Both the state House and Senate have unanimously approved a study that could eventually lead to passenger rail service that would link North Adams, Greenfield and Boston.
Sen. Jo Comerford, D-Northampton, presented a bill earlier this year to the Joint Committee on Transportation, asking that the study be done so that train travel can happen from the western to eastern parts of the state.
There are already plans for expanded north-south connections from Greenfield to Connecticut and New York City. Two more trips will be added each weekday and one on weekends to New York City from Greenfield. The House and Senate also approved $250,000 in the 2020 budget to market the north-south connections, also known as the Knowledge Corridor. That is expected to happen by the end of summer.
Comerford said she would like a study by the state Department of Transportation to see how feasible it would be to restore passenger rail from east to west linking North Adams, Greenfield and Boston. She currently travels Route 2 or the Mass Pike to get from Northampton to the State House. She said this would be another option for her and others.
Passenger rail service ran along the same route from 1875 to 1968. She said reviving it would not only make life easier for commuters, but would cut down on the state’s carbon footprint.
A date has not yet been set for the study to begin, but it will
The study will assess costs of reviving the system, which might include rail repairs along the way. It would also project ridership levels and examine impacts to nearby towns, potential sources and availability of federal, state, local and private funding and the resulting economic, employment, social and cultural benefits to the area, according to Comerford.
She said North Adams to Boston rail service would be a boon to Western Massachusetts and its work force. She said it would allow for people to work in Boston and live in Western Massachusetts without long commutes each day.
Comerford has had support from other members of the Western Massachusetts delegation, including Sen. Adam Hinds, D-Pittsfield, and representatives Paul Mark, D-Peru, and Natalie Blais, D-Sunderland.