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ITS NOT THAT SIMPLE: PASSENGER RAIL SERVICE IN BERKSHIRE COUNTYAnyone who has driven through Great Barrington, Stockbridge, or Lee during the height of summer will understand the advantages of bringing passenger rail to our region.
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It took almost 5,700 years from the time humans began laying train tracks, in the year 3838 BCE, until Welsh businessman Benjamin French decided he could make money by carrying paying passengers on trains.
Before 1807, if you wanted to travel the six miles from Swansea, Wales to Oystermouth, Wales (in the district of Mumbles), it was a long walk. But on March 25, 1807, regular passenger service began when the train left the Swansea and Mumbles Railway Station. The fare was two shillings to board the horse-drawn train.
It only took another 20 years for the idea to reach Baltimore. In 1828, construction began on tracks for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad B&O to Monopoly fans which would carry freight as well as the first passenger rail service in the United States. The July 4th kick-off ceremony was made all the more symbolic by the participation of Charles Carroll, the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence. (He was also the only Catholic, the most educated, and the wealthiest person to sign it, but that really has very little to do with train travel in the Berkshires.)
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Posted: 12/20/2021
HOW TO GET PASSENGER TRAINS ON THE HOUSATONIC LINE
Passenger trains to Northwest Connecticut offer major economic, social, and environmental benefits. Why isnt there more progress?
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The rebuilding of the Housatonic (Berkshire) Line to provide passenger service between New York City and Pittsfield, Mass., has been studied for over ten years. Such a service is technically feasible and practical. It would provide substantial benefits to both Northwest Connecticut and Western Massachusetts, even before considering post-pandemic population changes, shifts in travel patterns, and greater urgency about climate resilience.
Progress, however, on implementing such a passenger rail service seems to move at a glacial pace. What are principal barriers to the development of passenger rail in this region, and how can those barriers be overcome?
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Posted: 09/06/2021
RAIL EXPERT: NYCPITTSFIELD BERKSHIRE LINE AN UNATTAINABLE FANTASY
Enthusiasm for this needs to be tempered by facing some undeniable realities.
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Having a long-standing commitment to a volunteer activity that takes place every Saturday for most of the day, I could not attend the July 17 meeting of The Train Campaign, convened by its founder Karen Christensen at the historic restored Canaan, Connecticut, railroad station. So my only insight into what took place and what was said has been provided by Berkshire Edge Managing Editor Terry Cowgill in his July 21 coverage of the event, Railroad enthusiasts meet in CT urge restoration of passenger service from NYC to Berkshires.
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Posted: 08/08/2021
RAILROAD ENTHUSIASTS MEET IN CONNECTICUT TO URGE RESTORATION OF PASSENGER SERVICE FROM NYC TO BERKSHIRES
The main sticking point on restoring passenger rail service on the Housatonic line is that the project would need the cooperation of Connecticut
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In a rare moment of bi-state cooperation, local officials from The Berkshires and Connecticut gathered Saturday at the historic Canaan Union Depot to talk about the importance of rail transit and the renewed possibility of bringing passenger service up the Housatonic Valley from Danbury and New York City.
Karen Christensen, who heads The Train Campaign, a Great Barrington-based nonprofit whose goal is to reconnect the Berkshires with New York City and Connecticut, sponsored the event. Passenger rail service in that corridor ended in 1971 but freight service continues.
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