Northeast Regional Inland Route - Boston Via Springfield, MA Through New Haven, CT

cle wrote: ↑Wed Sep 27, 2023 9:36 am I would assume that a better Berkshires service could be more than 1tpd - and freight might utilize it too.

Mr. CLE, "back in my day" on The Hill, '56-'61, there were two a day on the Berkshire, as well as an additional Saturday NB and a Sunday SB.

Now regarding the Hudson & Boston, Chessie's freight traffic is all along the West Shore as that is where Selkirk is located, and with more passenger trains contemplated by the two agencies operating on the Hudson Div, as well as part of the line owned by a public agency, I think Chessie would be loathe to establishing any through freight over such.

The Boston Herald website had a headline saying the grant was $108 billion. "Whoa!" I thought. "We're talking real money!" I eagerly clicked on it to see what it was about, but the text of the story said $108 million. But maybe the text was wrong and the headline was right. Or maybe that's why they call it clickbait.

It is actually a reasonable amount of work for $108m - that usually buys 1 x elevator and an accessible toilet in a more urban transit environment. I'd hope for a MBTA partnership for "Wires 2 Worcester" (a firm might charge $1m for that branding expertise) - next, which would obviously benefit far more commuters, but Amtrak users too.

West of Springfield, I really don't know how much better it can get, regarding line speed and cutting journeys down.

IMO BOS- <>Springfield service has 2 conflicting goals with only 2 round trips.
1. The need for commuting times to enable persons to go to either place. That also means beyond to / from line to New Haven.
2. Vermonter also need consideration, Leave BOS and catch Vermonter into Vermont. That does not mean at first on to Montreal until CN problem fixed.
3. Southbound Vermonter connection to BOS.
4. Once more trains to Albany with corresponding additional service BOS <>SPG then Vermonter needs connections to / from Albany

Excellent points.

I wonder if a Boston - Greenfield (or Brattleboro!) service might be useful considering. Giving another Flyer frequency, but more focused on Boston than the Hartford/New Haven arc.

Augment rather than feed the Vermonter (Amtrak isn't really built for connections!)