Today’s Headlines
• Building Momentum for Northern Tier Passenger Rail
• Amtrak Abruptly Cancels Valley Flyer Train 471
• Passenger Rail Ridership Doubles in our Region
• MassDOT Receives Major Grant for West-East Rail
• Public Information Meeting for Palmer Station
• Westfield Asks for Rail Stop
• West Springfield | Railroad Crossing Safety Issues Raised
Calendar
Palmer Station Planning and Design Public Meeting
Mon. December 16th, 2024 | 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Palmer Public Library, 1455 N Main St, Palmer, MA
Vermont Rail Advisory Council
Tues. February 11, 2025 | 1 pm – 3 pm
Vermont Agency of Transportation, 2178 Airport Rd, Barre, VT
(hybrid meeting w/online option)
Building Momentum for Northern Tier Passenger Rail
This article summarizes three important developments for the Northern Tier Passenger Rail initiative.
These announcements, both individually and collectively, represent key steps in the effort to advance the restoration of passenger rail service along this corridor.
October 11th – Letter from the Northern Tier Delegation
On October 11th a delegation of nine state representatives and senators sent a strongly worded letter of support to Governor Healey, Lt. Governor Driscoll, and senior members of their administration.
The two-page letter (below) announced the delegations “strongest possible support for the Administration’s continued focus on a restart of Northern Tier Passenger Rail.”
Letters like this don’t write themselves. They are written after due deliberation, discussion and thought. Letters of support help to build the political will that is necessary for projects like Northern Tier Rail to move forward.
November 18th – Rallies in North Adams and Greenfield
Then on the morning of November 18th two rallies were held, in North Adams and Greenfield, to announce and celebrate that more than 100 entities — including 40 municipalities, from Berkshire to Middlesex Counties — have come together to support and advocate for the restart of Northern Tier Passenger Rail.
Greenfield MA station platform | November 11, 2024
City Hall, North Adams | iBerkshires | November 18, 2024
The coalition of more than 100 stakeholders in support of the restart of Northern Tier Passenger Rail, called on the Healey-Driscoll Administration to turn its planning into action.
They joined regional planning agencies, rail advocates, nine state legislators, and hundreds of individuals who have already offered comments as part of an ongoing study process.
A letter sent to Secretary and CEO of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation Monica Tibbits-Nutt; MassDOT Rail and Transit Administrator Meredith Slesinger; and David Mohler, Executive Director, Office of Transportation Planning at MassDOT stated,
“Northern Tier Passenger Rail will help meet the critical needs of central and western Massachusetts while advancing the well being and goals of the entire Commonwealth.
Northern Tier Passenger Rail will be the catalyst needed for our underlooked and underserved region to attract younger individuals, families, and entrepreneurs; expand economic opportunity, growth, and mobility; assist in meeting the Commonwealth’s pressing housing demand; and reduce traffic congestion and greenhouse gas emissions.”
These events mark the next step in a full-throated effort to move the idea of restored passenger rail service on the Northern Tier Corridor forward. Rallies like this help build public awareness for this effort.
November 27th – MassDOT Release of the Final Report
Then on November 27th MassDOT issued a press release to announce the release of the final report for the Northern Tier Passenger Rail Study.
Included in the press release was a statement from Transportation Secretary and CEO Monica Tibbits-Nutt which read,
“Regional connectivity between west and east is a key priority as we imagine the future of transportation in Massachusetts. The Northern Tier Passenger Rail Study will be a valuable planning tool to identify service alternatives that can expand rail access, reduce congestion, and connect communities statewide.”
The release of the final report completes an effort that began nearly six years ago, in January 2019, when Senator Jo Comerford introduced Bill S.2054, “An Act to examine the feasibility of rail service between North Adams, Greenfield and Boston.”
MassDOT and its consultants made no substantive changes to the text of the study in the final report, but they did greatly expand the Appendices with the addition of the full set of comments received during the study process.
The final report (112 pages) along with the Appendices (620 pages) and a Glossary (3 pages) have been posted on the MassDOT website on this link — Northern Tier Passenger Rail Study Final Report
Further reading
Northern Tier Passenger Rail
Train In The Valley
The latest information on the ongoing effort to move Northern Tier Rail forward
Opinion: “The other east-west rail”
By Alan Wirzbicki | The Boston Globe | November 18, 2024
“State advances study of potential North Adams-to-Boston run”
By John Townes | Hill County Observer | September 2024
“One hundred entities sign letters of support for Northern Tier Rail”
By Chris Larabee | Greenfield Recorder | November 18, 2024
“Proponents of passenger rail across northern Massachusetts push for project”
By Adam Frenier | New England Public Media | November 18, 2024
Amtrak Abruptly Cancels Valley Flyer Train 471
Amtrak, with little notice and no explanation, cancelled southbound Valley Flyer train 471 on Friday, November 22, 2024.
