Amtrak is proposing a new train from Concord to Boston, along with enhancements to its current route up the Connecticut River Valley in response to President Joe Biden’s proposed $2 billion package of road, rail, broadband internet and other infrastructure upgrades.
Biden wants to unleash $2 trillion in new spending on four main hard infrastructure categories – transportation; public water, health and broadband systems; community care for seniors; and innovation research and development, according to people familiar with the proposal.
Those would be paid for by permanently raising the corporate tax rate from 21 percent to 28 percent, the people said, which would unwind the lower corporate rate put in place by the Trump administration.
The plan also includes $80 billion for intracity rail, including significant capital spending for Amtrak.
The day Biden’s plan was unveiled, Amtrak issued a map of its growth vision that includes new service between Concord and Boston along the same corridor eyed by the new Hampshire Capital Corridor Rail Project. Also in the map: enhanced service between Springfield, Massachusetts and Burlington, Vermont, plus a connection between Burlington and Montreal, Quebec. That train runs up the Vermont side of the Connecticut River, including stops in Brattleboro and White River Junction, Vermont.
Amtrak also operates the Downeaster service from Boston to Exeter and Dover, ending in Portsmouth, Maine.
“President Biden’s infrastructure plan is what this nation has been waiting for. Amtrak must rebuild and improve the Northeast Corridor and our National Network and expand our service to more of America,” Amtrak CEO Bill Flynn said in a statement. “Amtrak has a bold vision to bring energy-efficient, world-class intercity rail service to up to 160 new communities across the nation, as we also invest in our fleet and stations across the U.S. With this federal investment, Amtrak will create jobs and improve equity across cities, regions, and the entire country – and we are ready to deliver. America needs a rail network that offers frequent, reliable, sustainable and equitable train service. Now is our time, let’s make rail the solution.”
Advocates of a commuter rail connection along the Capitol Corridor – initially planned just to connect Boston to Manchester via Nashua – say it offers significant opportunities for transit-oriented development, including multifamily development.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
