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Rail Study Left Out Of Final Mass. Budget

State Sen. Eric Lesser at Springfield's Union Station.
Brian Steele
/
MassLive
State Sen. Eric Lesser at Springfield's Union Station.

Once again, a study looking into more reliable high-speed rail service between Boston and Springfield was left out of Massachusetts' final state budget.

Longmeadow state Senator Eric Lesser sponsored the proposal, which did not survive negotiations between the House and Senate.

"It was killed in complete silence with no transparency behind closed doors and so we need to get an explanation," said Lesser.

The study made it into the legislature's final budget last year, but was vetoed by Governor Charlie Baker. Baker had been lobbied by the CEO of Springfield's Peter Pan Bus Lines, Peter Picknelly, who wanted the study expanded beyond rail service.

But Picknelly said this year he did not talk about the issue with lawmakers or the governor.

Copyright 2017 New England Public Media

Carson McGrath

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