By Karen Christensen, The Berkshire Eagle; July 21, 2019
GREAT BARRINGTON — Major rail efforts are underway in Connecticut and Massachusetts that now demand public-private partnership and active coordination between elected officials and departments of transportation. Restoration of the Berkshire (Housatonic) Line will result in an active, year-round service with six to eight trains per day in each direction from Grand Central Terminal to Pittsfield, with stops in six or more towns in western Connecticut and Massachusetts. The line will also provide train service for those seeking to travel between towns.
This project will restore a well-known and popular passenger service that died, along with similar passenger rail services across the country, because government prioritized automobile travel during the 1960s. Times have changed: younger people don’t want to be behind the wheel of a car, and all of us are rethinking transportation options because of traffic congestion, the damage to health caused by emissions, and of course climate change.