MAJOR TRANSIT improvements may be on the horizon in Springfield, according to Meredith Slesinger, rail and transit administrator for MassDOT.
Slesinger revealed that MassDOT, Amtrack, and rail agencies in Connecticut are discussing plans for an hourly train service between Springfield and New York City, during a board of directors meeting last week. She also gave an update on plans for Amtrack to add two daily Boston-Springfield services by 2030 as part of the proposed “inland route” along West-East Rail.
West-East Rail is one part of the broader Compass Rail project – MassDOT’s vision for intercity passenger rail within Massachusetts with Springfield as the hub.
The plans are far from complete and will be contingent on improvements to Springfield’s Union Station, as well as new tracks and platforms. Amtrak will also need to replace its fleet of aging trains, many of which are nearing the end of their lifespan.
Projections show that an hourly service between Springfield and New York City could boost ridership by a million passengers a year, Slesinger said. During fiscal year 2025, Amtrak reported nearly 162,000 riders getting on or off trains at Springfield’s Union Station.
Last month, MassDOT joined several other states in signing a letter of support for Amtrak’s $2.7 billion application to the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) National Railroad Partnership Program for additional new Airo train sets. Amtrak is already set to receive 83 Airo trains through its current contract, which was established in June 2021.
Slesinger said MassDOT’s first focus is the Springfield Area Track Reconfiguration project, which is still in the design phase, will improve track alignments, switches, train signals, station platform configurations, and train layover and servicing facilities. The project will also work to separate passenger and freight services.
“The idea around Springfield is it’s a very busy area in terms of train traffic, both on the passenger side and the freight side, and the more we can separate the freight and passenger operations, the more flexibility we have for growing passenger service,” Slesinger told CommonWealth Beacon.
The new layover and maintenance facility needed to support existing service in Springfield alone will cost an estimated $220 million. MassDOT submitted a federal grant application for the project last month, but the funding has yet to be secured.
There are just three direct Amtrack trips from Springfield to New York City that run each day, as well as numerous Hartford Line trains running from Springfield to New Haven where riders bound for New York can transfer to an Amtrak train or the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Metro-North commuter rail.
“Our goal is to have as many direct trips as possible,” Slesinger said of the potential hourly service.
The most popular trips from Massachusetts stations are longer distance trips to New York City and beyond, Slesinger said, noting that Amtrak’s Northeast Regional train rides to New York generate particularly high ridership.
Slesinger noted that MassDOT and Amtrack will need two new trainsets for its planned inland route service, which is scheduled to begin operating two daily round trips in 2030. The inland route is a passenger rail service between Boston and New Haven with stops in Framingham, Worcester, and Springfield. The route is a component of West-East Rail and is projected to boost ridership from 230,000 to 280,000 trips per year.
Additionally, MassDOT secured a $3.5 million planning grant from the FRA in August for new passenger rail service along the Boston-Albany corridor via Springfield.
A key part of providing a two-hour rail service from Springfield to Boston will be upgrading the tracks between Worcester and Springfield to allow for higher-speed trips, which will benefit both the inland route and the proposed Boston-Albany route. The upgrades will be funded with a $108 million grant MassDOT received from the FRA in 2023. The state will contribute $18 million, and Amtrack will provide $9 million for a project total of $135 million. Construction is expected to begin next year.
“Transportation is a lifeline. This is how we grow the economy. This is how people live their lives. This is how people get to work,” Slesinger said. “We’re not going to meet our climate goals or achieve economic growth unless we have a transportation system that has a lot of variety and choices.”