We need a new petition focused on interstate cooperation. Help create a compelling new pitch for a Train Campaign online petition. The existing petition garnered nearly 5,000 signatures and many comments. You can see it (and sign it) at http://ow.ly/4no4lj. This petition helped us get a lot of attention and contributed to the commitment made [...]
Last night’s transportation “Conversation” in Pittsfield was a bust. As you can see it this photo, there were six DOT people ranged at a head table with signs in front of them saying “Rail” “Bike” etc., and tables at the side of the room with computers. First, we had pitches from our three state reps. [...]
Efforts to bring back passenger rail are springing up all over the United States. Our project, the Housatonic Corridor line from Grand Central Terminal through NW Connecticut and on to Pittsfield, MA, in the center of the Berkshires, is a model for the nation. Let's make it happen! To do this, the Train Campaign needs [...]
Join us tomorrow, Thursday, October 29, 2015, at 6.00pm in Pittsfield, MA, to tell officials from the MassDOT (Department of Transportation) how important passenger train service is to western Massachusetts communities and businesses. Our efforts at the Train Campaign continue, and we need your voice and continued support. You'll have a chance to get updates, [...]
California's plans for high-speed rail is one important aspect of passenger rail revitalization in the United States. Here's architect and planner Peter Calthorpe on why "High-Speed Rail Is a Catalyst for Better Development." "Just as the ’56 highway bill helped spawn the modern suburb, high-speed rail would energize a new generation of community building — one [...]
Clean and convenient restrooms are important features of modern train service and are top on the list for the new Berkshire Line. While we may complain about the condition of restrooms on Metro-North trains, here's an article from India about a situation we don't face here in the United States. NEW DELHI: Rail tracks in [...]
Return of rail service within reach Support grows for this vital aspect of our 21st century transportation infrastructure This article by Karen Christensen was published in the September 2014 issue of Berkshire Trade and Commerce. Click here to download the PDF and see below for link to entire issue. “I know you,” the woman at the tag [...]
Thanks to Josef Flaschner for alerting us to this article @WSJ about real estate opportunities connected with the expansion of passenger rail http://ow.ly/zRXMC. We'll be exploring - and explaining - the rural and small-town opportunities created by passenger service from New York to Pittsfield. "Transit agencies in the U.S. looking to expand rail lines are [...]
Someone knowledgeable about trains wrote to ask how Illinois carriages ended up parked for years on the tracks in Housatonic, MA. We checked with Colin Pease of the Housatonic Railroad, who explained that they were surplus carriages purchased about ten years ago in the hope of refitting them for passenger service. From last week: I [...]
In 2011, a teacher on our email list, Martin Swist, wrote from Japan to say, “I enjoyed reading your comments about trains. We live in Tokyo, Japan, and Fairfield, Conn. (Also, years ago, in the heavenly Berkshires, in Shelburne Falls, Mass.) I am embarrassed whenever I ride Metro North to and from Grand Central Terminal [...]
A big thank-you to the companies that sponsor the Train Campaign
