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RailNation Conference 2019: Rural-Urban Rail by Karen Christensen
- 1. Rural Rail: Reforging the Essential Connection between Cities and Countryside RailNation, October 2019 – presented by Karen Christensen, Barrington Institute
- 2. Rural Rail: Reforging the Essential Connection between Cities and Countryside
- 4. The Berkshire Hills Small towns & popular tourist venues
- 5. Equidistant from New York City and Boston
- 9. 2011: Train Campaign From Beijing to the Berkshires
- 10. 1971: The Last Train to Pittsfield Click here to watch the entire video (or copy link): https://www.youtu be.com/watch?v=ey iMh_2NzY4&t=40s
- 12. 2014: Track purchase by MA
- 14. 2019 Coalition
- 15. Big Rail – or Big Enough Rail •Hartford Line •Valley Flyer •East-West Rail Study •Berkshire Flyer •South Coast Rail •North-South Rail Link
- 16. Challenges •Departments of Transportation •Lack of cross-border cooperation •Studying things to death •Poor project management, high costs •Rural tax drain •Parochialism & NIMBYism
- 17. Opportunities •“The state has a high proportion of so-called super- commuters, those who commute at least 90 minutes one way to work, and some of the worst vehicular traffic on Earth. A lot of that is due to the number of workers who commute alone.” •“50% of US workers work remotely on occasion. But less than 5% of Massachusetts workers telecommute. Baker's proposal calls for a tax credit worth $2,000 per employee that a company allows to telecommute. The total cost of the tax break would be capped at $50 million annually.”
- 18. A Sustainable Future Depends on Rail
- 19. Campaign for Better Transport (UK) ScotRail’s new Borders Railway is the longest railway to have been built in Scotland since the Fort William- Mallaig line in 1901, and the longest rail re- opening project in British history.
- 20. Rebooting New England Map 2018 RebootingNewEngland: 21st-centuryConnectivity Pittsfield North Adams Housatonic
- 21. The Next Train to Pittsfield
- 22. Train Campaign.org WesternMassRail.org The Train Campaign is a project of Barrington Institute, Inc. Karen Christensen, President Email: karen@barringtoninstitute.org
Editor's Notes
- Impacts - 2030 • Population – reduced by 12,420 • School age children – reduced by 28% – (school enrollment declined 13% over last 10 years) • Educational Attainment – reduction in amount with college degrees (especially advanced degrees) • Workers – reduction by 25% • Seniors – increase of 69% • Housing – continued demand in South County due to seasonal residence. High vacancies in North County.
- The saying “Think globally, act locally” has been my mantra since I wrote my first environmental book in London in 1989. So it’s appropriate that the Train Campaign began when I came back from a trip to China and found out that a new effort was underway to revive the Housatonic Line. I wrote about it, got a big response, and the Train Campaign was born! These are my employees, dragged out in the snow for our first photo shoot wearing Train Campaign tshirts.
- This 35-minute documentary was made on the last run, in 1971. We’ll be showing it around the area soon. That’s Engineer Pete in the window.
- I’m talking today about the Housatonic or “Berkshire” Line. This project, called the “Housatonic Line Passenger Rail Service” was ranked #1 just recently, in the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission's 2020 Regional Transportation Plan. Like other projects you’ll hear about at the Forum, our aim is to restore daily, year-round passenger service on a present-day freight line. The Berkshire Line had passenger service from 1838 till 1971, when, like passenger services across the country, it was shut down. NEXT, VIDEO PLAYS.
- In 2014, the Commonwealth bought the 37 miles of track in MA with the explicit intention of restoring passenger service. A major study was undertaken to work out where stations should go.
- With colleagues in Connecticut, our online petitions garnered nearly 10,000 signatures. There was much excitement about the line. In 2014, the Commonwealth bought the 37 miles of track in MA with the explicit intention of restoring passenger service, and the state paid for a $240,000 study to work out exactly where stations should go. (Pittsfield, Lee, and Great Barrington, to start, and either Sheffield or Canaan, CT.)
- We also have the challenge of climate change in mind. It’s worth noting that low-lying rail lines, near seacoasts and along the Hudson River, are already the subject of climate resilience planning, and we should take account of climate issues, too, even at higher elevations.
- This is the map of a huge visionary project called Rebooting New England. You can see how we were marginalized, or invisible, in western CT and MA. But [click to add new lines] that doesn’t have to be the case, and the RBNE folks have already added the Housatonic Line to their new map.
- We have been amassing footage for a new film, adding a vision for the future to the 1971 film. Here we are interviewing Engineer Pete!
- The Train Campaign is the rail advocacy organization for Berkshire County and Litchfield counties, sharing a vision for passenger rail as the essential framework for efficient, sustainable transportation in the 21st century. The Train Campaign supports passenger rail initiatives including the East-West Rail Study, the Pownal line, the Berkshire Flyer, and the Housatonic Line. Our mission is to foster a robust network of rail transportation options. OUR MISSION: Bridging the Rural-Urban Divide.