Honestly, it should be a give a way that the Berkshires are considered Western Massachusetts. Springfield and the Pioneer Valley could probably go either way, although I would lean a little more toward that city and region being in Western Mass. The Pioneer Valley is close enough to the central part of Massachusetts.
In terms of service expansions to Central and Western Mass, I think it's best to just look at Boston to Springfield. This could go either way-daily MBTA service. There could even also be all Amtrak service, even with some of those trains continuing down the SPG Line and ending at New Haven(passengers continuing to other cities on the NEC could switch to other Amtrak trains). Palmer would be a logical town to have a stop between Springfield and Worcester.
Btw, I know that the Valley Flyer just started a few months ago, but I read a story from somebody on a different page who did a roundtrip on the Valley Flyer between Springfield and Greenfield on a weekend day. He mentioned that the ridership was dismal north of Springfield. Even on the only weekend southbound Valley Flyer train, not many people boarded at stations between Greenfield and Holyoke. I'm not sure how the overall ridership on those Valley Flyers for anyone boarding and detraining at stations north of Springfield but I can tell you one thing-the times are not convenient for those people heading to classes or those who are employed at any of the universities north of Springfield.
In terms of service expansions to Central and Western Mass, I think it's best to just look at Boston to Springfield. This could go either way-daily MBTA service. There could even also be all Amtrak service, even with some of those trains continuing down the SPG Line and ending at New Haven(passengers continuing to other cities on the NEC could switch to other Amtrak trains). Palmer would be a logical town to have a stop between Springfield and Worcester.
Btw, I know that the Valley Flyer just started a few months ago, but I read a story from somebody on a different page who did a roundtrip on the Valley Flyer between Springfield and Greenfield on a weekend day. He mentioned that the ridership was dismal north of Springfield. Even on the only weekend southbound Valley Flyer train, not many people boarded at stations between Greenfield and Holyoke. I'm not sure how the overall ridership on those Valley Flyers for anyone boarding and detraining at stations north of Springfield but I can tell you one thing-the times are not convenient for those people heading to classes or those who are employed at any of the universities north of Springfield.