MassDOT Schedules Hearing on Passenger Rail to Albany
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — As part of the East-West Rail proposal, the state wants to see how service could expand to Albany.
Next week, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation will hold a virtual meeting for a Service Development Plan to explore a passenger rail between Boston and Albany, N.Y.
The Zoom event will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 6, from 6 to 7:30 p.m.
MassDOT says this is a critical step toward advancing East-West Rail, which would connect Pittsfield and western communities to Springfield, Worcester, and Boston, and beyond. The project has been in progress for several years and was recommended in the 2018 Massachusetts State Rail Plan.
The SDP will study how passenger rail service on the Boston and Albany Corridor would operate and how to get there. It takes about two years, and the next step is preliminary engineering and environmental review.
In the SDP process, MassDOT will conduct stakeholder outreach, propose appropriate service levels, identify necessary infrastructure improvements, and establish a governance structure for service.
Planned station stops include South Station and Back Bay in Boston, Framingham, Worcester, Palmer (proposed station), Springfield, and Albany-Rensselaer, according to the MassDOT website.
Massachusetts completed the East-West Passenger Rail Study Final Report in early 2021, and in December 2023, the Boston & Albany Corridor was accepted into the Federal Railroad Administration's Corridor ID Program; MassDOT was awarded $500,000 for an SDP.
The U.S. Department of Transportation identified more than $3.5 million through the Corridor ID Program for the plan, and MassDOT will match $395,000.
In the report's executive summary, MassDOT recognized that a robust transportation system is essential to providing residents, businesses, and visitors with mobility for economic, personal, and recreational needs.
"Passenger rail transportation can be an important component of a multi-modal transportation system that increases travel options and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Fast and frequent passenger rail service in the East-West Rail Corridor could enhance mobility and connectivity for Corridor communities, provide residents and stakeholders with additional travel options, and catalyze new economic opportunities, such as development around stations," it reads.
"Improved connectivity among job centers and better mobility for potential workers could increase employment opportunities for workers and expand the talent pool available to employers by better linking the western, central, and eastern regions of the Commonwealth with each other and with a broader travel market."
The virtual meeting on Tuesday will have space for questions and comments. They can also be submitted to bostonalbanycorridor@dot.state.ma.us.
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