For current news, please visit our newsletter page (and sign up for the mailing list). You’ll also find new material at our Train Time podcast. The posts here offer other information, some historical tidbits, and guest opeds.
Write to Rep Hayes & your NWCT reps
Western Connecticut officials are again focusing on rail service to New York City, good news for those who have been campaigning for matching renovation of the CT portion of the Berkshire Housatonic Line. Congresswomen Hayes has jumped aboard when it comes to the Danbury connection, and we need to ensure she knows that this is an important first step in connecting the region: DANBURY — News that U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes, D-Conn., has requested a $2 million grant to take the city's idea for a fast track to Grand Central station to the next step energized City Hall, which considers [...]
Berkshire Line route options & the Maybrook Line: observations from Fred Cain
One of our long-time supporters is Fred M. Cain of Topeka, Indiana. He has given us permission to share some of his observations about the Berkshire Line and related developments. First, some comments on the article about California high-speed rail we shared recently: Hi Karen, I have some thoughts that I'd like to share on this. It was mentioned that fares will never come even close to recovering the huge cost of the project. Of course they won't. What's left unsaid is that's not what the project was meant to do. It was intended to help solve transportation problems - [...]
Massachusetts governor’s race could boost rail prospects in the Northeast
Not only do we have leading East-West Rail proponent Eric Lesser on the ballot in the race for lieutenant governor, but the governor's race could bring vital energy to the effort to build a North-South Rail Link in Boston. John Kyper of the Mass Sierra Club’s Transportation Committee passes this news along: [Former state rep and infrasture advocate] John Businger reports that he met with Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Maura Healey during the State Democratic Convention on June 4th in Worcester, and she has agreed to join the North-South Rail Link Working Group. Assuming that she is elected governor [...]
Lessons from around the world – a response by Ben Turon, Empire State Passenger Association
Ben Turon, one of our colleagues across the state line in Albany, has a lot to say about high-speed rail after reading the article from the Guardian we shared recently: Hello, Interesting article, but not entirely accurate, I would certainly disagree with the assertion that “countries that have moved fastest on such systems tend to have a highly centralized governmental system, like France’s, if not an out-and-out authoritarian one, like China’s” in that many, many, many nations have built new high-speed lines, including Germany which has a federal government like America. The difference is the designed and learned impotence and [...]
Massachusetts: East-West Rail has champions on the campaign trail
State Senator Eric Lesser is running for lieutenant governor of Massachusetts. He's got a reputation as the "high-speed rail guy and referred to this in his speech at the Democratic State Party Convention last weekend. MassLive provides detailed coverage of how the campaign will unfold in this article, "Lesser offers Western Massachusetts balance, qualifies for Democratic primary in lieutenant governor’s race". Here are a few paragraphs: Lesser, speaking from the podium to delegates in advance of the vote, made frequent references to his support for east-west rail, the planned expansion of passenger rail service from Boston through Worcester — Worcester’s Union Station is [...]
From 1991: “The Housatonic, the Little Railroad That Could, and Did”
The Housatonic, the Little Railroad That Could, and Did - New York Times By Randall Beach Feb. 10, 1991 A version of this article appears in print on Feb. 10, 1991, Section 12CN, Page 1 of the National edition with the headline: The Housatonic, the Little Railroad That Could, and Did. NINE years ago, John Hanlon Jr. heard about an overgrown, abandoned railroad line from New Milford to Canaan. With an entrepreneur's vision, he imagined the tracks cleared and trains again bringing passengers and freight from northwest Connecticut to Manhattan. "It just seemed like a good thing to do," said Mr. Hanlon, a custom-car designer. "This [...]