Massachusetts receives more than $160 Million In federal rail grants

As part of the Vision for the New England High Speed and Intercity Rail Network, Governor Patrick and members of the Massachusetts Congressional delegation announced more than $160 million in federal funding for rail expansion in the Commonwealth, including a $32.5-million grant to support the design phase of the Boston South Station expansion project.

Awarded through a
competitive process, the Federal Railroad Administration High-Speed and
Intercity Passenger Rail grant will fund the environmental permitting and
design phase of the South Station expansion project, which includes
constructing seven new tracks at South Station. The expansion will support a
significant increase in Amtrak Acela Express High Speed Rail service to Boston
along with planned MBTA commuter rail service expansion.

The Patrick-Murray
Administration and the Congressional delegation also celebrated the award of
$120 million to the Connecticut Department of Transportation for the New Haven-Hartford-Springfield
Corridor, including restoration of double track on the line to improve travel
times, to serve western Massachusetts and provide a foundation for increased
service between Boston and New York via Springfield and Worcester on the Inland
Route.

Additionally, the New
Hampshire Department of Transportation received a $2.24-million planning grant
for the Capital Corridor between Boston and Concord, New Hampshire, a 73-mile
rail corridor that would connect the two state capitols.  Maine and the Northern New England
Passenger Rail Authority received a $600,000 planning grant for improvements to
the Downeaster service between Boston and Portland, Maine. The South Station
Project, New Haven-Hartford-Springfield Corridor, and the New Hampshire and
Maine planning studies clearly indicate the hard work New England states are
doing together to advance a region-wide vision for passenger rail.

Massachusetts and 11 other
states from Maine to Virginia and the District of Columbia were also awarded a
$10-million multi-state planning grant to study the role that intercity and
high-speed passenger rail can play in helping improve the region’s
transportation network, expand capacity, relieve highway and aviation
congestion and stimulate sustainable economic growth along the Northeast
Corridor.

The South Station High
Speed Rail Project will construct seven new station tracks, expanding South
Station capacity from 13 to 20 tracks and reconfigure three critical track
interlockings.

In the long term, the South
Station project will provide for excess capacity to allow further service
expansion beyond those currently planned for Amtrak and commuter rail. The
project has received strong support from Amtrak and the U.S. Postal Service.

The successful South
Station Project application under the High-Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail
program follows earlier successful grant applications by the Patrick-Murray
Administration and other New England states.

In January 2010, the U.S.
Department of Transportation awarded Massachusetts $70 million for final design
and construction of the "Knowledge Corridor" along the Connecticut
River rail line in western Massachusetts. The project will rehabilitate the
existing Connecticut River rail line that runs from Connecticut, through
Massachusetts to Vermont. Once completed, Amtrak Vermonter service will be
rerouted to the line providing a more direct route, faster service and restored
access to the cities of Northampton and Greenfield.  The Vermonter will make stops at the former Amtrak station
in Northampton and the new ARRA-funded intermodal transit center in Greenfield.

The Knowledge Corridor
award was part of $485 million in stimulus funds from grants announced prior to
today that will be invested to improve rail lines in the Northeast Corridor
through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) High-Speed and
Intercity Passenger Rail program. A total of $160 million was given to Vermont,
Massachusetts and Connecticut to improve rail service between New Haven,
Springfield and St. Albans, $35 million was awarded to Maine to restore rail
service between Portland and Brunswick as part of the popular Downeaster
service which begins in Massachusetts and $112 million to fund improvements
along the Boston to Washington DC corridor.

In July 2009, Governor
Patrick and all New England Governors announced plans to work together on a
coordinated regional vision for high-speed rail that will connect major cities
and airports, and support economic growth throughout the region. The Vision for
the New England High Speed and Intercity Rail Network lays out key projects to
strengthen passenger and freight rail service along new and existing rail
corridors, with the goal of doubling passenger rail ridership in the Northeast
by 2030.