Page 38 - BusinessWest July 21, 2021

week’s meeting about potential tension between freight and passenger inter- ests and whether commuter times will be thrown off by the needs of freight carriers.
“We’ll be looking at how those two intersect and make sure any additional service that could occur along the cor- ridor doesn’t impact with freight or current commuter operations along the corridor,” Niles responded. “We’ll look at how all the services communi- cate and work together.”
Other potential study topics range from development of multi-modal connections with local bus routes and other services to an extension of pas-
senger rail service past North Adams into Adams and even as far as Albany, although that would take coordination with officials in New York.
Comerford first introduced the bill creating the study back in January 2019, and an amendment funding it was included in the state’s 2020 budget, but the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the start of the study until now.
And it’s not a moment too soon, she recently said on the Train Time pod- cast presented by Barrington Institute, noting that rail service brings ben- efits ranging from climate effects to economic development to impact on individual families who want to live in
Franklin County but work in Boston (see related story on page 39).
With average salaries lower than those available in Boston often making it difficult to settle in Franklin County, availability of rail affects people’s job prospects and quality of life, she noted.
“My hope is that these communi- ties would suddenly become destina- tion spots for a whole new market
of people looking to live in Western Massachusetts and work in Boston,” Comerford said, noting that, longer- term, she hopes to see greater business development in Western Mass. due to expanded rail, as businesses that need access to Boston, Hartford, and New
York could set up shop here and access those cities without having to deal with traffic.
The bottom line, she said, is that it’s environmentally important to get cars off the road, but there are currently too many gaps in public transportation to make that a reality.
“There was a time when you could work in Boston and live in Franklin County,” she said. “I’ve heard story after story about what life was like up until about the late ’60s. It changed abruptly for them.
“When I was elected, one of the first things I researched was passen- ger rail along Route 2,” she went on. “I thought, ‘we have to explore starting this again. This is really important.’”
Chugging Along
Of course, east-west rail is only part of the story right now in Western Mass. Running north-south between New Haven and Greenfield are Amtrak’s Val- ley Flyer and Vermonter lines.
On July 26, Amtrak will restore a second train to its daily Valley Flyer service 16 months after cutting a train due to COVID-19. Southbound trains will depart Greenfield at 5:45 a.m. and
“My hope is that these communities would suddenly become destination spots for a whole new market of people looking to live in Western Massachusetts and work in Boston.”
7:35 a.m., and northbound trains will return to the station at 10:23 p.m. and 12:38 a.m.
The Vermonter will return to service in Massachusetts on July 19. A long- distance train originating in Washing- ton, D.C., it has gone no further north than New Haven since March 2020, also due to the pandemic. Amtrak is also reopening three other trains which offer service between New Haven and Springfield.
According to Amtrak, ridership on the Valley Flyer fell by more than half at the Holyoke, Northampton, and Greenfield stations in 2020, but the company is optimistic it will return to past numbers. That’s critical, since the Flyer is part of a DOT and Amtrak pilot program, which means its funding depends on its ridership. The Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (PVPC) will launch an advertising campaign this fall in an effort to boost interest in the service.
Train
Continued on page 43
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