MassDOT to Purchase Berkshire Line for Passenger Rail

The Joseph Scelsi Intermodal Transportation Center is being considered as a rail station once passenger service between Pittsfield and New York resumes.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The state has finalized an agreement to purchase 37 miles of rail line between Pittsfield and the Connecticut border to advance passenger rail between the Berkshires and New York City.

The agreement includes $12.13 million to acquire the line and an estimated $35 million for initial track improvements, funded by the 2014 Transportation Bond Bill approved by the Legislature. The Berkshire Line runs through Sheffield, Great Barrington, Stockbridge, Lee and Lenox to Pittsfield, where it joins the CSXT Railroad main line.

The purchase was authorized on Wednesday by the board of directors of the state Department of Transportation.

The Berkshire Regional Planning Commission has been reviewing recommendations for possible rail stations along the way, including Pittsfield's Intermodel Transportation Center. A report was expected to be issued Wednesday with public hearings scheduled for Wednesday, July 23, at the Great Barrington Fire Department and Wednesday, Aug. 6, at the Pittsfield Intermodal Center. Both hearings will be from 6 to 8 p.m.

According to a press release from MassDOT, track improvements will permit the operation of passenger trains but serve freight trains until the Connecticut portion of the project is completed. A final round of track improvements will be required along with improvements on the Connecticut portion of the line prior to the start of passenger rail service. The Transportation Bond Bill included $113 million for the purchase and Massachusetts portion of the track improvements.

A date for the beginning of passenger service is dependent upon completion of the upgrades in both states.

Dalton Board Signs Off on Land Sale Over Residents' Objections

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
05:50AM / Tuesday, December 23, 2025

Residents demanded the right to speak but the agenda did not include public comment. Amy Musante holds a sign saying the town now as '$20,000 less for a police station.'

DALTON, Mass. — The Select Board signed the sale on the last of what had been known as the Bardin property Monday even as a handful of residents demanded the right to speak against the action. 

 

The quitclaim deed transfers the nine acres to Thomas and Esther Balardini, who purchased the two other parcels in Dalton. They were the third-highest bidders at $31,500. Despite this, the board awarded them the land in an effort to keep the property intact.

 

"It's going to be an ongoing battle but one I think that has to be fought [because of] the disregard for the taxpayers," said Dicken Crane, the high bidder at $51,510.

 

"If it was personal I would let it go, but this affects everyone and backing down is not in my nature." 

 

Crane had appealed to the board to accept his bid during two previous meetings. He and others opposed to accepting the lower bid say it cost the town $20,000. After the meeting, Crane said he will be filing a lawsuit and has a citizen's petition for the next town meeting with over 100 signatures. 

 

Three members of the board — Chair Robert Bishop Jr., John Boyle, and Marc Strout — attended the 10-minute meeting. Members Anthony Pagliarulo and Daniel Esko previously expressed their disapproval of the sale to the Balardinis. 

 

Pagliarulo voted against the sale but did sign the purchase-and-sale agreement earlier this month. His reasoning was the explanation by the town attorney during an executive session that, unlike procurement, where the board is required to accept the lowest bid for services, it does have some discretion when it comes to accepting bids in this instance.