East West Rail Commission

Submitted by Alluminatus t3_11wvuw0 in massachusetts

Hi folks,

This is mainly for western Massachusetts, but anyone can come I believe. The DOT is holding two more forums tomorrow for the East West rail, and I’m going to guess it’ll be the last two. There will be one in Northampton at 1 pm in and one in Springfield at Springfield Technical Community College at 6 pm. If anyone wants a higher frequency and quality rail service across the state, I strongly invite you to come. You can find the exact details here.

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sporky211 t1_jd01xdk wrote

Will definitely be there. The whole reason I created a reddit account and joined this sub over a year ago was to bring the issue of the east-west railway stall and the issue of Charlie Baker being lobbied out of it by the owner of the Peter Pan Bus Company

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Alluminatus OP t1_jd03gub wrote

I will also be at one of them, Ill be pushing the subject of electrification and dual mode multiple units, might as well do it right the first time instead of kneecapping it and then spending a lot more to fix it later on.

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sheeplewatcher t1_jd3bjr1 wrote

I know it’s asking a lot from the Feds, but a good long term plan should be to electrify the BOS - SPG - HFD - NHV route to allow an alternative NEC route around the CT shoreline.

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Alluminatus OP t1_jd3fl2r wrote

That’s the plan. Dual mode multiple unit trains like Stadler FLIRTs and just run diesel west of Springfield since CSX wants to be a little bitch about electrification on that part of the track. An electrified Inland high speed corridor would do wonders for the state.

Edit: plan I’d like to suggest***

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starsandfrost t1_jd0767t wrote

> the issue of the east-west railway stall and the issue of Charlie Baker being lobbied out of it by the owner of the Peter Pan Bus Company

What? Is Peter Pan trying to shut it down?

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Alluminatus OP t1_jd0bci2 wrote

Certainly did a couple years ago, delayed the study. I don’t know about modern day though. Here’s a MassLive article about it.

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Redshirt45 t1_jd3ayft wrote

So sad that is the state of our political landscape that the crappy-ass Peter Pan bus company can pay something like $200,000, a pittance, to stop an initiative that would help the entire state’s economy on multiple levels and is glaringly obvious in terms of the need.

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Alluminatus OP t1_jd3frji wrote

Welcome to politics I suppose, it’s really annoying

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starsandfrost t1_jd496z6 wrote

Thanks for the link. That was before my time here and is disappointing to see, to say the least.

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Alluminatus OP t1_jd4ake2 wrote

Very. It appears a pretty big staircase I’m sizing up to make a case for a proper rail service.

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SarcasticRaspberries t1_jd2hsme wrote

Ah yes, 1pm. The perfect time to avoid getting feedback from people who have to work for a living.

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Alluminatus OP t1_jd2rszg wrote

Exactly my thought, and it’s at a senior center. The 6pm one at least is at my current stomping ground of STCC, so I have home field advantage!

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SarcasticRaspberries t1_jd2zcrh wrote

Godspeed my friend, I wish I could make it down to Springfield tonight but I really can't. There's lots of community support behind this project even if we can't all be there to tell them.

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[deleted] t1_jd02cde wrote

I will not be there but I do support you

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Thiccaca t1_jd00j1r wrote

You should save this post. Because, in 2 years they will be back. Asking the same questions. And acting like they have no idea what is needed.

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Alluminatus OP t1_jd00rfp wrote

You know, I want to argue, but I know you’re right at the same time. At the very least, they have a hard deadline to apply for an FRA grant for the rail, so maybe this time will be different? Probably not, I’m just trying to be optimistic.

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Hoosac_Love t1_jd935g4 wrote

How often is this going to be ,isn't there anyway a Boston/Springfield twice per day and being that train deadheads in Chicago I'd imagine it stops in Pittsfield MA before Rensselaer NY and then onto Buffalo

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Alluminatus OP t1_jd942ix wrote

Currently there is one train east and one train west for Springfield and Pittsfield, the current preferred alternatives by the DOT list 8 trains a day along the route for alt 3 while the other 2 call for 10 trains a day

Edit: currently the train is also slower on the route between Boston and Springfield than trains in 1922.

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Hoosac_Love t1_jd95qyn wrote

Wmass track are awful often running transit on freight rails slowing to 10,20MPH

I did the Southbound to DC to see my sister some years back and in Millers falls it slows to 10 MPH.It's 5 and a half hours from Greenfield,MA to Newark N.J and then three hours from Newark to Baltimore.

I'd like to see a passenger train in North Adams but doubting that

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Alluminatus OP t1_jd98447 wrote

100% the north south from Springfield all the way up to Brattleboro need to be rebuilt. The line should be seen as part of the Northern New England High Speed Rail corridor and Upgrades as such all the way to Montreal. The MassDOT did rebuild the track a while back, but it’s mostly single track and I think it was a bit of an oversight to not double track it. It should be 125 mph at least or 150 mph ideally double track all the way through New Haven (since that’s on the same line) and to Montreal.

North Adams actually may get trains in well a decade at this pace tbh lol. The state finished the Northern Tier Rail Study recently and it’s calling for 5 trains a day with North Adams as the terminus. I think it’s a great idea, it won’t be a dedicated high speed rail line, but if done properly the first time, should be a great way of getting around. I’d ultimately like to see it link up to Albany as well, I am not too sure on the feasibility of it.

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Hoosac_Love t1_jd99awx wrote

No question ,I actually did Brattleboro to DC too ,it sucked

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Alluminatus OP t1_jd99x5m wrote

Was this fairly recently if you don’t mind me asking? I suddenly am involved in rail advocacy in the region and I want to make the Brattleboro to Springfield route much faster than it currently is

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Hoosac_Love t1_jd9ag46 wrote

Not super recent ,2020 or 2011 I think not

Later than 2013 since I was in bellows falls from 13-15 and never did BF to DC Moved back to Mass in 2016 my sister moved to Seattle in about then so never went to DC since likely 2020 I'd say

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Alluminatus OP t1_jd9b45h wrote

Still fairly recently then, alright thank you, I’ll keep that in mind.

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Hoosac_Love t1_jd9bpd8 wrote

You should think northbound too ,because although I never did it I know many who did .The Vermonter(the train) is 40 MPH from Brattleboro to the Canadian border ,it's like a 4-1/2 hour ride

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Alluminatus OP t1_jd9eol3 wrote

Absolutely, that’s why I think they should make the Vermonter an electrified high speed line all the way from New Haven to Montreal.

Only issue is at that point, we need a multi-state coalition thing, because I don’t know how keen Vermont is to listen to some jackass from the Springfield metropolitan area lol.

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Hoosac_Love t1_jd9gbir wrote

Yea for sure or at least to the border,some beaurocrat in Ottawa will decide what happens from Canada on but I get your point.

Honestly I have never met anyone who rode the Vermonter past St Albans so I don't what the Canuckie side is like really.

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KDsburner_account t1_jd3nun1 wrote

While I would love this, I can’t see how this won’t be a huge waste of money. I can’t see how they can get it to a low enough price point to make people use it and also how many people will be “regulars”.

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