Anyone know if Amtrak retained trackage rights on the Palmer route on CSX and Vermont RR for detours and / or new service ?
Amtrak has trackage rights on CSX for the Boston section of the LSL. Previously I wondered of a Boston-Vermont train might take the shortcut thru Palmer, and serve Amherst, but I sounds like the new route may actuall serve it better. I suspect if they created a Boston connection to the Vermonter/Montrealer it would connect at Springfield, maybe even a Boston-Springfield-NYP train.
Massachusetts and Vermont are (or were) planning such a train sometime in the future. The rebuilding/upgrading of the CSX line (for Boston-New York Inland Route service), Springfield Union Station and the Conn River really make the use of the winding, speed-restricted Palmer Sub a lot less attractive. It used to take almost as long to get to the Amherst station (in a residential neighborhood) from U Mass as it takes now to get to Northampton.
The two "new" stops (Greenfield, Holyoke) should do better with the faster schedule. Loadings at Greenfield seem to meet expectations, and the station is shared with local buses.
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