A vast majority of Granite Staters support establishing a commuter rail connection from Manchester to Boston, via Nashua and the Manchester airport, according to a new poll.
The Saint Anselm College Survey Center surveyed 698 registered voters by landline and cell phone between April 3 and April 8. The poll indicates 75.5 percent of residents in support of rail, with only 14.5 percent opposed and 10 percent with no opinion, according to an announcement from NH Business for Rail Expansion, a business lobby group backing the issue. The announcement did not offer details on the poll’s questions or other technical aspects.
“A majority of residents from every political party, gender, age, education level, ideology and county support expanding rail,” NH Business for Rail Expansion spokesman E.J. Powers said in a statement. “With more than 110 statewide businesses and now three-quarters of residents indicating their support, it is time for policymakers to act and take the next step in expanding rail and realizing the vast economic benefits it would deliver.”
Senate Bill 241, approved by the state Senate in February, would allow the New Hampshire Department of Transportation to access existing federal funding to complete the critical Project Development phase of the NH Capitol Corridor Rail Expansion Project. This phase will provide a detailed analysis of engineering, environmental and geotechnical aspects, along with a firm financial plan for expanding passenger rail. A mechanism for funding Project Development is also included in House Bill 2, the biennial budget bill. In August 2018, Gov. Chris Sununu and the Governor’s Advisory Commission on Intermodal Transportation included federal funding for Project Development in the state’s Ten Year Transportation Improvement Plan.
NH Business for Rail Expansion believes a commuter rail line would attract 668,000 weekday riders and spur:
- 5,600 permanent jobs
- 3,400 construction jobs to build the real estate development triggered by rail
- 3,600 residential units to support new workers
- 9 million square feet of commercial real estate development as a byproduct of rail expansion
