PITTSFIELD, Mass. — After six months of work, the Berkshire Flyer subcommittee has an action plan to operate rail service from New York City to Pittsfield.
The plan calls for 20 weeks in the summer of passenger rail trips bring people from New York City on a Friday afternoon and home on Sunday. It is hoped to provide a significant boost to the region’s tourism economy. The Department of Transportation previously did a feasibility study and agreed it would be worthy of a pilot.
State Sen. Adam Hinds then secured $100,000 to continue the planning for it and a working group of various stakeholders dug deeper into creating the action plan.
“It’s been about a six-month process. We had our first meeting at the end of August. Our legislative charge is to get a report by March 1. It’s been good engagement from all of the committee members and the organizations they represent,” said 1Berkshire President and CEO Jonathan Butler, who headed the committee. Read more about the Berkshire Flyer >>