The effort to provide passenger rail service between western Massachusetts and Boston is getting another jolt of federal funding.
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation secured a nearly $37 million grant from the Federal Railroad Administration, which will help cover track, signal and infrastructure improvements at Springfield Union Station, Gov. Maura Healey’s office announced Tuesday.
“This money is essential to providing safe and efficient rail service between Western, Central, and Eastern Massachusetts and connecting our regional economies in Pittsfield, Springfield, Worcester, and Boston,” U.S. Sen. Ed Markey said in a statement.
This announcement comes a year after U.S. Rep. Richard Neal and Healey announced a $108 million grant for the West-East Rail — the third largest award nationally for fiscal year 2022. The funding was awarded to MassDOT for train corridor improvements between Worcester and Springfield.
The new investment “will increase rail capacity and reduce congestion, further paving the way for future West-East Rail service and enhancing north-south service,” Healey’s office said.
It will allow for two additional round trips each day between Springfield and Boston, in addition to providing funding for infrastructure improvements that will create faster train speeds, allowing one trip to be completed in less than two hours.
“Throughout my career, I was steadfast in my belief that Springfield Union Station would not meet the wrecking ball. Since its reopening, the investments that have been made in passenger rail have been extraordinary,” Neal said in a statement following the announcement. “Today, we celebrate another one of those investments, one that brings us one step closer to making West-East Rail a reality.”
Springfield Union Station has been an important project to Neal throughout his political career. Reopening and rehabilitating the station was a promise of his during his 1977 campaign for City Council. The station reopened in June of 2017 — a goal Neal worked to secure over $75 million to accomplish. Since then, over $200 million has been allocated to the West-East Rail project for reconfiguration, planning, design, track capacity improvements and more.
Highlighted in Neal’s statement is the fact that the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, drafted in the House Ways and Means Committee under Neal’s chairmanship, presented the country’s biggest investment in infrastructure in over six decades.
The new funding will also help officials finish design efforts for the “Springfield Area Track Reconfiguration Project,” with the aim of eliminating a “rail chokepoint” in western Massachusetts and western New England, Healey’s office said. The project involves modernizing track and signal systems, as well as upgrading rail facilities and rehabbing station platforms.
“We are grateful to Congressman Neal, other members of our congressional delegation, legislators, and local officials for helping us expand and enhance passenger rail service in Massachusetts,” said West-East Rail Director Andy Koziol in a statement.
During fiscal year 2023, more than 2 million visitors came through Springfield Union Station, reflecting an increase in rail passengers. Amtrak reported a 24% increase in national ridership during this time, with a 29% increase in the northeastern U.S. alone, including 442,028 riders on the New Haven-Springfield route which includes the Valley Flyer — a 36% increase over the previous year.
Healey’s office on Tuesday touted other new federal grants that will bolster Massachusetts’s freight rail train network, including an $8.9 million award that will partially be used for environmental and safety infrastructure improvements along the Pioneer Valley Road Railroad that spans from Holyoke to Westfield. There’s also a $21.6 million grant for a New England tri-state rail safety and upgrade project, as well as a $19 million grant that Healey’s office said involves facility and track improvements for the Providence and Worcester Railroad.
This report includes content from the State House News Service.