Train photo Kinney.jpg

At the Springfield train station on the Knowledge Corridor Special (JIM KINNEY/ THE REPUBLICAN)

(Staff-Shot)

BOSTON -- The Massachusetts House has included an amendment in its budget to create a working group to study the possibility of high-speed rail between Boston and Springfield.

The amendment, introduced by State Rep. Peter Kocot, D-Northampton, would create a working group similar to one that existed several years ago to explore expanded rail along the north-south Knowledge Corridor between Springfield and Greenfield. The group would figure out what needs to be done and what the cost would be to develop high-speed rail from Boston through Worcester to Springfield. The committee would also look at whether Massachusetts could use the so-called "maglev" technology that Japan uses for its high-speed bullet trains.

"They have trains that go upwards of 300 miles per hour," Kocot said. "We're going try to take a peek at that technology to see if it's applicable."

Kocot and State Sen. Eric Lesser, D-Longmeadow, have been trying for much of the last legislative session to get a working group passed by the Legislature. The amendment was added to the House budget Monday evening. It must still be agreed to by the Senate.

The committee would include representatives of the congressional delegation, local communities, planning commissions, elected officials and rail companies.

Kocot said a similar working group was effective during discussions of the Knowledge Corridor, because all the players would gather every couple of weeks for project updates.

Kocot said with current passenger rail service between Boston and Worcester, the focus from now on must be on the Worcester to Springfield line, where the track is in worse shape.

A bond bill has already authorized money for planning and permitting the project, and there is no money attached to the House budget bill related to this amendment.

"With all of the other capital projects out there - South Coast rail, the expansion of the Green Line - a lot of the focus has been on the eastern part of Massachusetts," Kocot said. "What I'd like to do is refocus some of the efforts of the Department of Transportation on the transportation needs of Western Massachusetts."

Lesser said he is gratified that the amendment passed the House, and he will propose a similar amendment in the Senate. "This is an issue whose time has come, and that's increasingly being realized by colleagues in the Legislature around the state," Lesser said.

This story was updated with Lesser's comments.