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Trip shows development potential of rail in area

Date: 12/12/2014

SPRINGFIELD – The potential for the regional economic development impact of Union Station and the revised Amtrak Vermonter route was underscored by a trip sponsored by Congressman Richard Neal on Dec. 8 to the train stations in New Haven and Hartford, CT.

The new Vermonter route also offers rail service to Holyoke, Northampton and Greenfield. According to a 2009 study on the route made by the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, “Relocating the Amherst station to Northampton results in a 20 percent increase in population within five miles of the station, along with the potential to provide rail connectivity to more cities (Greenfield and Holyoke) while still improving the train travel time in the corridor. Re-connecting these cities to rail is anticipated to lead to greater ridership; improved pedestrian, bicycle and transit connectivity; and transit-oriented development opportunities.”

The rehabilitation of the tracks necessary for the new route through these communities was made possible by $73 million in stimulus fund, Neal said.

The demolition of the baggage building is now underway at Union Station. That area of the complex will be used for the bus berths as well as part of the parking garage.

Dozens of local businesspeople accompanied Neal and the result, according to Jeffrey Ciuffreda, president of the Affiliated Chambers of Commerce of Greater Springfield, was the understanding the potential of the Union Station rehabilitation project in Springfield.

“I’ve been in our Union Station several times now through its process. You stand in there and you have to be a real visionary to see it complete,” Ciuffreda said to Reminder Publications. After the trip, he noted, “It’s much easier to see that it can be rehabbed, it can come alive, a shared space with retail, offices, and a transportation hub.”

Riding an Amtrak train back from Hartford, Ciuffreda said he realized “how easy it is to connect the dots; how easy it is to connect.”     

For Kathy Anderson, president of the Holyoke Chamber of Commerce, the trip gave her the opportunity to see how a train station can be successful. Holyoke will have rail service with the Amtrak Vermonter line traveling through the city, the first time in decades.

“It’s important to look the amenities that make successful train stations,” Anderson said.

During tours of the Union Stations in New Haven and Hartford, Anderson said what was common in their success was a dedicated and secured parking facility that is an important revenue stream.

Anderson noted having a train through Holyoke means there could be additional tourism in the city. She noted that in Maine there have been pub tours and other planned trips organized in communities that take advantage of train connections.

Anderson said the question is “how do you get them [passengers] off the train?”

Although a grant to hire a consultant to devise such a plan failed, Anderson said, “It’s a conversation we need to have.”

Anderson added she believes having MGM Springfield will benefit from the revised train route. 

Springfield City Councilor Kenneth Shea went on the trip and he said it’s clear to him the new train route and the Union Station project will provide the city “a big economic boost.” He believes, though, that having a rail link to Boston would provide even more benefits to the region.

Neal said he wanted to show people the “results in New Haven and what’s happening in Hartford.”

He acknowledged the east-west rail link is “very important” and that the Patrick Administration had shown interest in expanding rail service through its expansion of the Green Line of the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority.

An east-west link should include service to Pittsfield as well as Springfield, he added.

At the conclusion of the trip in Springfield, Christopher Moskal, executive director of the Springfield Redevelopment Authority into Union Station through the now open tunnel that links Lyman Street to the terminal.