A new agreement between the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and freight rail provider CSX aims to make critical rail infrastructure improvements in Western Massachusetts that will reduce conflicts between passenger and freight trains and support permanent seasonal Berkshire Flyer service; a seasonal weekend Amtrak passenger train service originally launched in 2022 that runs between New York City and Pittsfield, MA.
[Above photo by CSX]
“This agreement puts the Berkshire Flyer on a path toward permanent seasonal service and invests in the infrastructure we need to keep expanding West-East passenger rail service between Boston and Albany,” noted Governor Maura Healey (D) in a statement.
The agreement follows a comprehensive rail operations modeling study completed in July 2024 that examined passenger and freight operations along the Boston and Albany Corridor, the governor’s office noted.
Under the new agreement with CSX, MassDOT will provide $31 million to build a new rail siding and make other track improvements in the Pittsfield area to increase rail capacity and reduce conflicts between passenger and freight operations.
Once completed, the improvements will provide the infrastructure needed to support permanent seasonal weekend Berkshire Flyer service and lay additional groundwork for expanded passenger rail in Western Massachusetts.
MassDOT will also explore the feasibility of a new platform at Pittsfield Station, added Phil Eng, interim MassDOT secretary and general manager of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority or MBTA, which is a division of MassDOT.
“By investing in the infrastructure needed to support passenger rail and securing permanent seasonal Berkshire Flyer service, we are giving residents, visitors, and the general public more choices while strengthening the Berkshires’ connection to the broader Northeast,” he said.
“Our collaboration with CSX is essential to achieving our Compass Rail vision and we’re grateful for their willingness to partner to ensure we can improve the Commonwealth’s rail network,” said Meredith Slesinger, MassDOT’s rail and transit administrator. “The Rail & Transit Division has worked diligently with our partners at CSX as well as Amtrak to develop a practical path forward that will allow this service to continue while creating opportunities for expanded west-east rail service in the future.”
Other state departments of transportation have taken steps in recent months to expand and/or improve passenger rail services and related facilities in their respective parts of the country.
For example, in early October, two brand new Airo trainsets joined the Amtrak Cascades route, operated by the Washington State Department of Transportation for Amtrak. Those trains will provide four daily trips between Vancouver, B.C., Seattle, Portland, and Eugene, OR. They also mark the first introduction of Airo trains into passenger service anywhere in the country.
Meanwhile, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation plans to activate a second daily roundtrip Pennsylvanian train on November 18 for the 444-mile route between Pittsburgh and New York via Harrisburg, Philadelphia, and other stops in between.
PennDOT has invested more than $80 million into the rail expansion, with construction already underway or completed to support this service expansion, the agency noted in a statement.
And in late September, the Connecticut Department of Transportation began making major interior and exterior upgrades at the New Haven Union Station in New Haven, CT, to significantly modernize that city’s historic transportation hub, which serves nearly four million passengers annually.
The renovations and improvements are being jointly advanced by the Union Station Partnership, a collaboration between the Connecticut DOT and the City of New Haven.
“New Haven Union Station is an important link in Connecticut’s transportation network, and we are focused on making it a world-class transit facility,” noted Governor Ned Lamont (D) in a statement. “We are modernizing this historic station to create a more welcoming and comfortable experience for riders and encourage more people to choose rail.”
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