In the News

Gov. Charlie Baker announced at an Aug. 23 press conference at Union Station his administration will prepare the necessary applications for federal aid for east-west rail in the remaining months of his tenure in office.

“We will do the best job we possibly can in making the case,” he said, adding, “I actually think we are very well positioned.”

He said, “While my time here is short, I can promise you that over the course of the next few months, we will continue to build on the work that’s been done over the past several years to position this as one of the major opportunities that we will have here in the commonwealth and throughout the Northeast to do something very special with Amtrak to take full advantage of the bipartisan infrastructure law and the resources that it makes available.”

That announcement was accompanied by an assurance by Congressman Richard Neal that if Attorney General Maura Healey is the next governor, she would advocate for the transportation project. Both Republican candidates have told Reminder Publishing they also support east-west rail.

Support for the project also came from Steve Gardner, the president and CEO of Amtrak, who said the United States has the largest rail network in the world, but it is primarily for freight. He pledged his support for the proposed passenger rail line in Massachusetts that would link both sides of the state.

“We need to focus on revitalizing passenger rail,” Gardner said. He added that “Amtrak is a committed partner with the commonwealth,” in the east-west rail.

Jamey L. Tesler, secretary of transportation and CEO of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT), said there has been a successful effort to increase passenger rail service so far with additional trains between New Haven, CT, and Springfield, as well as the Valley Flyer trains that link Springfield with Greenfield and the Berkshire Flyer pilot program that carries passengers between New York City, Albany, NY and Pittsfield.

The Berkshire Flyer, he noted has seen “tremendous enthusiasm” and will be extended for next summer.
The officials traveled to Springfield from Boston aboard an Amtrak train with a “theater car,” that has a large forward window. Gardner said it gave the group time to speak about what they were seeing: the conditions of the track, the route, stations stops and capacity.

Neal spoke that Springfield was historically seen as a rail hub with tracks linking much of the population

centers of the New England region from both north and south and east to west.
“When I was growing up in Springfield, Springfield was often described as the east-west, north-south corridor of America. And based upon the tutorial that we received today from the CEO of Amtrak, Steve Gardner, I can tell you that we’re well on our way to making this a national intersection again,” Neal said.

Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno, who met the officials at Union Station, said of the chances to see this project a reality, “I think the stars are aligned.”