• Save this date & time: Monday, Dec. 16, 2024, 5:30-7:30 p.m.
• Come to the Palmer Station Public Meeting at the Palmer Public Library, 1455 North Main Street, Palmer, MA.

MassDOT and its consultant VHB will share the results of their work to select a site for the new Palmer passenger rail station.

MassDOT invites the public to comment on —

• site evaluations and preferences among six studied locations;
• proposed station amenities & characteristics.

The Palmer Station will be a regional stop on Amtrak service between Boston-Worcester-Springfield, starting in 2029-30. It will also be a stop on future Boston-Albany Amtrak service.

The post Palmer Station Public Meeting: Monday, 12/16 at 5:30 p.m. first appeared on Citizens for a Palmer Rail Stop.

Starting in 2029, Amtrak plans to run trains between Boston and New Haven, and the trains will be stopping here! That will be nearly 50 years since Boston & Albany service to Palmer ended.

Palmer Station Planning + Design

MassDOT, consulting firm VHB, and Palmer officials are currently evaluating eleven potential passenger rail platform locations.

Level 1 Fatal Flaw Screening: Operational Compatibility

Level 1 review will determine operational compatibility based on three things:

• Is the site on the Compass Rail Corridor?
• Does sufficient space exist to accommodate a high-level platform on a siding track with signal infrastructure meeting minimum standards?
• Does the site interfere with freight operation at the diamond junction (where CSX and NECR tracks cross) or the CSX Palmer Yard?

Site locations with operational compatibility will undergo Level 2 Comparative Evaluation, followed by work to “define potential station amenities.”

Public Meeting in the Fall (date TBD)

A public meeting in the Fall will share the results of the site location and design analysis, and seek public input.

We will let you know the date of the public meeting when it is announced. We will also share any information made public at that time (or before), as well as opportunities to submit questions and comments to MassDOT by mail, email, or online.

Amtrak Service

Amtrak plans to run two round-trip trains between Boston and New Haven, stopping in Palmer, in 2029. That gives MassDOT and CSX sufficient time to do track upgrades between Worcester and Springfield, and to build out a high-level platform in Palmer.

Progress on all fronts!

The post Level 1: Operational Compatibility first appeared on Citizens for a Palmer Rail Stop.

The Northern New England Intercity Rail Initiative provides the most detailed and advanced study of potential station sites in Palmer. The Palmer Station Analysis is in the Alternative Analysis Report, pages 234-241 (PDF shared via Dropbox).

There is also discussion of these potential Palmer locations in the Tier 1 Environmental Assessment. A compilation of these selections, plus the Palmer Station Analysis from the Alternative Analysis Report (see above), may be viewed in this PDF shared via Dropbox.

The Northern New England Intercity Rail Initiative includes a comprehensive Station Site Assessment & Guidelines document, available in this PDF shared via Dropbox.

Amtrak trains traveling between Boston and New Haven, and between Boston and Albany, will stop at the new passenger rail station in Palmer. The Amtrak Station Planning and Development Guidelines are the primary source for what is needed to meet Amtrak’s station requirements. The latest version is available in this PDF shared via Dropbox.

The post Palmer Station Site Analysis & Design first appeared on Citizens for a Palmer Rail Stop.

At the January 17, 2024 MassDOT Board of Directors meeting, Rail and Transit Division (RTD) Administrator Meredith Slesinger announced that “RTD selected a consultant in December of 2023 for Planning and Conceptual Design” of a Palmer intercity passenger rail station.

“This contract will include public outreach, site selection, identification of station amenities and access, conceptual design, and environmental scoping.” Administrator Slesinger estimated that this work would take a year-and-a-half to complete.

Importance of Palmer

Slesinger characterized the Palmer planning and design as “an important part of the Compass Rail program that the Governor’s Budget originally identified as a priority last year, and that was identified in prior studies, including the East-West Rail Study, that Palmer needs a station.”

The contract will be funded from the $4 million for Palmer planning added last June to the MassDOT Capital Investment Plan (CIP). As a member organization of the Western Massachusetts Rail Coalition, the Citizens for a Palmer Stop successfully lobbied the Governor and MassDOT to put this money in the CIP after it was (unfortunately) axed from the FY2024 state budget by the legislature.

