
On Monday, August 3rd the first New England Rail Summit in many years was held in conjunction with the Council of State Government's Eastern Regional Conference Annual Meeting.
In attendance were representatives from the Federal Rail Adminstration, AMTRAK and DOT officials from the New England States which presented their rail proposal they submitted to the U.S. Department of Transportation. Former Massachusetts Governor Mike Dukakis, one of the nation's leading rail advocates, was the moderator. Below is a summary of the event done by Tim Brennan, Executive Director of the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission.
2009 NEW ENGLAND RAIL SUMMIT – KEY THEMES
Key Results of New England Rail Summit Held on August 3, 2009 in Burlington, Vermont
#1) UNIFIED APPROACH IS ESSENTIAL
If New England’s Rail Plans and Projects are to be successful, the six (6) states must act as one region and speak with one coherent voice.
#2) RAIL PROJECTS NEED TO BE PRIORITIZED
Given the intense, nationwide competition for federal rail dollars, the federal government will be pressing for a highly disciplined planning process that assigns priority rankings to New England’s rail projects and likewise integrates these projects with other transportation modes.
#3) INVESTMENTS IN RAIL CREATE ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES
As has been demonstrated elsewhere around the world in countries such as Spain, Germany and Japan, among others, rail investments generate significant economic development opportunities and job growth.
#4) AMTRACK’S MASTER PLAN FOR THE NORTHEAST CORRIDOR CAN INFORM AND GUIDE DECISION MAKING
Amtrack is well along in development of a rail master plan for New England and the rest of the Northeast Corridor which has been developed in close consultation with all the affected states and other stakeholders which can guide short, mid and long-term investments in rail services and facilities.
#5) RAIL INVESTMENTS WILL BE COSTLY NECESSITATING NEW SOURCES OF REVENUE
Building a high quality, higher speed intercity rail system in New England, and the nation as a whole, will be an important but costly undertaking that requires new sources of revenue at the federal level and thus difficult political challenges which must be addressed and resolved.
#6) CONNECTING NEW ENGLAND TO CANADA AND THE NORTHEAST U.S. MUST BE A PRIORITY
In addition to advancing rail projects and services which inter-connect the New England states to move both passengers and freight, New England must embrace an aggressive strategy to connect it by rail with its neighbors to the north in Canada (focusing principally on Montreal) and the Northeast Corridor states which lie to the south from New York to Virginia.
#7) MOVING FREIGHT BY RAIL IS A COMPLEMENTARY GOAL TO MOVING PASSENGERS
As New England pursues its vision for moving more intercity passenger traffic by rail, it must simultaneously take steps that will allow more freight to be moved in, out and around the New England states thereby relieving growing capacity problems caused by an over-reliance on trucks to address New England’s freight needs.
#8) LIABILITY LOOMS AS MAJOR CONCERN NEEDING FOCUSED ATTENTION IN WASHINGTON
Among state transportation officials in New England and other parts of the U.S., liability risks posed by freight railroads sharing routes with rail passenger operations are a major and growing concern on the part of state governments and an obstacle that will likely require Congress to act on.
#9) NEW ENGLAND WILL NEED TO BE CREATIVE AND USE PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS TO ADVANTAGE TO REALIZE ITS LONG TERM VISION
One tool that New England will need to pursue going forward is to capture the value of the private sector developments that public sector investments in rail facilities and services routinely leverage.
#10) NEW ENGLAND’S COLLABORATIVE APPROACH TO A REGION WIDE RAIL SYSTEM MUST BE SUSTAINED BY AN IMPLEMENTATION ACTION PLAN AND ONGOING DIALOGUE
The effort that the New England states have exerted over the past several months has been laudable and deserves credit but, if it is to be successful, New England’s priority rail system investments have to be implemented on a phased basis thereby making a sustained effort to implement a multiyear and multifaceted action plan absolutely essential.
Prepared by: Tim Brennan, Executive Director, Pioneer Valley Planning Commission