Planned Re-routing North of Springfield
In 2009, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation submitted a grant application to use funds from the Federal Railroad Administration’s High Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail Program], part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, to improve the Vermonter service. As described in the Knowledge Corridor Passenger Rail Study, the rail line would be restored to the more direct route from Springfield through Holyoke, Northampton and Greenfield with stops in each. This re-routing, while bypassing and deleting the Amherst station stop, would serve more population centers and eliminate forty-five to sixty minutes of travel time between Springfield and Brattleboro. The re-routing would also eliminate the need to switch directions in Palmer and for two locomotives on each train.
One proposal to continue rail service to Amherst using this line is the Central Corridor Rail Line, which would veer southeast after Palmer and would pass through eastern Connecticut, terminating in New London, Connecticut.
On January 28, 2010, the White House announced that $70 million from ARRA funds would be allocated to re-routing the Vermonter to its original route between Brattleboro, Vermont and Springfield, Massachusetts along the Connecticut River. The rerouting would shorten the train's route by 11 miles (18 km) and 25 minutes of travel time by laying new track and upgrading other infrastructure on the line. A station in Northampton will be renovated, and a new station in Greenfield will be constructed. The realignment is expected to be completed by the end of 2014.
Separately, ARRA funds will be used to upgrade track in Vermont for higher speeds.
Read more about this topic: Vermonter
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