One of our long-time supporters is Fred M. Cain of Topeka, Indiana. He has given us permission to share some of his observations about the Berkshire Line and related developments. First, some comments on the article about California high-speed rail we shared recently: Hi Karen, I have some thoughts that I'd like to share on [...]
Not only do we have leading East-West Rail proponent Eric Lesser on the ballot in the race for lieutenant governor, but the governor's race could bring vital energy to the effort to build a North-South Rail Link in Boston. John Kyper of the Mass Sierra Club’s Transportation Committee passes this news along: [Former state rep [...]
Ben Turon, one of our colleagues across the state line in Albany, has a lot to say about high-speed rail after reading the article from the Guardian we shared recently: Hello, Interesting article, but not entirely accurate, I would certainly disagree with the assertion that “countries that have moved fastest on such systems tend to [...]
On Saturday July 17, 2021 we hosted a meet-and-greet during Railroad Days in Canaan, CT. Speakers included MA Rep Smitty Pignatelli, Canaan Selectman Christian Allyn, bestselling author Simon Winchester, and the Train Campaign's Karen Christensen. Here's the entire hour at Railroad Days recorded by our friends at CTSB TV: click here to watch online or tune [...]
This letter was sent to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation during the comment period for the draft East-West Rail Study and is published as a guest post with permission. The Massachusetts Sierra Club simply urges you to commit to East-West Passenger Rail and to develop and implement a plan to achieve it as soon as [...]
This conversation with Jim Mathews, CEO of the national Rail Passengers Association, began when he and host Karen Christensen met at the 40th Annual NYS Passenger Rail Advocates Meeting & Lunch in Albany on 7 March 2020, just days before the US lockdowns began. Mathews frequently talks about the important of measuring the value [...]
We're speaking with Chris Dempsey, director of Transportation for Massachusetts (T4MA), about the “us or them” mentality that often pervades transport funding, and the efforts is making to build connections across the entire state, including out to western Mass and even to Berkshire County, which we sometimes call western western Mass. In this [...]
[ss_player] We spoke to Jay Flynn, officially “Bus Lead” but generally known as one of the TransitMatters gadflies. Jay worked in government for years before becoming a transportation advocate with TransitMatters. We’ve observed that TransitMatters seems to be good at holding feet to the fire. Flynn laughed and said, “Speaking truth to power.” [...]
Just over a year ago we interviewed Massachusetts Senator Eric Lesser about his efforts to bring frequent, fast passenger rail service from Boston to western Massachusetts. This week, we caught up with him again, talking about the COVID-19 pandemic and what it means for his constituents and our nation. We asked if the crisis [...]
It’s Time For America To Get Serious About Fixing The Trains This article by Amy Crawford explains that "Instead of spending billions to bail out airlines, advocates argue for a more carbon-friendly pandemic investment: railroad travel." Rail is the mode that “best supports 21st-century development in bustling urban centers, walkable downtowns even in much smaller cities [...]
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