FRANKLIN COUNTY, MA (FRANKLIN COUNTY NOW) — The third and final public meeting for the Northern Tier Passenger Rail Study was held Thursday with over two hundred residents in attendance to support what the Greenfield Mayor Ginny Desorgher said would be a “game changer for our community.” The representatives shared six alternatives with cost/opportunity analyses of having five trains a day travel between Boston and North Adams, or even as far as Albany in one alternative.
Senator Jo Comerford said at the meeting that it was a “precipitous moment” for the project that started with a bill passed in 2019 and said that the region is “united in support of moving forward at the fastest pace forward to explore what’s next.”
Representatives from MassDOT shared potential federal, state, and local funding sources for the project and answered questions from community members and stakeholders. The next steps for the project include making short and long term recommendations, researching the funding opportunities, and creating the final report.