On June 12th, the States leading Rail Advocate, Brian Forgue, Rich Holzman, Bob Daley & others, were invited to speak at the Mount Holyoke College Conference on “Bridging the Transportation Gaps” in Massachusetts. This event is the latest example of, same as it ever was, Railways connect Communities, people and most impactful, opportunities. Railways will shape a greener way for us to live & Railways will again power local economies laid low by loss of Industry & being by-passed by the Turnpike. We ask MassDOT to expand Compass Rail to Bridge the Transportation gap & re-connect Rural Western MA to restore our economies. The Mass DOT Corridor Identification Plan Mission Statement calls for “Identifying Service development needs for new and / or enhanced Rail Service between Springfield & Albany.” Our need, our ask, is for Equality of access, mobility & connectivity for the entire Commonwealth.
12 June at Mount Holyoke College, we introduced the re-branding of the quest, as the Southern Hilltowns / Berkshire Rail Stop Alliance and kicked off a renewed Region-wide Campaign for a Passenger Rail Stop between Springfield & Pittsfield. An area encompassed by Albany, Springfield & Hartford, with 2.5M residents & a Western MA area of 90 Towns, Represented by Lindsay Sabadosa, Jo Comerford & Paul Mark.
3 of the 4 Compass Rail points have greatly exceeded ridership projections…North-Vermonter & Downeaster, East-Worcester to Boston & South-Northampton to New Haven & NYC. We anticipate the same for the West-Springfield to Albany. If you build it, they will come. Our local Chester catchment area, includes 19 surrounding Towns within a 20 mile radius of Chester, which is only 70 Rail miles from the Capital Region of Albany. A huge opportunity for two way Employment & Housing smart growth. Better, fairer, greener Rail is happening all around us, as we seek your support & endorsement of a Passenger Rail Stop between Springfield & Pittsfield
If you are interested in learning more, joining the quest and / or signing a Letter of Support on behalf of your Town, Agency or Business, please reach out to either Rich Holzman ([email protected]) or Bob Daley ([email protected]).
Our collective action will assure we catch this once in a lifetime transformative Train.