Study: $3B rail extension through North Worcester County could be strategic asset
Image I Courtesy of MassDot
Study evaluates benefits of proposed $2.96B Mass. rail extension project
The rail line stretching along the northern tier of Massachusetts to Greenfield and North Adams is a "strategic asset," state transportation officials said in a new report this week, but the benefits of restoring passenger service in the region -- with a price tag of up to $2.96 billion -- "may not offset the capital costs."
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation looked at six passenger rail options on the extension of the old Fitchburg Railroad line. MBTA commuter rail service on the line currently ends in Fitchburg at Wachusett Station, though tracks continue west toward New York.
"I think it would be transformative to the region to restore this rail service," Rep. Aaron Saunders told the News Service. "Sometimes, it's lost on folks, but it's not ancient history to look back to a time when there was passenger rail that connected the eastern part of the state and the western part of the state. And restoring that would be a boon on a number of fronts."
Benefits could include expanded housing and employment options for Bay Staters, said Saunders. His district includes the town of Wendell, situated between Greenfield and Athol where potential passenger rail depots have been floated.
Public input has been "significant," Saunders said, and he has heard from residents in area towns who commute eastward for their jobs, or for medical appointments, or who just "want that opportunity to hop on a train to get into town to go see a Sox game and not have to worry about driving in, and traffic, and parking."
Utilization of the rail line would lead to "reduced automobile emissions and crashes," the report said.
The draft study is subject to a 60-day public comment period set to end on Oct. 12. It was released Tuesday, more than three years after it was initially due under a directive from the Legislature, which asked the agency to study the prospect of Northern Tier passenger rail in a section of the fiscal 2020 budget.
Passenger service ran on the 140-mile line to North Adams until the mid-1900s, according to the report, which floated a 12-year sample timeline for bringing service back again. The timeline calls for securing funds in the first year, and includes three years of engineering and four years of construction.
The study found "challenges" around gaining access to federal funding for the project "under current discretionary grant program criteria," and referred to the "highly competitive" nature of federal grants. Legislation aimed at giving Massachusetts more leverage to pull in more from the federal government's substantial pool of grants has been hung up for months due to an undisclosed dispute among Democrats.
In addition to track improvements funded by private owners, the study said that government may need to contribute toward some big improvements like "renewal" of the 1877 Hoosac Tunnel that runs straight through the mountains on the approach to North Adams.
Of the six schemes that were studied, the investigation identified stakeholder support for Alternatives 3, 4, and 5, along with interest in adding more stops on the line in places like Charlemont and Williamstown, home of Williams College. All but one of the options studied would involve diesel-powered trains even though the state is in the throes of trying to shift to transportation that pollutes less.
Alternatives 3 and 4, dubbed the "Electrified Service" and "Full Local Service" options, scored the highest annual ridership estimates out of the various plans, with Electrified Service estimated to draw 196,520 to 304,200 riders annually, and Full Local Service to draw between 168,040 and 255,460 riders.
Both of those schemes, while "more expensive to design and build," are also more cost-effective with the lowest annual maintenance-per-rider cost thanks to the higher ridership those options would attract.
The Electrified Service plan, which would feature westward stations in North Adams, Greenfield, and Athol, would come with an estimated pricetag of $2.96 billion. That is the highest capital cost of any of the six ideas, and around $1.32 billion of that cost would come from electrification of the line, a feature not explored in the other options. The annual maintenance was estimated at $97 to $151 per rider.
The Full Local Service plan comes with a $1.59 billion estimated cost, and includes stops in Shelburne Falls, Athol, and Gardner. Its annual operations and maintenance would cost $116 to $176 per rider, according to MassDOT estimates.
Passengers would be able to ride from North Adams to Boston in just under three hours on both of those routes, the study found.
Other possibilities featured in the report include an extension all the way to Albany, N.Y., with a total travel time from Albany to Boston of four and a half hours, and a "two-seat ride" featuring a train from North Adams to Fitchburg with an optional transfer to a separate train bound for Boston.
"Given the estimated benefits and costs associated with each of the six alternatives, the benefit-cost analysis indicates that the benefits may not offset the capital costs required for implementation," the study concluded.
More work is needed, MassDOT said, including further development of "the markets, ridership, costs and benefits from a transportation planning perspective."
The report called for gathering "more granular and current" travel demand data for the region, along with considering a new express service between Fitchburg and Boston, and investigating a motor coach line along the Northern Tier route as a way to grow "demand for any future rail service."
A motor coach route was successful along what is now the Downeaster Amtrak line between Boston and Maine, the report said, growing demand in those communities in the years leading up to the rail line's opening.
The report also highlighted the importance of preserving the Northern Tier line for freight purposes, and called the tracks a "strategic asset for the entire commonwealth."
Saunders said the timing of the study is "exciting," with the north-south Valley Flyer train running from Greenfield up to Vermont and down to Springfield and New York offering "another point of connectivity" for his area.
"Making rail an option for folks, not only to get north-south but east-west, it's a game-changer for us," the Belchertown Democrat said. "And I think combined with the proposed west-east rail to connect Boston to Springfield and Pittsfield, it really brings to fruition a transit vision that a lot of folks out this way are looking forward to."
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