A push to enhance passenger rail service across Massachusetts could see as many as nine round-trips per day between Boston and Pittsfield, a city about 10 miles from the New York state line. The service would open up western Massachusetts to economic development, its proponents say.
It also would provide a convenient way for residents from the more densely populated east end of the state to reach such cultural attractions as Tanglewood and the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art.
The project is in the early planning stages, and a draft report is now posted online at https://www.mass.gov/east-west-passenger-rail-study. A public online meeting on the project is scheduled for 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 22. Public comments are being accepted through Nov. 19 and may be submitted at the website.
A link to the Zoom meeting may be found at the website.
An advisory committee that prepared the draft has narrowed possible alternatives to three, all of which would include upgrades to the infrastructure. The two most expensive alternatives would include some new rail line mostly in the right-of-way owned by CSX Transportation, while the third would use existing track used by CSX.
Extending the new service to the Capital Region would give residents another way to travel to Boston. There currently is no direct air service, and Amtrak currently operates a single round trip over the route, the Boston section of the Lake Shore Limited. The formerly daily service was reduced to three times a week this month as Amtrak reduced frequencies on almost all of its long-distance trains in the wake of significant declines in passengers because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
With limited alternatives, most travelers take the Massachusetts Turnpike.
It hasn't been determined whether the new service would be operated by Amtrak or by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, which operates commuter rail service in the Boston area. Amtrak referred questions to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, which didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
While there's no guarantee the project will happen, Massachusetts has had several successful initiatives in improving rail service, including an extension of passenger service north to Greenfield, Mass., and weekend seasonal service to Cape Cod.
Rail proponents also are working to launch the Berkshire Flyer, a seasonal service that would extend an existing train that now originates and terminates in Rensselaer east to Pittsfield on a seasonal basis.
eanderson@timesunion.com
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