Q&A: With $108M, new West-East Rail director seeks to get long-awaited project on track wbjournal.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wbjournal.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
MassDOT estimates that its proposed track improvements could enable Amtrak trains to run up to 80 mph, and reduce the time for passenger rail trips between Boston and Springfield to 2 hours and 10 minutes – roughly the same amount of time it takes to drive.
Supporters of east-west passenger rail in Massachusetts hope the project can receive money through the newly signed federal infrastructure bill. Yet, some question whether the state is committed to the
WORCESTER Almost exactly one year ago, State Sen. Eric Lesser visited Union Station to chat about East-West Rail.
He revisited the station Wednesday, and a lot has changed in a year.and not just that Lesser was now wearing a face mask.
“The stars are aligning I think in a very key and high stakes way this year,” Lesser, a Democrat from Longmeadow, said in a meeting at Union Station Wednesday. Most importantly, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation has completed a 2 ½ year feasibility study of East-West Rail.
“The study came out with a number of conclusions. One is that it’s not an easy project, not an inexpensive project, but a project that can happen,” Lesser continued. “For the first time in anybody’s memory, there’s a real road map or a real train map there’s a real blueprint put out there on how to make statewide rail from Boston to Pittsfield a reality.”