The Boston & Albany Corridor is a rail line between Boston and Albany, and it is also a passenger rail route that MassDOT Rail & Transit is advancing towards implementation. The Boston & Albany Corridor is a component of West-East Rail, and it represents part of the expansion of intercity passenger rail services within the Compass Rail vision. At present, it is assumed station stops will include South Station and Back Bay in Boston, Framingham, Worcester, Palmer (proposed station), Springfield, and Albany-Rensselaer.
In December 2023, the Boston & Albany Corridor was accepted into the Federal Railroad Administration's (FRA) Corridor ID Program and MassDOT was awarded $500,000 to scope a Service Development Plan (SDP). This scoping effort is Step 1 in the multi-step program:
Step 1: Scoping a Service Development Plan
Step 2: Service Development Planning (current step)
Step 3: Preliminary Engineering and Environmental Review
Through Step 2 Service Development Planning, MassDOT will conduct stakeholder outreach, propose appropriate service levels, identify necessary infrastructure improvements, and establish a governance structure for service.
Step 3 will begin design and environmental review for capital projects which will position projects to seek construction funding.
September 2025 update
MassDOT has completed the Step 1 phase, and FRA has approved the scope, schedule, and budget for a Service Development Plan (SDP). Closeout activities are underway for the Step 1 grant.
The United States Department of Transportation has since announced Step 2 funding for the Boston & Albany Corridor through the FRA's Corridor ID Program. The announcement identified over $3.5 million in the award to be match with $395,000 from MassDOT. This funding will be used to support the Boston-Albany Corridor Service Development Plan (SDP), which is an essential step in expanding and enhancing train service connecting Boston and Albany, New York, through Springfield.
The SDP will outline MassDOT's implementation plan for service expansion and is developed cooperatively with FRA. The SDP will demonstrate the feasibility of a Boston to Albany intercity passenger rail route, and it will detail the necessary steps to implement the service. It will identify the purpose and need for the service, include a comparative analysis of viable alternatives, define the recommended capital projects to enable the service, and evaluate the operational, network, and financial impacts of the service and infrastructure investment. It will also include an operating plan, a corridor project inventory and an investment case. Further, it will require significant engagement with the public and relevant stakeholders, and it will define a governance structure for project implementation and future operation.
Following kick-off, the SDP is expected to last roughly two years.