Connecticut River Line
A southbound AmtrakVermonter crosses theConnecticut River betweenHolyoke andChicopee in Massachusetts
Overview
Owner	MassDOT
Locale	Western Massachusetts
Termini	Springfield, Massachusetts East Northfield, Massachusetts
Stations	4
Service
Type	Regional rail Freight rail
System	Amtrak Pan Am Southern
Services	Vermonter      Valley Flyer
Technical
Line length	50 mi (80 km)
Number of tracks	1-2
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)standard gauge
Operating speed	79 mph (127 km/h)
Route map Legend mi New England Central Railroad VT MA Patriot Corridor Greenfield 40 Deerfield River East Deerfield Yard Northampton 21 Holyoke 10 Connecticut River Springfield Berkshire Subdivision 00   New Haven–Springfield Line This diagram: view talk edit

TheConnecticut River Line (colloquially known as theConn River Line) is a railroad line owned by theMassachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT), running betweenSpringfield andEast Northfield, Massachusetts.

Freight rail service along the line is operated byBerkshire and Eastern Railroad, andpassenger rail service is operated byAmtrak. The line is dispatched and operated on behalf of MassDOT by theBerkshire and Eastern Railroad, a subsidiary ofGenesee & Wyoming.^{[citation needed]}

The original line between Springfield andNorthampton was built by theNorthampton and Springfield Railroad (chartered in 1842) during the early 1840s. While the line was under construction, the rail company merged with another company building a line fromGreenfield, Massachusetts, south to Northampton. TheConnecticut River Railroad (CRRR) was then formed in 1845 by the merger of the Northampton and Springfield Railroad with theGreenfield and Northampton Railroad.

The line opened between Springfield and Northampton in 1845 and by the following summer was extended toDeerfield, and then to Greenfield in November 1846. In 1849, the line was extended further north to theMassachusetts-Vermont state line, where it met theBrattleboro line of theVermont and Massachusetts Railroad (which later became part of theFitchburg Railroad).

The line became part of theBoston and Maine Corporation (B&M) in 1893 when the CRRR was acquired by the B&M.^[1] In 1983 the line became part ofGuilford Rail System (which later became Pan Am Railways).^[2] Pan Am Railways sold the line to theMassachusetts Department of Transportation in late 2014, but retained an exclusive common carrier freight easement over the line and continued to maintain and dispatch the line under a contract with MassDOT. TheBerkshire and Eastern Railroad took over Pan Am's operations on the line in September 2023.

Several local trains were dropped during systemwide cuts on May 18, 1958.^[3] Most local service ended on June 14, 1959; stops at Brightwood, Riverside, Mount Tom, Whately, and Deerfield were dropped. Local passengers were allowed to use the four daily through trains for service to Holyoke, Northampton, South Deerfield, and Greenfield; limited Friday and Sunday service to serve college students was also retained.^[4][5][6] The Springfield–Greenfield sections of two daily through trains were dropped on April 29, 1962, leaving just two daily round trips – theMontrealer/Washingtonian andAmbassador.^[7] Those trains were cut on September 6, 1966, ending through passenger service over the line.^[8] Limited local service (one southbound Friday trip, and two Sunday round trips) between Springfield and Brattleboro lasted until later that year.^[1][9]

In 1972, Amtrak began running theMontrealer along the line at night, stopping at Northampton but notHolyoke or Greenfield.^[10] TheMontrealer was discontinued in 1987 due to poor track conditions on the line. Service resumed in 1989 afterAmtrak seized control of the line in Vermont from the Boston and Maine Railroad, but the train was rerouted over theCentral Vermont Railway through Massachusetts andConnecticut to avoid the still-dilapidated Connecticut River Line, because Guilford Rail System refused to improve poor track conditions. A stop was added atAmherst to replace Northampton. TheMontrealer was replaced by the daytimeVermonter in 1995, using the original route through Connecticut but still avoiding the Conn River Line in Massachusetts.^[1]

Freight service along the Connecticut River line has for many years been operated by Pan Am Railways. In recent years the line has been operated atFRA Class I levels, with freight trains limited to a maximum speed of 10 miles per hour (16 km/h). Due to these conditions, there are only a few remaining online customers. One of the largest potential customers,Yankee Candle, despite being on the other side of the road, receives wax shipments via truck from a competing railroad's depot further south.

In order to shorten travel times on theVermonter and add additional local service to the populated Connecticut River Valley, the Connecticut River Line was rebuilt with $73 million in federalAmerican Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 money and $10 million in state funds.^[11][12] The restoration work on the line included the replacement of about 95,000ties; installation of 49 miles (79 km) of new continuously welded rail; new active warning signals and crossing gates at 23 public grade crossings and four private crossings; upgrades to six bridges; and the first phase of a new signal installation. Restoration work began in August 2012 and was scheduled to be completed in 2016.^[13]

A 100-personNorfolk Southern Railway work crew began major track work on July 7, 2014, intending to complete the line's upgrade over the summer. The arrival of the NS crew allowed the Pan Am crews, who had previously started the track work, to focus on grade crossings and other work on the line.^[14]

Commuter rail service has been proposed for the corridor, running between Springfield and Greenfield with four daily round trips.^[15] A 2014 state transportation funding bill included $30 million for acquiring usedMBTA Commuter Rail rolling stock and new locomotives for the service.^[16] On August 20, 2014, the state finalized a $17 million deal to purchase the line from Pan Am Southern.^[17]

In 2014, following several years of planning and construction, the original mainline was restored to modern standards, with a maximum authorized speed of 79 miles per hour (127 km/h) for passenger trains on the long straight sections of track betweenHatfield andDeerfield. TheVermonter was rerouted to the line on December 29, 2014, stopping atNorthampton andGreenfield.^[14][18] New handicapped-accessible platforms have been built at both of these stations. A station stop inHolyoke was added in the summer of 2015.

In February 2016, Massachusetts Secretary of TransportationStephanie Pollack said that MassDOT was looking at starting a pilot commuter service as early as 2017.^[19] In June 2018, GovernorCharlie Baker announced that two AmtrakShuttle round trips would be extended to Greenfield in 2019 as a pilot program.^[20] The service began August 31, 2019, and is operated under theValley Flyer moniker.

In October 2022, MassDOT and Amtrak announced that theValley Flyer service had matched projected ridership and would be made permanent.^[21]

All stations are located in Massachusetts.

• Connecticut River Railroad
• Northern New England Corridor
• East-West Passenger Rail

• "Grant Agreement - Restore Vermonter". Washington, DC:Federal Railroad Administration. July 8, 2011. RetrievedApril 30, 2015.
• HDR Engineering, Inc. (December 31, 2009)."Knowledge Corridor Passenger Rail Feasibility Study"(PDF). Pioneer Valley Planning Commission. RetrievedDecember 29, 2014.
• "Massachusetts Department of Transportation-- Acquisition Exemption-- Certain Assets of Pan Am Southern LLC"(PDF). Washington, DC:Surface Transportation Board. October 10, 2014. RetrievedJanuary 7, 2015.^{[dead link]}

Media related toConnecticut River Line at Wikimedia Commons

• Knowledge Corridor - Restore Vermonter Project at theWayback Machine (archived May 23, 2016)

• Rail infrastructure in Massachusetts
• Passenger rail transportation in Massachusetts
• Railway lines in the United States
• Connecticut River

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