Governor Names West-East Rail Director

11:59AM / Sunday, February 11, 2024Print Story | Email Story

BOSTON — The Healey-Driscoll administration is naming a director to move forward with the West-East Rail initiative.

Andy Koziol, current director of rail and transit, is expected to lead the charge to extend passenger rail service from Boston to Worcester, Springfield and Pittsfield.

In her first budget, Gov. Maura Healey worked with the Legislature to secure funding for staff support for the project, including creating the director position.

The state Department of Transportation recently received a $108 million federal grant toward undertaking the necessary trackwork to enable two daily Amtrak round trips between Boston and New Haven, Conn., with a stop in Springfield, dubbed the Inland Route.

The Boston & Albany Corridor has also been accepted into the Federal Railroad Administration's Corridor ID Program, which will lay the necessary groundwork to expand passenger rail operations west of Springfield to Pittsfield and beyond. The Healey-Driscoll administration also included $12 million for the Palmer and Pittsfield rail projects.

Koziol joined MassDOT's Rail & Transit Division in June 2023 with a goal to advance passenger rail initiatives and improve transportation options across Massachusetts. He has more than 15 years of transportation planning experience centered on implementing safe, equitable multimodal transportation, with a primary concentration on commuter rail and intercity rail planning.

"We have never been closer to making West-East Rail a reality, and I am pleased to see Andy take on this important role to continue building on our progress," said Healey in a statement. "He will be a strong leader for West-East Rail and for the people of central and Western Massachusetts who are eager to see this vision come to life. This rail connection will expand access to job and housing, spur economic development in our communities, and strengthen our state's competitiveness."

Before joining MassDOT, Koziol worked for 12 years at the Rhode Island Department of Transportation, where he collaborated closely with the MBTA and Amtrak on rail service and capital planning. His experiences there included managing the planning and design of passenger rail stations, short- and long-range service planning on the Northeast Corridor, and success with obtaining federal grants for rail initiatives. Previously, Koziol spent three years working as a transportation analyst with the Cape Cod Commission.

As the West-East Rail director within the Rail & Transit Division, Koziol will provide comprehensive oversight and coordination of ongoing and future projects in support of the project and the Compass Rail program with MassDOT staff and consultant support. He will be responsible for implementing federal grants, such as the federal Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) awards received for the Inland Route and Springfield Union Station area improvements and lead the pursuit of additional federal resources to advance the effort to expand passenger rail service.

"Andy's competence, experience and passion for transportation are exactly what we need in this crucial moment for our state's infrastructure," saidransportation Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt. "West-East Rail will be transformational for Massachusetts. It will help better connect our rural communities to economic opportunities, provide additional seamless travel routes by train, and encourage more travelers to opt for public transportation. I thank Andy for all his great work at MassDOT thus far and cannot wait to work with him further."

West-East Rail is an integral component of Compass Rail, the state's overall vision for intercity passenger rail services. Compass Rail includes existing north-south services along the Knowledge Corridor in Western Massachusetts as well as proposed west-east services between Boston and Albany, New York.

Born and raised in Massachusetts, Koziol holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a Master of City and Regional Planning degree from Rutgers University.

"The importance of West-East Rail cannot be understated," said Koziol. "I look forward to continuing to work with my dedicated colleagues at MassDOT, and other champions of the overall Compass Rail program, to deliver for the people of Massachusetts the connectivity they deserve."

Tags: MassDOT, passenger rail,

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Pittsfield School Committee Sees Budget Calendar, Chapter 70 Concerns

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
05:28AM / Monday, January 19, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Pittsfield Public Schools kicked off its fiscal year 2027 budget calendar, and are again facing uncertainties with state Chapter 70 funding.

During the first meeting of the new term on Wednesday, the School Committee OK'd an FY27 budget calendar that plans the committee's vote in mid-April. Interim Superintendent Latifah Phillips stressed the importance of equity in this process.

"It's really important for us through these next couple of months to look at our different schools, our different needs, different student demographics, and really understand, are we just assigning resources equally, or are we really assigning them based on what different groups of students need?" she said.

The district could lose up to $5 million in Chapter 70 funding from declining enrollment, specifically of low-income students. This is a similar issue that PPS saw in 2024, when the discovery of 11 students meeting those income guidelines put the district in the higher funding category and added $2.4 million to the school budget.

"We are in a funding category, Group 11, for a district with a large percentage of low-income students, and that number could fluctuate depending on who exited the district," Phillips explained.

"So we're going to do our best to understand that, but ultimately, these numbers will impact the budget that is proposed to us by the governor."

According to the budget calendar, a draft budget will be presented in March, followed by a hearing in early April, and the School Committee is set to vote on the budget in mid-April. The City Charter requires it to be adopted before May 1, and a meeting with the City Council must occur no later than May 31.

Assistant Superintendent for Business and Finance Bonnie Howland provided an overview of the Chapter 70 funding and budget process. The budget calendar, she said, is designed to really support transparency, coordination, and legal compliance.

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