Politics & Government
Commuter Rail a NH Dream - Massachusetts DOT Wants No Part Of It
Some are acting like it's a done deal when it is NOT
The legislature assures us there will be NO commuter rail, and yet we see this article?
Manchester Aldermen Approve Layover Site for Commuter Rail Line
Governor Sununu and the 2020 Council (Democrats in the majority at the time) are equally to blame.
Find out what's happening in Bedfordfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
This is the action, we are told, that started NH down the slippery slope. At the last meeting in 2020 it was Andru Volinski’s final “middle finger salute” to the taxpayers:
“#20 Authorized the Bureau of Rail & Transit to enter into an agreement with AECOM Technical Services Inc., Manchester, NH, for preliminary engineering, environmental services, financial plan development, public involvement services, and preliminary design to meet the requirements of the FTA Section 5309 Capital Investment Grant Program Project Development/Engineering phase for the extension of MBTA commuter rail services from Lowell, MA to Nashua and Manchester, NH, for an amount not to exceed $5,448,607.89. Effective upon G&C approval
through January 31, 2023. 100% Federal Funds.”
Find out what's happening in Bedfordfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Derek Shooster, a Transportation Planner at MassDOT said on FB:
“I can tell you with 100% certainty that MBTA has no aspirations to “export idling trains to NH.” According to the 2020 MBTA Rail Vision (https://www.mbta.com/projects/rail-vision), MBTA has no plans to expand service or maintenance north of Massachusetts. Even factoring in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Massachusetts is not actively pursuing any investments in the next 5 years to support rail service to NH.
Any rail service in Manchester will be NH-based for the foreseeable future.
And RE pollution: MBTA’s Rail Vision identified vision and goals to electrify and further decarbonize our rail fleet—not export it or curb our responsibilities.”
Apparently MBTA would turn down $12.8 million from NH for operations across the border. The Rail Vision made itself clear: system expansion is not an MBTA priority. Not only are they (NH advocates) spending millions of tax dollars developing a train that commuters don’t want, they’re wasting money on a train even the host railroad doesn’t want!
This is good news.
Sign the petition to stop this!
