'

Baker said Springfield can be a significant hub for rail traffic in the northeast, but there is work to be done on tracks, infrastructure, and passenger capacity.

"To literally be looking at different parts of the system as we were going over them and talking about what it would take to do the work that would be required to get it to the point where it could really deliver the two hour ride that we’ve talked about for the past several years,” said Baker following the train ride.

"And based upon the tutorial we received today from the CEO of Amtrak Steve Gardner, I can tell you that we are well on our way to making this a national intersection again,” said Neal.

The leaders also talked about plans to use funds from the federal infrastructure bill to make union station a regional hub again.