Amtrak Could Be Getting A Wee Bit of Competition

The resurgence in popularity of rail travel has boosted Amtrak’s ridership for the past two years, and the number of passengers being carried this year was up again for the first six months.

That’s good news for Amtrak and for all of us train travel advocates, of course, but there is another positive aspect to the up-tick in train travel: private enterprise is taking a fresh look at the business of carrying passengers by rail.

Case in point: the Housatonic Railroad in Connecticut has commissioned a study for the feasibility of starting passenger service between Danbury, Connecticut, and Pittsfield, Massachusetts, about a 90-mile run.

Assuming the study comes back with a positive report, the company is ready to spend $100 million or more to upgrade track and other infrastructure improvements.

Using commuter rail lines, passengers can now travel between Danbury and New York City to the south, but the proposed service would mean faster and easier access to New York City for virtually all of Western Connecticut. And according to public officials from town along the proposed route, that would also mean a huge boost for tourism throughout the entire area.

Over and over and over we see it: More and better passenger rail service yields multiple economic, social and environmental benefits.