Notes on the Rail User's Network meeting

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Dec 26, 2014
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I went to the Rail User's Network (RUN) meeting today in Springfield, Massachusetts, and was pleasantly surprised.

Having never met anyone in the group, I was thinking there might be 10 or so elderly people (mostly men) and some long-winded speakers.

Instead, there was a full room of about 45 people (10 of us were women, and 2 of them were speakers). Ages ranged from young (30s) to middle-aged or and older. Even more surprising, the agenda listed how long each topic would take, and the speakers stuck to their allotted time! The energy level ranged from a sweet older gentleman who sat very quietly (but perked up when it was time for refreshments!
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) to the man from NJ who writes about NJ Transit, who couldn't sit still and was constantly up and down and talking to people out in the hall and moving his seat. (That is what living in northern NJ and writing about NJT will do to you!
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)

I sat next to a very nice lady who had traveled from Cleveland with her husband (Lake Shore Limited, but they were in coach, so no comment on the picnic in a box). We met as we were coming in because we noticed that our tops had the same pattern! How rare is that!
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The meeting started with comments from two of their political figures up here (MA state senator Eric Lesser--looked like a kid to me, but more and more of them are starting to
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--and U.S. Congressman Richard Neal (didn't get his state, but I'm assuming MA). Both gave nice short speeches.

The next speaker was John Bernick, Asst. Rail Adminstrator for CT DOT, and he spoke on the topic I was most interested in--the CT Hartford Line. He was very good and provided many details. He said there are now 34 trains in service (as opposed to 12 before 2018)--he was counting the Amtrak shuttles, CTrail trains, and the Vermonter). He said their goal is to have 50 trains, with a 30-minute frequency.

He also spoke about the stations. He showed pictures of transit-oriented development around stations along the line, and he showed a picture of one of the new stations (Berlin, I think)--they apparently will all be consistent. He said Windsor Locks will be moved downtown and that it has ADA funding. He also said Windsor does not have ADA funding yet (or maybe not enough--I wasn't clear on that) and that is why they are putting in a temporary mini-high platform.

There was a break around then with refreshments, then the rest of the talks were about Massachusetts--speakers on the Knowledge Corridor, the Berkshire Flyer, and a passenger rail study on Boston to Pittsfield. The last two are still in the planning stages.

There was also a bit at the end about passenger advocacy and that we should all be writing letters, etc. There was a general discussion for everyone to toss around ideas, but I left right before that to make sure I did not miss the train back.

Of all of them, it seems like CT DOT has done the best planning, and CTrail seems to be a success so far.

I thought I might just stay for a couple of hours and then sneak out, but I found myself interested in the whole meeting!
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You're both welcome!
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I forgot to mention that the lady I sat with said she and her husband have gone to a few RUN meetings, and they have all been similar--a good amount of people there, and the speakers sticking to the time schedule.
 
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