Springfield to Worcester track work

In yesterday’s MassDOT Board meeting Slesinger also said that RTD is “continuing to advance the work with Amtrak and CSX on the Inland Route award that we received from FRA (Federal Railroad Administration)–that’s the $108 million for infrastructure improvements between Springfield and Worcester–and we continue to work on the infrastructure modeling for that ahead of schedule.”

Boston & Albany Corridor

Slesinger expanded on Transportation Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt’s announcement of the $500,000 FRA award to MassDOT for the Boston & Albany Corridor. “This acceptance of the Corridor ID Program is important because this is the FRA program that establishes a pipeline of projects off the Northeast Corridor to bring passenger rail corridors from concept to implementation. These projects will then be eligible for the Federal-State Partnership National Network Program in the IIJA (Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act). That program was funded at $12 billion so that would be the primary program that we would look to in the future to fund building out the west-east, north-south rail components.”

What happens next

All of this is great news, especially the upcoming Palmer station planning and conceptual design work.

All of us, advocates and town officials and business people and citizens, will need to engage with MassDOT’s consultants to ensure that site selection and station planning achieve our goals of maximizing transit-oriented development in Depot Village.

Our objectives include:

• Revitalizing our downtown business district;
• Incentivizing residential housing development (#1 priority of the Healey Administration);
• Enabling a future train connection to the Central Corridor Line, which runs northwest to Amherst/UMass, and southeast to Storrs/UConn.

Please see our A2B Campaign for more about potential train service on the Central Corridor.

All aboard for restored passenger rail service to Palmer!

The post MassDOT selects consultant for Palmer Station Planning and Design! first appeared on Citizens for a Palmer Rail Stop.

We strongly second the Commission endorsement of MassDOT as an “experienced project manager, evidenced by the agency’s most recent 5-year plan, including $350 million in rail projects and two major projects directly related to East-West Rail.” (p. 19)

Central Corridor Passenger Rail Feasibility Study

We are disappointed that the Commission ignored MassDOT’s Central Corridor Passenger Rail Feasibility Study, published in June 2017.

As the “lead agency overseeing and managing the development and build-out of intercity passenger rail service in the commonwealth,” (Report of the Western Massachusetts Passenger Rail Commission, page 21) MassDOT should not forget that UMass Amherst is located in the Town of Amherst on the Central Corridor, and could be connected to East-West Rail at Palmer by shuttle service running on the already-upgraded tracks of the New England Central Railroad (NECR).

In addition, MassDOT and CTDOT should work together to extend this shuttle service across the border to another important Central Corridor stop at UConn/Storrs.

For recent letters and resolutions expressing local support for restored train service to Amherst, plus a brief summary of the greater potential for passenger rail along the entire Central Corridor, please see our A2B Campaign.

The post Report of the Western Massachusetts Passenger Rail Commission first appeared on Citizens for a Palmer Rail Stop.

During a slideshow presentation on “Compass Rail” at the MassDOT Board of Directors meeting on 10/18/23, Rail and Transit Administrator Meredith Slesinger shared this “Happening Now” slide —

“State-funded planning/design of Palmer Station” is an upcoming project. As this process moves forward in the coming months, we encourage all passenger rail advocates from the Quaboag region to participate and demonstrate your support for renewed train service to a Palmer stop.

Benefits of a Palmer Rail Stop

The Palmer Train Station will —

• Serve residents of the 21 towns of the Lower Quabbin Region, including Amherst and the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts;
• Spur economic development and tourism in Palmer, Monson, Warren, Brimfield, Belchertown, Ludlow, and Wilbraham;
• Create new housing development opportunities in these suburban and rural towns stretching across Central Massachusetts between Springfield and Worcester;
• Expand and interconnect regional transit options as part of a Palmer/Ware hub, improving access for Central Mass residents to employment, education and training, medical care, food, recreational activities, and cultural amenities.

More About Compass Rail

For more on Compass Rail, the upcoming hiring of a “Compass Rail/East-West Director,” and the FRA-funded track upgrades between Worcester and Springfield, please see the Streetsblog article, “MassDOT Outlines ‘Compass Rail’ Vision for New Passenger Services in Western Mass.”

The post Compass Rail first appeared on Citizens for a Palmer Rail Stop.

