The MPO accepted the rail station report on Tuesday.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The six towns a passenger rail line to New York City is eyed to cut through are being encouraged to capitalize on the benefits and minimize the negatives.

 

The Berkshire Regional Planning Commission's Metropolitan Planning Organization endorsed Tuesday the study commissioned by the federal government and Housatonic Railroad for station locations.

 

Four towns have been cited as the best locations to host stations — Pittsfield, Sheffield, Great Barrington and Lee. But, Planner Gwen Miller says all six towns need to be prepared.

 

"We hope the rail company and the state agencies will communicate strongly with the towns. This will help create an end product that is just as much the communities as it is the states or the railroad companies," Miller said.

 

For those towns recommended to host a station, BRPC isn't making any suggestions on the scale or the ownership model of the stations. 

 

"It really varies. In some cases the stations are owned by the host community. Others are owned by the railroad company," Miller said.

 

Some stations could be more of a platform costing in the quarter-million dollar range while others could include mixed-use spaces similar to the Intermodal Center in Pittsfield, which cost $11 million to build.

 

Funding for those stations will likely be from a variety of sources. Federal or state funds have been used in some cases while fundraisers have been held to build others.

 

Beyond that, Miller is telling those towns to look into their infrastructure capacity near the proposed stations.

 

Do you have the capacity in place to really benefit from a passenger rail station?" she said. "We want these stations to economically benefit the communities where they are sited."

 

She encouraged the towns to keep looking at parking capacity and how to tell visitors where the parking is located. The stations should be "an anchor" for the community and not just a place to board or disembark from a train.

 

For the towns that won't have a station but through which the proposed line will travel, Miller wants them to be part of the conversation moving forward.

 

"Each of these six communities will want to support any mitigation of predicted impacts," she said.

 

There will be noise from trains, blowing horns at intersections and vibrations from the increased traffic. She said towns can try to create a "quiet zone" and that requires a lot of safety improvements at crossings. There is also Operation Lifesaver, a public awareness initiative of the dangers of trains to pedestrians and motor vehicles.

 

Gov. Deval Patrick has earmarked funds to purchase and revitalize the railroad tracks to New York City. Connecticut has not followed suit and BRPC says the state should continue to work to get Connecticut officials to commit to the plan. 

 

In the meantime, Miller says improving the tracks will benefit businesses who use them for freight so she encouraged the state to move forward.

 

"We've done a lot of leg work for the Berkshire Line communities," Miller said.

 

MPO member Jim Lovejoy said BRPC did a "comprehensive" job in their study. 

 

The study looked at locations, railroad operations, anticipated benefits and crafted options for types of stations. The study was paid for through a $240,000 federal grant and the Housatonic Railroad contributed $60,000 — making a total of $300,000.