In the autumn of 2021, I took a train to central Pennsylvania to see and ride Pop-Up Metro’s demonstration battery train that Train Campaign colleagues and I thought might be appropriate for the Berkshire Line.1 I discussed the prospect with Rep Smitty Pignatelli and with the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission, and arranged a telephone meeting between Pop-Up Metro and the owner of the Housatonic Railroad.
No one picked up the ball, but a couple days ago, Matt Silber emailed to say he’d heard about these electric trains and thought we should do a podcast. Matt and I will soon record a podcast to bring the conversation up to date, and we’re hoping to have someone from Pop-Up Rail join us. In the meantime, here’s the background story for your consideration. After you listen (or read the transcript, below), please tell us what you think of the idea.
Audio: Canaan, CT to Pittsfield, MA train service
This was the first of our new series, launched early in 2025, and the prospect of a trial service is getting fresh attention now.
In brief, the concept is to start a passenger train service quickly on the upgraded line, leaving aside the issue of upgrades needed in Connectict to get service through to New York. This service would be all-electric and would be designed to serve local residents and workers, as well as visitors to the area. It would make Berkshire Line project a national model for sustainable, 21st-century intercity/commuter service in a rural region. It would also serve to bring Connecticut on board, by demonstrating the interest in passenger service to and from the Berkshires to northwestern Connecticut, with Canaan as the hub.
Transcript of January 2025 Train Time podcast
I'm your host Karen Christensen and today we're going to talk about the potential for a Canaan, Connecticut to Pittsfield, Massachusetts train service.
Think about it. Tanglewood or Barrington Stage by train, Jump aboard. This is an idea I've been talking about for several years. It's actually a stepping stone to full restoration of the Berkshire line between Pittsfield, Massachusetts and New York City.
Why don't we start by starting a daily passenger service between Pittsfield and Canaan, Connecticut? Canaan is a small town with a wonderful station just a couple miles south of the state line. It's a historic rail hub and there's a real possibility that we could have a battery powered electric train service via Sheffield, Great Barrington, Stockbridge, Lee, and Lenox. The stops to be determined, running every day of the year. Sounds good, doesn't it?
Pop-up Metro is a company in Pennsylvania that aims to provide a reliable, low cost and sustainable way to prove the market for a passenger train service. I visited them a couple years ago to see their equipment and took photos of the train equipment and one of their platforms. I even got to drive a train. LINK
Our longtime supporter Andrew Jennings was the one who noticed the news story about Pop up Metro and realized that there were possibilities for us because their trains have a battery range of 50 to 60 miles with an 8 to 10 minute charge at the end of each journey. This is like an electric mower. You charge the battery for a while and then you take off again.
The Canaan Pittsfield route is just a little under 40 miles on an upgraded rail line. It's upgraded per Mass DOT reporting. The Massachusetts Department of Transportation reported the rehabilitation of four grade crossings. Replacement of 45,000 ties over the entire 36 miles. That's down to the state line. Three bridges replaced and three other bridges repaired. Replacement of jointed rail throughout with continuous welded rail. That's over $50 million spent by taxpayers to improve the rail line in Berkshire County. It could support passenger service today.
We would place charging stations at either end and could run trains daily throughout the year, with more during busy seasons and fewer during quiet months, but always offering reliable transportation to commuters and year-round residents.
Would there be riders? No study has ever been done. The report commissioned by Housatonic Railroad (not MassDOT)2 years ago looked only at trips to and from New York City, not at any regional use at all. But car traffic is a good indicator. Connecticut folk who live in the town south of Canaan drive through Canaan all the time to get to the Berkshires. They come to Great Barrington to shop at Guido's, go to the restaurants, and the movies. They drive onto Stockbridge in Lenox for theater and music and further north to Barrington Stage and Jake Jacob's Pillow. Wouldn't they love the option of taking the train year round?
There are people who live in less expensive towns who commute to work in Stockbridge and Great Barrington. And of course many medical and other professionals commute to Pittsfield.
There's the issue of summer traffic. This comes up every time I talk about the train line. Route 7 is a two lane highway that goes through the center of our towns and everyone agrees vehemently that it's a nightmare in the summer and fall. Why not take the train?
As Train Time supporter Elijah Doubleday wrote, “Many New Yorkers that travel to Berkshire county seek the cultural amenities of South County. This includes the densely developed communities of Great Barrington, Stockbridge and Lee. Each of these towns has an existing centralized train station on a shared MassDOT-owned rail line connected to Pittsfield, as well as enthusiasm for rail service connections.”
The train stations may not be perfect, but station improvements should not withhold train service. Given the condition of many operational Amtrak stations.
And a little further along, I'll give you a bit about what Pop-Up Metro is able to do in the case of a station that is not perfect. That is, we don't need to think about spending masses of money. The usual millions and millions of dollars new stations.
Having a passenger rail line in operation, as I think everyone can see, would be a game changer here. It would be a test, a trial, and it would also encourage Connecticut to step up and deal with the stretch of line south of Canaan that really needs an upgrade comparable to the one we've had here in order to have the full service that we're looking for from Pittsfield to New York City.
And it's not impossible. The current Connecticut Rail plan says that their DOT will study the feasibility of expanded rail service and they plan to update travel patterns for post Covid. Governor Lamont seems to want to emphasize transportation expansion that should clearly, to my mind, include an upgrade of the line between New Milford and Canaan.
We'll write soon about how subscribers and supporters can lobby Connecticut and ask them to make sure that the segment of rail line in Connecticut is upgraded to match the line in Massachusetts. The necessary upgrade work would be very similar. It's a similar length of track in the same region of the country, very similar terrain, so it should be easy to estimate the costs which are compared to other infrastructure projects, exceedingly modest and offer an excellent return on investment.
Where there are not legacy platforms or stations in good repair, Pop Up Metro is prepared to provide modular platforms. These structures are ADA compliant, are very robust, with an ability to support bariatric wheelchairs, and can be equipped with covers, seating, radiant heating, landscaping accents and other appurtenances. The Pop up Metro Class 230 battery trains were remanufactured from London's District Line D trains. They are approved to operate up to 62 miles per hour. I have been told that on the upgraded Massachusetts track trains could go faster, but that the legal limit is 59 miles per hour, which is generally considered a very reasonable speed in the United States anyway for passenger trains. And there would obviously be some work to ensure safety on the line because there are a cople of freight trains a day, but that is a common occurrence and joint passenger freight corridors require robust operating and dispatch rules and positive modal barriers such as electric lock switches or derails. All these things are things that other people have dealt with within this country and abroad and are very much within the realm of immediate action and implementation.
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Yet MassDOT has spent millions studying other potential rail services and even station locations. We will be summarizing that spending in a future newsletter. Some details were included in this podcast, “Taking aim at a 20th-century rail bureaucracy.” There is a link to the transcript, too.