$4 million for study and design of a Palmer station

On July 19 the MassDOT Board of Directors approved an FY2024-FY2028 Capital Investment Plan (CIP) that includes $4 million to study and design a Palmer passenger rail station. According to the CIP listing, MassDOT plans to spend $1.5 million on this Palmer design work in FY2024, and the remaining $2.5 million in FY2025-FY2028.

WMRC completes a Hail Mary pass

After the legislature slashed the Governor’s proposed Palmer and Pittsfield station project funding from the state budget, we, together with the Western Mass Rail Coalition, and with the help of Western Massachusetts legislators, lobbied the Governor and MassDOT to add the projects to MassDOT’s Capital Investment Plan instead. This would commit the state to the projects without having to specify the funding source. In a very unusual move, and acknowledging our advocacy, MassDOT in June announced that the Palmer/Pittsfield projects had been added to the new CIP at the last minute. For more details of this story, please see our earlier website post — $4 million for Palmer station design in MassDOT CIP.

Money for Track Work

Design work at Palmer is well-timed because last December MassDOT applied for Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) grant funding to begin track work on the section of East-West Rail between Worcester and Springfield, including work on the tracks through Palmer (see graphic from MassDOT’s CRISI grant application below). MassDOT has applied for this money in two separate grants that will be awarded in August-September 2023 and November-December 2023. Having submitted overlapping applications, they are confident they will succeed.

Trains to Stop in Palmer on Both Inland Route and Boston-Albany Corridors

MassDOT has also submitted applications to establish two corridors for new passenger rail service:

• an Inland Route corridor with trains running between Boston-Worcester-Palmer-Springfield-Hartford-New Haven;
• and a Boston-Albany corridor with trains running between Boston-Worcester-Palmer-Springfield-Pittsfield-Albany.

Importance of Advocacy

It’s important to keep in mind that our advocacy has been essential to get to this point, and therefore we will need to continue to advocate throughout the planning, construction, and implementation phases of Inland Route service. To paraphrase our friend Ben Heckscher of Trains in the Valley, nothing is certain until you see the train on the track.

Thanks to all of our supporters throughout the Quaboag towns and beyond for your hard work and strong support. We are finally on the verge of success!

The post Station Design & Track Work first appeared on Citizens for a Palmer Rail Stop.

The CIP also includes $8 million for track work in Pittsfield to be expended over FY2024-FY2027.

Thank you Governor Healey

Gov. Maura Healey has delivered on her campaign promise to begin work on East-West rail, and she deserves thanks from advocates across the Commonwealth. We applaud the Healey-Driscoll Administration’s willingness to move forward immediately with the important Palmer and Pittsfield early action items.

In his presentation at yesterday’s meeting, David Mohler, Executive Director of MassDOT’s Office of Transportation Planning, shared a second slide related to the addition of the East-West rail money to the CIP following favorable feedback received during the public comment period last month.

Role of the Western Mass Rail Coalition

At the end of June, when we announced—see $4 million Redux— MassDOT’s intent to include the Palmer and Pittsfield funding in the CIP, we shared the CIP comment made on behalf of the Western Mass Rail Coalition by Ben Heckscher of Trains in the Valley. Ben also reached out to legislators representing Western Massachusetts, resulting, no doubt, in further feedback to MassDOT, as referenced yesterday by David Mohler.

To reveal a bit more about the Western Mass Rail Coalition’s continuing campaign for East-West rail, here is the letter that the Coalition sent to the Governor on June 6 —

Time for the Town of Palmer to Step Up

We thank the Palmer Town Council for sending the Governor a letter of appreciation when she first announced her plan to fund the study and design of Palmer station.

Town Council should direct town officials to engage MassDOT directly, ensuring local coordination and input during the planning process. Many decisions will need to be made concerning station/platform location, adjacent parking and drop-off, pedestrian access from the Main Street business district, connections to regional PVTA and Quaboag Connector bus and van services, and the all-important direct bus link to UMass Amherst.

The town will need to develop a transit-oriented development (TOD) plan, as called for in its 2021 Master Plan, building on the preliminary TOD work done by Fuss & O’Neill in 2017 for the Palmer Redevelopment Authority. The following slide from that draft study illustrates some of the issues to be resolved in order to locate the platform at the “diamond junction” of the east-west Inland Route and north-south Central Corridor tracks. Future restoration of direct train service between Amherst and Boston via Palmer depends on locating the Palmer platform at the junction.

