East-West Passenger Rail (Massachusetts)

View of viaduct built by the B&A in Chester, Massachusetts

The Boston and Worcester Railroad was chartered June 23, 1831 and construction began in August 1832. The line opened in sections: to West Newton on April 16, 1834; to Wellesley on July 3; to Ashland on September 20; to Westborough in November 1834; and the full length to Worcester on July 4, 1835.[7] The Western Railroad was chartered February 15, 1833 and incorporated March 15, 1833 to connect the B&W to the Hudson and Berkshire Railroad at the New York state line. Construction began in 1837, and the Eastern Division to the Connecticut River in Springfield opened on October 1, 1839. The Western Division, through the Berkshire Hills, opened in sections from both ends from the state line to Pittsfield May 4, 1841, West Springfield to Chester May 24, 1841, Springfield to West Springfield (across the Connecticut River) July 4, 1841, Pittsfield to "Summit" August 9, 1841, and Chester to Summit September 13, 1841.[8]

In 1870, the east–west line operators were consolidated into the Boston and Albany Railroad. The New York Central and Hudson River Railroad leased the B&A for 99 years from July 1, 1900. This lease passed to the New York Central Railroad in 1914; throughout this, the B&A kept its own branding in the public eye. At its peak in 1912, the B&A operated 12 Boston-Albany round trips, one Boston-Pittsfield round trip, and as many as 10 Pittsfield-North Adams round trips.[7] The NYC merged into Penn Central on February 1, 1968. By the early part of the 20th century, commuter rail service was provided east of Worcester, with intercity rail continuing on west.[9] During the 1940s period of peak passenger volume, the New Haven Railroad (with the cooperation of the New York Central) ran several Boston-New York City trains along the route to Worcester and Springfield and then south. The service included an overnight train with sleeping car service. The last passenger service to run on the line before the creation of Amtrak was an unnamed Chicago-bound successor to the New York Central's New England States on April 30, 1971.[10]

Pittsfield Union Station was demolished in the 1960s

The rise of automobile ownership and the construction of the I-90/Massachusetts Turnpike drastically reduced passenger demand on the Boston-Pittsfield corridor. B&A service was also cut due to financial problems in the late 1930s and again after World War II; by 1950, Pittsfield was served by eight Boston-Albany round trips per day.[11] On April 24, 1960, stops west of Framingham except for Worcester, Palmer, Springfield, and Pittsfield were closed; Boston-Albany service via Pittsfield was reduced to just 3.5 daily round trips.[11]

The NYC merged into Penn Central Railroad on February 1, 1968, followed by the New Haven on December 31.[12] Penn Central continued to run the daily Boston-Albany train (the former, nameless New England States) through Pittsfield until April 30, 1971. The intercity trips were taken over by Amtrak on May 1, 1971. Service between Worcester and Albany along the Boston and Albany Railroad route was discontinued, leaving Pittsfield with no passenger rail service for the first time in 130 years.[13] Two weeks after taking over service, Amtrak added the Boston-New Haven Bay State, which restored service on the B&A as far west as Springfield; however, this service proved unpopular and was discontinued on March 1, 1975.[11] The MBTA began subsidizing Penn Central commuter rail service between Boston and Framingham in January 1973. On January 27, 1973, the MBTA acquired the line east of Framingham. Penn Central service beyond Framingham was discontinued October 27, 1975, as the state did not subsidize it. In response, Amtrak revived the New York-Chicago Lake Shore Limited on October 31, 1975, with a new section running on the Boston-Albany mainline and thus restoring service between Pittsfield and Boston.[11]

Conrail took over Penn Central on April 1, 1976. On September 26, 1994, some rush hour trains started to serve Worcester on Conrail trackage (which became CSX trackage on June 1, 1999), extending to other times beginning on December 14, 1996.[14] Prior to 2004, select Northeast Regional trains would offer a Springfield-Boston service via an inland route. This route traveled northward from New Haven through central Connecticut and western Massachusetts, passing through Hartford and Springfield, then turned eastward and through Worcester and Framingham en route to South Station. With the electrification of the Northeast Corridor in 2000, Springfield–Boston service along the slower Inland Route (2:05 hours longer from Boston–New York City) was gradually reduced, with the last train discontinued in 2004.[3] The MBTA acquired the rest of the line from Framingham to Worcester as part of an agreement announced in 2009.[15] A 2012 agreement transferred ownership and control of the balance of the corridor, from Worcester to South Station in Boston, from CSX to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

