U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, surrounded by state Reps. Aaron Saunders, Orlando Ramos and Kelly Pease, state Sens. Adam Gomez and Jake Oliveira, Director of Federal Funds and Infrastructure Quentin Palfrey and Massachusetts Department of Transportation West-East Rail Director Andy Koziol, announces $36.8 million for Springfield track reconfiguration as part of East-West Rail.
Reminder Publishing photo by Sarah Heinonen
SPRINGFIELD — Springfield has moved a little closer to becoming the central hub of a statewide passenger rail system known as Compass Rail.
The state received a $36.8 million Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements grant from the Federal Railroad Administration. The funding will bring the designs for the Springfield Track Reconfiguration Project, part of the planned Boston-to-Albany Compass Rail component known as East-West Rail, to 100% completion. Massachusetts Department of Transportation West-East Rail Director Andy Koziol said the reconfiguration will create efficiency for the trains to travel in all directions and implement accessible platforms.
“Improved passenger service on rail … unifies everybody in central and Western Massachusetts,” said U.S. Rep. Richard Neal (D-Massachusetts). The 18-term member of the House of Representatives and former Springfield mayor added, “It’s what I was always able to foresee.”
A trip from Springfield to Boston one-way on the Amtrak Lake Shore Limited is scheduled to take two hours and 26 minutes. Kozoil said that the trip will take no more than one hour and 10 minutes along the new line.
The north-south components of Compass Rail will include the Valley Flyer, an Amtrak line between Greenfield and New Haven, Connecticut, and the Vermonter, which connects St. Albans, Vermont, with Washington, D.C. Transitions between these lines and East-West Rail will be available in Springfield.
Kozoil said MassDOT is consistently applying for federal money to advance East-West Rail and called Gov. Maura Healey’s administration “aggressive” in its pursuit of funding. He also announced that the Boston-to-Albany corridor has been accepted into the Federal Railroad Administration’s corridor ID program, a national network of rail lines. He said this will provide the route with “dedicated” federal funding for related capital projects.
In September 2023, the state received a $108 million CRISI grant to support East-West Rail’s “inland route” and add the capacity for two more daily roundtrips from Boston to Springfield. Design on this section is scheduled to begin shortly, with construction starting in 2027 and be open to riders in 2029.
The grant also helped support infrastructure to increase train speeds. The amount of funding available through the CRISI program was increased as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Neal said the law was drafted in the House Ways and Means Committee while he was chair. Neal, who was up for re-election on Nov. 5, also noted that the CHIPS and Science Act and American Rescue Plan Act were passed while he led the influential committee.
Since its inception, Compass Rail has received more than $275 million in allocations from various sources for different sections of the rail network. These include the $108 million from the CRISI program for the Inland Route, with an $18 million match from MassDOT, $11 million from MassDOT for Platform C at Springfield Union Station; $4 million from MassDOT for Palmer Station Planning and Design; $8 million from MassDOT for Pittsfield Track Capacity; a previous $1.75 million from the CRISI program for the Springfield Track Reconfiguration Project, with a $1.75 million match from MassDOT and this $36.8 million from the CRISI program for the Springfield Track Reconfiguration Project, that requires a $9.2 million match from MassDOT. There was also $75.7 million to restore The Vermonter and $103 million to renovate and reopen Springfield’s Union Station. In the next five years, $123 million is slated to be spent on capital improvements for the Compass Rail system.
Quentin Palfrey, director of federal funds and infrastructure with the Office of the Governor, echoed Koziol’s comments regarding funding. He said that since the beginning of Healey’s tenure, she has “fought for every dollar” available and has brought more than $8.7 billion from Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS and Science Act.
“We’re not done yet,” he assured.
Kozoil said the total cost of East-West Rail is not yet known because the design work has not been finished. Planning for East-West Rail began in 2018 and Kozoil said that while that may seem like a long time in development, the average time for a rail line to go from planning to construction is 12 years.
“We appreciate the patience,” Kozoil said, while Palfrey commented, “We share your impatience.”
Several members of the Massachusetts Legislature were on hand for the funding announcement and project update and each of them praised the work done by Neal and the funding he has brought back to Western Massachusetts.
“This is what government is set out to do,” said state Rep. Carlos Gonzalez (D-Springfield). While he called Neal’s “leadership” a “blessing, he said “It’s too bad that certain groups, their worst enemy is the facts and the truth.” He said that truth involved economic improvement under the Biden-Harris administration and the leadership of Neal and the other members of the Massachusetts delegation.
Referencing recent remarks at a rally for former president Donald Trump in which a comedian referred to Puerto Rico as “a floating island of garbage,” state Rep. Orlando Ramos (D-Springfield) said, “I’m grateful we have a congressman who stands up for Puerto Ricans.
State Rep. Kelly Pease (R-Westfield) also commented on the political tensions brought on by the contentious presidential election. He said that half the country would be upset on Nov. 6 and half would be happy, but “they’re still your neighbors.” Turning back to the rail project, he said that in the state Legislature, “We all come together to try to promote what is right and what we need to do.”
Both Ramos and state Sen. Jake Oliveira (D-Ludlow) both noted the hours they spend commuting to Boston. Oliveira said a site for the rail stop in Palmer, part of his district, has been narrowed down to six locations, mostly in the downtown area. The rail administrator will make the final decision on where the station will be. Wherever the station is sited, he said the inclusion of raised accessible platforms is essential.
Ramos later told Reminder Publishing that East-West Rail will “create economic opportunity for businesses to improve further out, for people to be able to commute back and forth to work and decide whether or not they want to live somewhere that is less expensive than Boston.”
State Rep. Aaron Saunders (D-Belchertown) spoke about the “unyielding work” of the Healey-Driscoll administration. “We know that, as goes Springfield, as go our Gateway Cities, so goes our region.
Investments here have a resounding positive impact to the communities I have the honor to represent along with many of our colleagues in government.” He called Compass Rail a gamechanger” for towns like Belchertown, Ludlow, Shutesbury and Petersham.
State Sen. Adam Gomez (D-Springfield) later said in a press release, “This significant grant award comes to MassDOT as another long overdue piece of ‘train track’ for West-East Rail in Springfield.” He said the rail system has “the potential of revolutionizing employment, housing and transportation options for Western Mass. residents in and around the Greater Boston area. I look forward to continued partnership with the delegation as we inch closer to realizing this effort.”
Neal sees the finished Compass Rail system as an economic boon for Massachusetts, bringing people in from around the region. “We have the Basketball Hall of Fame, we’ve got museums, access to ski areas,” he said. Regional visitors to these attractions will “augment the use of hotels and restaurants. I think it will be a major addition and economic engine.”