CRISI Grant for Track Work

As we said in June, funding of station work in Palmer perfectly complements MassDOT’s application for CRISI grant funding of track improvements to accommodate passenger trains on the freight line between Worcester and Springfield.

As we await the Federal Railroad Administration’s decision on the MassDOT application for the CRISI grant, here is the letter of support that we submitted to the FRA last November —

Economic Development

We are excited that in 2023, the ninth year of our campaign for a Palmer passenger rail stop, all the necessary state and federal support for East-West rail is finally coming together.

Train service connected to last mile regional and local transit serving residents of towns throughout the Quaboag Valley will provide a huge boost to our regional economy. The improved transportation network would support local businesses and help revitalize downtowns. It also has the potential to bring long-delayed redevelopment to larger sites like the Monson Developmental Center.

Let’s keep these economic benefits at the center of the conversation as planning and implementation of passenger rail proceeds.

The post $4 million for Palmer station design in MassDOT CIP first appeared on Citizens for a Palmer Rail Stop.

The Healey Administration’s proposed $12.5 million initial investment in East-West passenger rail has been added to the MassDOT Capital Investment Plan for 2024-2028. David Mohler, Executive Director of MassDOT’s Department of Transportation Planning, made the announcement at the MBTA/MassDOT Joint Board Meeting on June 22.

For the full story, see “MassDOT capital plan restores $12M east-west rail funding for Palmer, Pittsfield.”

After the Massachusetts legislature cut the Governor’s proposed East-West rail funding from the FY2024 state budget, Ben Hecksher and the Western Mass Rail Coalition lobbied the Governor and MassDOT to restore this important early action funding by including it in the MassDOT CIP.

Benefits for the Entire Commonwealth

Expanded passenger rail service across the state will have enormous economic and social benefits, not least among them the potential to address the need for housing in Eastern Mass by more closely linking it to more affordable and rural areas of Central and Western Mass. The Healey/Driscoll Administration is right to prioritize housing, and East-West rail, like existing MBTA commuter rail, will provide a huge opportunity to increase housing opportunities in communities newly-connected by passenger rail.

Funding of station work in Palmer perfectly complements MassDOT’s application for CRISI grant funding of track improvements on the freight line between Worcester and Springfield.

Funding of track and station improvements in Pittsfield is necessary to meet the growing demand for seasonal Berkshire Flyer service from New York City, as well as future Boston and Albany corridor service.

Karissa Hand, press secretary for the Healey administration, recently stated, “The governor’s FY24 budget proposed $650,000 for five full-time employees to work on West-East Rail, including [an East-West] Rail director. [The Massachusetts Department of Transportation] plans to begin the search for the [East-West] Rail director in FY24.” See “House, Senate deny $12.5 million for East-West Rail.”

Key Points in Favor of a Palmer Station

Transportation Options

• • A station in Palmer would serve residents of the 21 towns of the Lower Quabbin Region, from Amherst to Monson. See Towards a Passenger Station on the East-West Massachusetts Train Line – The Case for Palmer, UMass Amherst Center for Economic Development, June 2019.
  • Passenger rail service would be a transportation backbone. Local and regional bus and van services would provide last mile connections to communities throughout the area. The PVTA’s Ware Palmer Flex Route service, and the on-demand Quaboag Connector would both connect to a Palmer Station.
  • Expanding transit options in our area would have the following benefits:
    • Increased employment opportunities;
    • Improved health outcomes due to better access to health care, food, and recreation;
    • Economic development and re-investment in local business districts;
    • Expanded housing choices;
    • Access to regional educational and training institutions.

Economic Development

• • Restored passenger rail service would generate significant economic development impact. According to a Capitol Region Council of Governments transit oriented development (TOD) analysis, investment in the area of a Palmer station could result in an additional 650,000 sq. ft. of commercial space, 1,800 additional housing units, and 1,100 additional jobs. See The Economic Benefits of Regional Rail Investment in Metro Hartford-Springfield, Capitol Region Council of Governments, April 2021. Also see summary with links at: https://www.palmertrain.org/big-return-on-rail-investment-metro-hartford-springfield
  • A station located in downtown Palmer would be one mile from the campus of the former Monson Developmental Center, a property with enormous development potential.

