SPRINGFIELD — Connecting western Massachusetts to Boston through a passenger rail system took a major step this week with the securing of $130 million in federal funding, Gov. Maura Healey announced Friday.
Healey traveled to Springfield Union Station to announce the funding alongside U.S. Rep. Richard Neal and many other state and local legislators, after learning the cash was secured earlier this week. The grant comes from the Federal Railroad Administration through the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements Program.
“We’re here today to announce another major step forward for rail service in western Mass. and for making west-east rail a reality,” Healey said.
Neal added, “The announcement today highlighted once again the federal government’s relationship with east-west rail.”
The funding will support the overall development of the East-West Rail through the Springfield area track reconfiguration project, helping upgrade tracks, crossovers and other infrastructure to ultimately create a smoother process at the station.
The funding will help kick-start construction of the project, which is expected to start next spring, Healey said. Passenger rides from Springfield to Boston are still on course to start in 2030, and potentially sooner, she added.
Upgrades at Springfield are crucial — Union Station is planned to be the hub of the much larger Compass Rail project, a long-term vision for passenger train services attempting to create a network of routes running north-south and east-west.
Since the station is also a junction for both freight loads and passenger cars, the reconfiguration project will reduce conflicts between the two, officials said. The hope for east-west rail, connecting Springfield to Worcester and Boston, is that it will help alleviate traffic on the Mass Pike, giving Bay Staters a travel option under two hours.
“This program will allow us to upgrade tracks and signals, increase capacity and reduce delays that have been caused by conflicts between our freight trains and our passenger trains,” Healey said. “Importantly, it’s going to help eliminate a major bottleneck in New England in our network by laying the groundwork for more reliable service and future expansion.”
The Compass Rail puzzle is being pieced together over time by various funding sources. The project was previously awarded a $36.8 million grant in 2024 and a $108 million award in 2023 to help construct the rail to Worcester.
In total, the east-west rail project could cost upward of $6 billion, based on projections from a Western Massachusetts Passenger Rail Commission report in 2023. The commission was established in 2022 after former Gov. Charlie Baker approved the project that year.
Healey and Neal on Friday both emphasized that thriving rail systems allow for economic growth, which is part of what makes the funding so important.
“We invest in people. We invest in job growth, job creation. We invest in our economy,” Healey said. “That’s why west-east rail remains a priority for me and my team.”
The north-south portion of Compass Rail is already in place, consisting of the Vermonter, which runs from Washington D.C. through Springfield, Holyoke, Northampton and Greenfield to St. Albans, Vermont, and the Valley Flyer, which operates from New Haven, Connecticut, to Greenfield.
Just last week, Healey traveled to Pittsfield to announce that MassDOT had reached an agreement with the private freight rail company CSX to allow for rail improvements to the Berkshire Flyer, a train connecting the Berkshires to New York City.
CSX owns the track from Worcester to Schodack, New York, 13 miles southeast of Albany-Rensselaer station. The MBTA owns the track from Boston to Worcester, and Amtrak owns the final stretch from Schodack to Albany-Rensselaer.
“We’ve made progress, but there’s always more to do and we’re going to continue to work at it, hustle and chase it every single day, and we are going to get West-East Rail done once and for all,” Healey said.
Healey and Neal are both in the midst of a reelection campaign for Nov. 3, with Healey facing off against Republican challenger Mike Minogue.
