Legislative action to launch a long-sought passenger rail extension into western Massachusetts “certainly is being considered” among a growing to-do list, Senate President Karen Spilka said Monday, though the exact steps Beacon Hill will take remain unclear with less than eight weeks left for formal lawmaking business.
The $9.75 billion infrastructure bond bill that cleared the Transportation Committee does not include any language creating a new rail authority to oversee a passenger train extension to western Massachusetts, bucking a prediction Congressman Richard Neal made last month when he and state officials announced a historic agreement to advance the project.
Federal and state officials on Tuesday agreed on a path forward to extend passenger rail service west of Worcester to the cities of Springfield and Pittsfield, an effort designed to finally connect the eastern and western parts of the state by rail.
The Democrat poised to take the reins of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee raised hopes for bipartisan agreement on an infrastructure bill in a speech before New England business leaders.
