Vision Needed

MassDOT’s 2020-2024 Capital Investment Plan (CIP) draft contains many necessary investments to maintain current transportation infrastructure across the Commonwealth, but it fails to address the gaping hole left by minimal statewide passenger rail service.

The Commonwealth spans about 190 miles from east to west, but is only about 50 miles across from north to south along much of this long latitudinal axis. MBTA commuter rail service extends west from Boston only 50-60 miles to Worcester and Gardner. The daily coming and going of Amtrak’s Lake Shore Limited is a poor substitute for frequent, reliable regional intercity rail serving central and western Mass, and bus service via the Mass Pike is invariably stuck in traffic jams in both directions from west of the junction with 84 all the way to Boston.

MassDOT’s continuing failure to invest in passenger rail west of Worcester means that more than half of the state and the people living there are dramatically underserved by a necessary component of modern transportation infrastructure. Governor Charlie Baker and Secretary of Transportation Stephanie Pollack need to articulate a vision of rail service that encompasses our entire state, uniting cities and regions from the New York border to Massachusetts Bay.

For an example of how to implement a statewide rail service, we only need to look south to Connecticut where CTrail trains are running along the coast to New London and inland to Hartford & Springfield (in Massachusetts!).

We acknowledge that MassDOT is currently spending a million dollars to study East-West passenger rail, but, as most of us know, in 2016 MassDOT’s Northern New England Intercity Rail Initiative (NNEIRI) recommended running trains on the existing Inland Route between Springfield and Boston. MassDOT’s failure to implement the NNEIRI’s preferred alternative plan is a costly delay at a time when the robust Boston economy fully justifies major investment in transportation infrastructure west of Worcester.

Both urban and rural areas would be connected by regional passenger rail. In the Quaboag region between Springfield and Worcester there are 21 towns which would be served by a stop in Palmer. Springfield and Hartford together form a large metro area between Boston and New York City. A rail vision for Massachusetts should reflect the huge potential for new business opportunities that exists throughout this area of central & western Mass and northern Connecticut.

Judged by the many criteria MassDOT has established for expanding our transportation system, NNEIRI-type passenger rail service on the Inland Route would receive the highest possible rating. It would:

• “Expand diverse transportation options throughout the Commonwealth” – an East-West passenger rail backbone will serve the multimodal hub at Springfield’s Union Station, and create a Quaboag Valley regional hub at Palmer;

• Address the issue of Environmental Justice – East-West trains will serve minority & low-income populations across the three largest cities of the Commonwealth, as well as low-income residents of 21 towns in the rural and suburban areas of central Massachusetts;

• Spur economic development – improved transportation will encourage employers to locate in the Quaboag region and Springfield, both of which have abundant affordable housing for employees;

• Encourage tourism and related economic development in areas of the state offering visitors natural beauty, recreational activities, historical sites, and arts and culture;

• Improve access by public transit to jobs across the state in all directions.

In addition trains would provide an alternative to Mass Pike congestion, and help the state achieve its goal of reducing CO2 emissions. Trains could be electrified; or MassDOT could deploy new hydrogen fuel cell trains to transition away from diesel engines.

Every update of the CIP should include funding to move the Commonwealth towards full implementation of statewide passenger rail service. To run trains on the Inland Route, MassDOT needs to restore double-tracking, upgrade existing track, and acquire or negotiate use of a right-of-way already shared by CSX freight and Amtrak passenger services.

MassDOT also needs to work with the State of Connecticut to make train service between Boston, Springfield, and New Haven seamless, based on the NNEIRI’s recommended alternative of 8 round-trip trains per day with an additional round-trip train running between Boston and Montreal.

We were disappointed by MassDOT’s failure to move forward with the NNEIRI recommendation, though we anticipate that MassDOT’s East-West Passenger Rail Study will reiterate that conclusion and fast-track implementation of Boston/Springfield passenger rail service.

In preparation for the much-needed expansion of train service to western Massachusetts, MassDOT needs to allocate funds for track work and acquisition on the Inland Route in the 2020-2024 CIP.