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.