The House of Representatives voted 213-141 Thursday to pass SB 241, enabling legislation to fund the project development phase of the capital corridor rail project.
You can write to the House Public Works and Highways Committee and ask, who voted yes… as we need to know who to blame for this travesty when it fails to deliver.
Please let the House of Representatives and the Governor know that considering the failures of commuter rail in almost every other state where it has been tried, you do not support it.
As the state mulls whether to go forward with a commuter rail project connecting Manchester and Boston, people wonder whether it would be worth it. Commuting by car to Boston, one of the most congested cities in the world, is clearly a headache, but what is it like to commute to Boston by train?
That’s what NH should be focusing on, well paying jobs, not expensive underutilized trains. …giving people less reason to work out of state, not more.
Mayor Joyce Craig spoke during a public hearing in Concord for a senate bill that would access federal funding for passenger rail in NH.
A new, statewide, nonpartisan business coalition launched Tuesday that is committed to expanding passenger rail from Boston to Manchester, NH.
The state’s two largest Chambers of Commerce, economic development and rail advocates expressed unwavering support for passenger rail expansion from Boston to Nashua and Manchester, despite a narrow New Hampshire Senate vote May 12 against restoring funding for the New Hampshire Capitol Corridor rail expansion project.
On May 3 the Senate Transportation Committee voted not to reinstate the $4 Million into HB 2016 that was needed for the next phase of the Capital Corridor Project. The vote was 2 to 3 for the reinstatement; voting against were Senators Gary Daniels of Milford, Regina Birdsell of Hampstead, and Nancy Stiles of Hampton. We note that not one penny of that $4 million comes from state funds.
A new map by Ed Staub displays the members of the NH Senate Transportation Committee, their districts, and their ratings from the New Hampshire Business & Industry Association (BIA) and from Americans for Prosperity (AFP), as reported by Project Vote Smart.
An amendment to remove the rail study from the 10-year transportation funding plan passed by 12 votes – and at least 16 Hillsborough County delegates were absent from the voting process on Thursday, which could have changed the outcome.
“The House Public Works and Highways Committee has a unique opportunity to leverage federal dollars at no cost to New Hampshire taxpayers and take the next step in the process of expanding passenger rail from Boston to Manchester,” said Michael Izbicki, Chairman of the NH Rail Transit Authority.
Public Policy Polling conducted a survey of 880 New Hampshire voters from October 16-18, 2015. The survey asked respondents about a variety of topics, including prospective 2016 election match-ups and several anticipated 2016 campaign issues, including rail expansion in New Hampshire.
The rail proposal builds on the December 2014 Capitol Corridor Rail & Transit Study by focusing on the potential route which would reach maximum job growth per dollar of invested capital, and it add
SB 88 allows NH Rail Transit Authority to operate more efficiently and SB 63 establishes a legislative committee to study public-private partnerships for infrastructure projects.
According to the study, the Manchester Regional Rail alternative would create approximately 230 jobs through construction of the rail line and an additional 3,390 construction jobs would be created to build real estate development generated by rail.
Bi-partisan bill will look at ways to move forward with rail using a private/public partnership.
Am I for it? Yes, but as a student of Manchester history, I am also quite aware of the mayhem that both freight and passenger trains have rained down on our community in years past.
Policymakers need to have a clear picture on the costs and benefits of passenger rail before making a final decision on whether or not to invest in it, which is why funding the engineering and environmental analysis phase is so critical. New Hampshire cannot afford to ignore exploring economic opportunities like passenger rail.”
The Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Nashua Chamber of Commerce recently joined together to advocate for the NH Senate to restore funding in the Governor’s budget that would allow the State to continue pursuing passenger rail in southern NH along the Capitol Corridor.