In its place, Amtrak is now operating an earlier train — southbound Valley Flyer train 425 — departing from Greenfield at 6:20 am, Northampton at 6:45 am, and Holyoke at 7:00 am. This train then travels to Springfield where an across the platform transfer to Amtrak Northeast Regional train 125 is available.
This change was abruptly made during the run up to the busy Thanksgiving travel period and caught many people with booked tickets off guard.
The first hint that this was coming came on November 14th when passengers booked on Valley Flyer train 471 received this notice from Amtrak —
Hi (name removed),
We wanted to let you know that there has been a schedule change for your trip.Your updated itinerary:
You’re now scheduled to depart on train #0471, from Springfield, Massachusetts on Friday, January 3rd at 8:55am and arrive in New Haven, Connecticut on Friday, January 3rd at 10:18am.We’re sorry for the inconvenience. Thanks for being a valued Amtrak customer – we’ll see you onboard.
About a week later Amtrak completed a set of changes to its reservation system that put in place what is now train 425, connecting with train 125 in Springfield.
So just to be clear, before we continue, Amtrak suspended train 471 and replaced it with train 425 earlier this year to allow for various construction projects in and around the Windsor Locks CT station to proceed without delay. Train 471 returned on November 4th at the end of the construction period, as was expected. This train was then cancelled three weeks later.
From what we are hearing and reading online, quite a few people in the valley are unhappy with this schedule change.
We don’t have access to Amtrak daily ridership information so it’s hard to know at the moment exactly what the impact of this change is.
But what we can see online is how long any Amtrak train is stopped in a station along its route. (this is known as dwell time.)
Here’s what the southbound Valley Flyer dwell time data looks like for Northampton for the three days before Thanksgiving, in 2023 and 2024:
| 2023 | Mon. 11/20 | Tues. 11/21 | Wed. 11/22 |
| VF Train 495 dp. NHT @ 6.10 am | 1 min | 1 min | 3 min |
| VF Train 471 dp. NHT @ 8:00 am | 1 min | 3 min | 3 min |
| Total AM dwell time | 2 mins | 4 mins | 6 mins |
| 2024 | Mon. 11/25 | Tues. 11/26 | Wed. 11/27 |
| VF Train 425 dp. NHT @ 6:45 am | 0 mins | 1 min | 1 min |
We would be the first to say that you can’t draw conclusions from three days worth of data —but we were shocked to discover that the dwell time for the southbound Valley Flyer in Northampton went from 12 minutes to 2 minutes for this period. (2023 vs. 2024)
If we roughly estimate that one minute of station dwell time in Northampton for the Valley Flyer is about 20 riders, then we are talking about ridership that went from 240 to 40, year-over-year on these three days.
Where did all of these passengers go? Some probably tried to get on the Vermonter, only to discover that the fares were out of sight or that the train was sold out due to the holiday. Others found their way to Springfield and took train 471, or some other Amtrak train south. Others found another way to travel.
On the surface something looks wrong with this Valley Flyer schedule change.
Before we take further action we’d like to hear from people who have ridden or plan to ride the Valley Flyer in the morning to understand how this change affected the way they travel.
If you were affected by this schedule change please take a few moments to complete the survey form linked below, which contains a small set of questions.
2024 Southbound Valley Flyer Survey
Prepared by Trains In The Valley
Needless to say, this is a developing story.
Passenger Rail Ridership Doubles in our Region
FY2024 ridership of 217,000
27% increase vs. SFY2023 — 99% increase vs SFY2018
MassDOT announced a few months back that ridership at Massachusetts stations on the state-supported Amtrak routes for SFY* 2024 came in at 217,000 — a 27% increase over SFY2023, and 99% (nearly double) the SFY2018 ridership.
The increase in ridership follows a period when far fewer people traveled during the pandemic, in 2021 and 2022.
The routes included in these ridership numbers are the Berkshire Flyer, Valley Flyer, Vermonter, the Amtrak-operated Hartford Line trains, and the Northeast Regional trains out of Springfield.
These ridership numbers do not include the Lake Shore Limited since this service is part of Amtrak Long Distance Service Line. The numbers also do not include the CTrail Hartford Line trains which are funded by CTDOT, or the Downeaster, which is funded by the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority.
* The 2024 State Fiscal Year (SFY) runs from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024.
And just the other day, Amtrak announced that it set an all-time ridership record for the Federal Fiscal Year which ended September 30th — Amtrak Press Release | December 3, 2024
MassDOT Receives Major Federal Grant for West-East Rail
On November 29th the Federal Railroad Administration announced that it had awarded MassDOT a $36.8 million grant to complete design efforts for the planned Springfield Area Track Reconfiguration Project.
