The Rail and Transit Division provides oversight and manages funding for all 15 Regional Transit Authorities (RTAs), offers several competitive grant programs, and manages freight, passenger, and seasonal rail lines across the state. The competitive grant programs offered by MassDOT include: the Community Transit Grant Program, which provides funding for lift-equipped accessible vehicles and technical assistance; and the Intercity Bus Program, which awards subsidy to intercity bus providers operating routes in rural regions in MA. MassDOT owns 14 rail lines (totaling 285 miles of track), 165 bridges, 747 culverts, 314 at-grade crossings, and 12 rail yards, working cooperatively with Amtrak Read More
The MassDOT Rail Division manages freight, passenger, and seasonal rail lines across the state and maintains its rail assets. In 2019, the Rail Division completed an Asset Management Plan which presents the current state of the Commonwealth’s rail assets and defines what is needed to achieve State of Good Repair across the system. This section presents information on the condition of the MassDOT-owned rail assets as well as rail safety data. The maps below show rail assets across the Commonwealth. Rail Ownership Skip map [Data Table] Rail Use Skip map [Data Table] System Condition The Rail and Transit Division completed Read More
The MassDOT Rail Division manages freight, passenger, and seasonal rail lines across the state and maintains its rail assets. This includes overseeing the administration of former and current railroad property, supporting logistics efforts to reduce trucks on the road by shipping more goods via rail, and increasing the safety and reliability of rail traffic through grade crossing improvements. The Division’s property staff handles Chapter 40/54A administrative hearings to address the use of former railroad property and to ensure the safety of rail travel during new building construction near railroad rights-of-way. Part of this involves the issuance of 50-100 licenses annually Read More
The percent of capital dollars spent by the end of the fiscal year refers to the portion of the capital budget that was utilized compared to what was budgeted in MassDOT’s Capital Improvement Plan (CIP). In FY22 all rail programs combined spent 59% of the original amount budgeted in the CIP. This is a thirty percent decrease compared to FY21 expenditures.
The Rail & Transit Division tracks the performance of several regional rail programs and pilots such as the CapeFLYER and the ValleyFlyer. This year, the CapeFLYER served 6,923 trips between Memorial Day and Labor Day 2021 – a more than three-fold increase from FY21. The ValleyFlyer served 5,418 trips between October 2021 and June 2022. MassDOT contributes support for Amtrak’s Vermonter and Hartford (formerly “Springfield Shuttle”) services. The Vermonter, returning to service after a suspension in service due to the pandemic, reported 25,842 trips in FY22. The Hartford line served 97,338 trips in FY22. Additionally, MassDOT-owned rail is also utilized Read More
