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Date: 5/31/2023
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Massachusetts) sees the proposed high-speed passenger rail line linking Pittsfield and Springfield with Boston as more of than just a service for Massachusetts residents. He sees it as the first leg of a high-speed rail service between Boston and Chicago, IL.
Moulton made his remarks at the US High-Speed Rail Conference May 16-17 in Washington, DC. The conference was attended by rail advocates who wish to see the United States have the same kind of rail service as does Japan, most European nations and China.
Besides Moulton, former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-California), Amtrak Senior Vice President for High-Speed Rail Andy Byford, White House Senior Infrastructure Advisor Mitch Landrieu, former U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and the CEOs of Brightline Holdings and the California High-Speed Rail Authority addressed the audience.
“So many people in Congress have supported high-speed rail,” Pelosi said. She added the construction of high-speed rail in this country would positively affect the quality of life by improving access to both jobs and housing as well as making an impact on climate change by taking more cars off the roads.
Andy Kunz, president of the United States High Speed Rail Association, said the last time the conference was conducted was four years ago. He noted that in the bipartisan infrastructure bill there was $66 billion set aside for high-speed rail. He noted that Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg has expressed support to use those funds to set up two or three high-speed projects.
Kunz looked at how prevalent high-speed rail is around the world. China, he said, has more high-speed tracks than all the world combined with 35,388 km. Next in line is Spain with 3,300 km of track, Japan with 3,041 km, France with 2,734 km and Germany with 1,571 km.
He added the European system links together to provide high-speed service between countries.
Kunz asserted the American highway system is overloaded and “can’t keep up with the demand.”
Moulton said that he is forming a high-speed rail caucus in Congress and has introduced the High-Speed Rail Act. The act “addresses high-speed rail corridor development in the United States, including by providing additional funding for high-speed rail corridor planning, and developing comprehensive, performance-based safety regulations and standards for all high-speed rail projects. The federal share of a project financed under this bill may be up to 100%. The Department of Transportation must prioritize financing capital projects in high-speed rail corridors with respect to which at least 20 percent of the project cost is funded through specified financial sources.”
He believes there is a “very strong argument for high-speed rail.” Moulton said that for people on the left, high-speed rail is one way to lower the use of fossil fuel and to address climate change. For the right, he noted that fiscal conservatives should know that it’s more expensive to add capacity to interstate highways, such as adding a lane, than to build a high-speed rail line.
“Fiscal conservatives should support high-speed rail,” he said.
He noted a problem with electric cars is the manufacturing process creates “a lot of carbon, especially the battery.” Moulton stresses it’s important to get one high-speed rail project done to influence critics.
He sees an important link would between Chicago and Boston, that would connect cities in New York and Ohio as well.
He told the conference, “The number one issue in Massachusetts is affordable housing.” People who want to get a job in a community frequently can’t find housing there, he explained.
Moulton explained if there was high-speed rail between Boston and Springfield it would replace a two-hour drive to a 50-minute train ride.
“Think about what that would do for housing in Massachusetts. Think about what that would do for access to jobs,” he said.
“The current plan is to build a 19th century rail line to Springfield that no one is going to ride because it is too damn slow,” he noted.
Moulton said the country of Morocco has built a 200-mph rail service that is 20 miles longer than the proposed Boston to Springfield route. He added that nation has one-fifth of the gross domestic product of Massachusetts.
According to a March 21 report from the State House News Service, state officials conducted a hearing in Northampton about the proposed service. Chris Lisinski wrote, “An $11.4 billion infrastructure bond bill former Gov. Charlie Baker signed in August [2022] authorized an initial $275 million toward expansion of passenger trains into western Massachusetts, and it created a special commission to grapple with questions about the design, permitting, construction, operation and maintenance of that service.
“Tuesday’s meeting in Northampton was the third of six planned by the commission, which held its previous two events in Pittsfield and Greenfield to gauge feedback from Bay Staters who would be most affected by souped-up train options.
“Many speakers pitched regular rail service as both an economic and environmental opportunity waiting to be seized. Greater connectivity could attract more tourists who would inject dollars into small Western Massachusetts communities while giving the area’s residents better access to job opportunities further east, they said, all while encouraging less travel in emissions-producing cars.”