Need for a Palmer station plan

Every study of expanded passenger rail in Western Massachusetts has recognized the value of a Palmer stop serving residents of communities between Worcester and Springfield, and connecting the large student population at UMass Amherst to Boston.

We have listed these studies below to indicate the preliminary planning that has been undertaken to determine the feasibility and identify the potential location(s) of a passenger rail platform in Palmer.

Recognizing the need for more detailed engineering design of the future station area, the Town of Palmer has prepared a Request for Proposal (RFP) “to hire a consultant to conduct a feasibility analysis that will identify the most suitable location for a passenger rail station in downtown Palmer.”

MassDOT, CSX, and Amtrak are working together to upgrade track between Worcester and Springfield, and restore passenger rail service to the Inland Route between Boston, Springfield, and New Haven. Planning has also begun for future service in a Boston/Albany Corridor.

The Town of Palmer needs to work with MassDOT officials, and transportation planners at the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (PVPC) in order to synchronize local station planning with the larger East-West passenger rail project developments.

The RFP prepared by the town provides a comprehensive overview of the scope of work necessary to evaluate, locate, and design a preferred Depot Village platform site.

Passenger rail studies including a Palmer stop

Northern New England Intercity Rail Initiative (NNEIRI) (June 2016)
This multi-state study examined the possibility of high speed rail between Boston and Springfield, and from there to New Haven and Montreal. It is the most detailed and recent study of a Palmer stop, and notes possible problems with three potential sites. The longest discussions of possible Palmer sites are in the Alternative Analysis Report and the Tier 1 Environmental Assessment.

Central Corridor Passenger Rail Feasibility Study (June 2017)
This MassDOT study looked at the possibility of restored passenger rail service on the Central Corridor Line, which runs north-south and includes Palmer. It concluded the potential ridership did not justify the cost. It did not look at potential station location sites within Palmer.

Palmer Transit Oriented Development Draft Conceptual Downtown Plan (Sept. 2017)
This study looked at transit-oriented development (TOD) possibilities in Depot Village, Palmer, and was commissioned by the Palmer Redevelopment Authority (PRA). It briefly outlined several areas for a possible station location around the existing rail “diamond,” but with no real detail. An illustration of possible future sites was later used in the Palmer Master Plan (Aug. 2021, p. 25).

Towards a Passenger Station on the Massachusetts East-West Train Line: The Case for Palmer (June 2019)
This study argued for the inclusion of a Palmer stop as part of East-West passenger rail, and was commissioned by the Town of Palmer. While making an excellent case for the concept, it did not examine potential sites.

East-West Passenger Rail Study (Jan. 2021)
This MassDOT study examined high speed rail between Boston and Pittsfield. It is considerably less detailed than the earlier NNEIRI study. It identified Palmer as a future stop in all three final alternative build scenarios; however, it did not examine any potential sites within the town. Elements of the study have been moving forward since April 2022.

Metro Hartford-Springfield: Economic Benefits of Regional Rail (May 2021)
This study was commissioned by the Hartford area Capitol Region Council of Governments, and looked at the economic impact of passenger rail service from Worcester to Springfield and Hartford. It included Palmer and described potential economic benefits from passenger rail service, but did not examine potential sites.

The post $4 million Redux first appeared on Citizens for a Palmer Rail Stop.

Administrator Slesinger’s slideshow notes:

“Good morning. I’m Meredith Slesinger, Rail & Transit Administrator for MassDOT. I’m joined by my colleague Mike Muller, executive director of commuter rail for MBTA. Chair Straus asked us to put together some information on enabling projects for expanded rail service in the Commonwealth.

“It’s important to note that a transportation system functions as a network and to provide the needed connectivity, investments are needed across the entire system. So while we have talked a lot in these meetings about what expanded rail service would do for western Massachusetts, not all the investments needed for service are located in the western part of the state.

“Today we will highlight two major projects that will be necessary, South Station Expansion and Worcester Triple Track. In fact, the East-West Passenger Rail Study findings were predicated on these projects already being completed.”

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