What to Know
- The Berkshire Flyer would shuttle passengers from Penn Station to the rural hills of the Berkshires in Massachusetts
- Talk of bringing back a NYC-Berkshires line got a step closer to reality this week with the release of a new feasibility study
- A state senator in Massachusetts said he'd like to see a pilot program beginning in 2019 or 2020
A train shuttling passengers between New York City and the scenic Berkshires in western Massachusetts could begin as early as next summer, according to reports.
Advocates have been pushing for a restored line between the city and the Berkshires for years, and this week the Berkshire Flyer Working Group released a 130-page feasibility study that lays out how to make the dream a reality.
Initial service on the Berkshire Flyer could run up to 20 weeks a year, from Memorial Day weekend to Columbus Day, using existing Amtrak service, according to the study.
The Berkshire Edge reports that service would start as a pilot program, with one round-trip train operating between Grand Central and Pittsfield, Massachusetts, during summer and fall weekends. The train would depart from Penn on Friday afternoon and return on Sunday afternoon.
Stops on the four-hour trip would include: Penn Station, Croton-Harmon, Poughkeepsie, Rhinecliff, Hudson, Albany-Rensselaer Station and Pittsfield, Massachusetts, with a possible stop in Chatham, New York, before Pittsfield.
Massachusetts State Sen. Adam Hinds, who chairs the working group, said the goal is to have the line operational by 2019 or possibly 2020.
It would cost $420,000 a year to operate the line, the study found, with an estimated 2,600 one-way passenger tickets sold over the 20-week period. If passengers footed the entire operating cost, tickets would need to be priced at about $160 each way, according to The Berkshire Eagle.
Advocates say the train would bring much-needed money to the rural communities dotting the hilly landscape of the Berkshires. More young people are leaving the area, and officials want to lure in millennials from the city, according to The Berkshire Edge.
Local
NYC's 5 Most Popular Dogs of 2017 Revealed (Plus Bonus Neighborhood Faves)
The working group’s study is being submitted to the Massachusetts legislature and MassDOT.
MassDOT estimates that 435,000 trips are made between New York City and the Berkshires each year, but that only 7,000 of those trips are made by rail, leaving plenty of potential customers for the Berkshire Flyer.
A plan several years ago called for using the Housatonic Line — a freight-only route that runs through Connecticut up to Pittsfield — for the service. That line ended passenger service in 1972, and plans to resurrect it were scrapped over budget issues, according to The Berkshire Eagle.