View of the restored Springfield Union Station

CSX owns and operates the segment of the East-West Rail corridor between Pittsfield and Worcester. Amtrak's Lake Shore Limited provides a single round trip per day with stops at Pittsfield, Springfield, Worcester and Boston within the state of Massachusetts. The MBTA operates commuter services between South Station and Worcester Union Station as the Framingham/Worcester line. Springfield Union Station remains a major hub for New England services including the Valley Flyer, Vermonter, Northeast Regional, Amtrak's Hartford Line and CTrail's Hartford Line. Until 2022, Pittsfield was only serviced by Lake Shore Limited trains; the Berkshire Flyer was introduced in the Summer of 2022 as a seasonal weekend-only New York City-Pittsfield extension of Amtrak's Empire Service. The service was funded by the Massachusetts Senate to facilitate tourism to the Berkshires.[16]

In 2016 the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and the Vermont Agency of Transportation, in coordination with the Connecticut Department of Transportation, completed a three-year feasibility and planning study known as the Northern New England Intercity Rail Initiative. The lead consultant for the study was HDR Engineering. The firm AECOM was the primary sub-consultant.[17] The study recommended a Boston-to-Springfield-to-New Haven intercity route with a maximum speed of 79 miles-per-hour. Despite this, the proposal was never pursued, and funding for the project was never allocated.

In January 2021, MassDOT completed a two-year study, known as the East-West Passenger Rail Study, that examined the feasibility of passenger rail service from Boston to Springfield and Pittsfield. Original considerations for an East-West Rail corridor considered either using the Boston and Albany mainline or the construction of a brand new mainline that would parallel the Mass Pike.[3] The study preferred the Boston and Albany mainline route and recommended three out of six possible build alternatives which recommended between seven and nine new round-trip trains between Boston, Springfield and Pittsfield on this corridor.[18] Proposed line upgrades include double tracking, signaling upgrades and rail upgrades to facilitate higher speeds.[19] Each of the three build alternatives call for stations in Palmer and Chester. Chester and Palmer had train stations along the rail line in the past, but those are no longer extant and would require new stations. Service delivery indicates diesel push-pull operations and call for top speeds of either 60 or 109 miles per hour. Other build alternatives considered a Springfield-Boston route with bus transfers to Pittsfield and high-speed rail; however, these options were ruled out.[4]

• Final Alternative 3 would provide direct passenger rail service between Pittsfield and Boston along a shared CSX and MBTA corridor. Up to eight round trips (seven new east–west round trips) could be provided, with an average travel time of 3:09 hours between Pittsfield and Boston, and 1:57 hour between Springfield and Boston. Additional new stations would be built in Chester and Palmer. The price is estimated at $2.4 billion.[20]
• Final Alternative 4 would provide direct passenger rail service between Pittsfield and Springfield along a shared CSX corridor, along an independent passenger track between Springfield and Worcester, and along a shared MBTA corridor between Worcester and Boston. Up to 10 round trips (nine new east–west round trips) could be provided, with an average travel time of 2:59 hours between Pittsfield and Boston, and 1:47 hour between Springfield and Boston. Additional new stations would include Chester and Palmer. The price is estimated at $3.9 billion.[20]
• Hybrid Alternative 4/5 would provide direct passenger rail service between Pittsfield and Springfield along a shared CSX corridor, along an independent passenger track with high-speed shortcuts between Springfield and Worcester, and along a shared MBTA corridor between Worcester and Boston. Up to 10 round trips (nine new east–west round trips) could be provided, with an average travel time of 2:49 hours between Pittsfield and Boston, and 1:37 hour between Springfield and Boston. Additional new stations would include Chester and Palmer. The cost is $4.6 billion.[20]

In Summer 2021, Amtrak published a comprehensive fifteen-year service expansion plan that included a new service between Albany and Boston; this planned service is considered as an extension of MassDOT's east–west proposal.[21] The service would operate similar to Amtrak's other diesel intercity services that run on freight trackage such as the Pennsylvanian and Empire Service. There is currently no indication for when Amtrak will implement Boston-Albany services.[22]

A proposal known as Northern Tier Passenger Rail is in the early stages of planning; a corridor study was initialized in 2019. The corridor would extend the Fitchburg Line westward through Greenfield and terminate at North Adams, following the existing CSX (formerly Pan Am) rail corridor.[23] The line would connect Berkshire, Franklin, Worcester, Middlesex, and Suffolk counties in northwestern Massachusetts with North Station. In January 2023, MassDOT announced that the total price for corridor track upgrades would cost between $1.044 billion to $2.187 billion and would take three years to construct. Suggested intermediate stations include Shelburne Falls, Millers Falls, Orange, Gardner, and Cambridge.[24] The line is currently planned for diesel service provided by either Amtrak or MassDOT with five round trips per day; there is currently no timeline for service implementation.