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?
A new, statewide, nonpartisan business coalition launched Tuesday that is committed to expanding passenger rail from Boston to Manchester, NH.
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.
“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.
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
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.
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.
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.
NH DOT Final Report on commuter rail study was posted Feb. 3, 2015.