The Springfield Area Track Reconfiguration Project entails significant track, signal, and infrastructure improvements in and around Springfield Union Station. These improvements will lead to a reduction in conflicting movements between freight rail and passenger rail traffic by eliminating a rail choke point in Western Massachusetts and Western New England.
In addition, the project includes the construction of new and more efficient layover facilities, as well as multiple high-level platforms to improve ADA accessibility and safety for passengers at Springfield Union Station.
The Springfield Area Track Reconfiguration Project is being advanced by MassDOT in coordination with the Springfield Redevelopment Authority, Amtrak, CSX, and the other railroads that operate in Springfield.
Further information
“West-East Rail administrator warns projects ‘take time’”
By Jim Kinney | The Republican | October 31, 2024
Springfield Area Track Reconfiguration Project
Trains In The Valley
Public Information Meeting for Palmer Station
Courtesy of Citizens for a Palmer Rail Stop
MassDOT has announced that it will be hosting a Public Information Meeting for the Palmer Station Planning and Design Project on Monday, December 16th at 5:30 pm.
The meeting will be held in the Community Room at the Palmer Public Library, located at 1455 North Main St in Palmer.
We encourage anyone with an interest in the planned Palmer station to attend this in-person meeting — in particular people who live or work in Amherst, Belchertown, Granby, Hampden, Ludlow, Monson, Palmer, Springfield (Sixteen Acres) and Wilbraham, and think they would use this station in the future.
At the meeting the project team will provide an overview of the study’s background, the station site alternatives and evaluation, and design considerations for a potential future rail station in Palmer.
Attendees will be asked to provide feedback on the site alternatives and design considerations.
Further information
Palmer Station Planning and Design – Public Information Meeting announcement
MassDOT
“Passenger rail chief to discuss possible station sites in Palmer”
By Jim Kinney | The Republican | December 2, 2024
Westfield Asks for Station Stop
According to a report in the Westfield News, the Mayor Michael McCabe met with MassDOT and other state officials on October 15th to promote the idea of a passenger rail stop in Westfield on the Boston & Albany Corridor.
The Westfield News report said,
“MassDOT officials had a muted response to the idea, McCabe said. He [the MassDOT official] said the issue was that a Westfield stop wasn’t in the original plans for the proposed intercity rail service between Boston and Pittsfield. Thus, he said, MassDOT officials were cautious about getting involved.”
The former Mayor of Westfield was a member of the East-West Rail Study Advisory Committee, but there was no organized advocacy for a rail stop in Westfield during the course of the study, which was conducted between December 2018 and January 2021.
The city’s proposal for a stop adjacent to the historic station building (shown in the image above) would not be workable due to the building’s close proximity to the CSX main line tracks.
Current CSX standards require that the edge of a passenger platform be setback 24′ from the centerline of the nearest track.
Also, any station stop in Westfield would require a new dedicated station track, available land for an 800′ high-level platform, and ample area for parking and bus access.
Further reading
“With Westfield station vacant, mayor pitches MassDOT on passenger rail stop”
By Tyler Lederer | The Westfield News | October 30, 2024
West Springfield | Railroad Crossing Safety Issues Raised
West Springfield, MA (The Republican)
On September 12th CSX engineers and conductors, represented by their union, hosted an on-site press conference to demand safety improvements to a railroad crossing in West Springfield.
The crossing which is located in the 800 block of Memorial Avenue (MA State Route 147) allows the freight railroad CSX to serve customers at the end of an industrial spur that crosses this four-lane roadway.
Memorial Dr, West Springfield MA | Google Maps
The crossing (shown above) is currently protected by a pair of mast mounted flashing warning lights, advance warning signs, and pavement markings with railroad crossing symbols.
According to the current US DOT Crossing inventory form for this crossing, the annual average daily traffic over the crossing was 16,482 vehicles in 2019.
In a related WWLP-22News report, railroad workers said that they often must stop their trains and set up road flares as an extra precaution to warn drivers, before moving their train across this roadway.
The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU) and MassDOT conducted a comprehensive diagnostic review of the rail crossing on September 25th.
When this review is complete, the DPU, CSX, and MassDOT will meet to decide what steps, if any, should be taken to improve the safety at this crossing.
At a minimum it is likely that the current warning lights, which use incandescent bulbs, will be replaced with fixtures with LED lighting, which are much brighter.
Further reading
“Unions call for safety gate at West Springfield railroad crossing”
By Tyler Lederer | The Reminder | September 18, 2024
“These tracks cross 4 lanes of busy WMass traffic; crews want a safety gate”
By Jim Kinney | The Republican | September 12, 2024
U.S. DOT Crossing Inventory Form – Crossing 525894S (PDF)
November 21, 2024