Prominent unions and transit advocates put out a call to get behind an ambitious high-speed rail line proposal connecting New York City to Boston at the “High-Speed Rail Construction” conference Sept. 5.
The event assembled a panel of politicians, union leaders and planners to share research and strategies for the high-speed rail line — with an emphasis on the key role that labor will have to play in getting such a sweeping infrastructure project off the ground. The panel discussion on the northeastern rail project concluded with NCFO President Emeritus Dean Devita announcing the formation of a Northeast High-Speed Rail Coalition.
“It’s an opportunity two or three years from now to be on that list of projects to get the capital funding that’s gonna be needed to advance this project,” said former President of the Regional Plan Association Bob Yaro. “It only happens if labor gets in, as it always does, at the ground floor of advocacy and political action.”
The New York-to-Boston proposal would create a train that operates from Penn Station, through Long Island to Ronkonkoma, mostly on existing rail and electric utility rights-of-way, before running under a 16-mile-long tunnel under Long Island Sound from Port Jefferson to Milford, CT, and from there on existing public rights-of-way to Hartford. The line will then operate a Northeast rail corridor to Boston.
Yaro hopes to tap into federal funds to launch a corridor planning study — a detailed feasibility and engineering study, which he thinks could put the project on a timeline to kickstart construction by 2028.
The panel brought Yaro together with former Mayor of Hartford, CT, Luke Bronin; former Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone; and Brotherhood of Railway Signalmen Legislative Director Mike Efaw. It was moderated by Dave Kapell, a consultant with Stirling Public Policy.
Bellone and Bronin, the two local political leaders, cheered on the economic benefits of this project. Bronin described the transformative potential of the project for a city like Hartford, which he said has been struggling when its industrial base rapidly shrunk in the late 20th century. He said the connectivity between central Connecticut and Long Island would unlock a huge amount of construction, housing and jobs opportunities.
Bellone, representing the New York side of the Long Island sound, shared the sentiment.
“Think of all the villages and towns and cities that are connected to this tremendous regional rail system that we have all across the northeast — now connected to a high-speed rail trunk line — how that will transform those places with new housing, new opportunities for jobs,” he said.
But a project with the scope of the proposed rail line comes with steep challenges. Running a tunnel underneath the sound will require an ambitious engineering feat and tens of billions in funding. Getting the pieces in place to overcome these challenges boils down to political will, Yaro said.
“It is easy to turn out a room full of people to oppose a project. It’s very hard to turn out a roof for people to support a project that has more diffuse, long term benefits. And that’s where everybody in this room comes in,” he said.
The panel suggested that labor’s political advocacy can help in the short-term by helping to get the federal government on board with the planning study, and in the long-term by pushing forward with a labor agreement as the foundation of the project. This was the paybook in the Brightline West high-speed rail project that drew billions in federal funding and broke ground in the spring.
“Labor is in the best position to change the game. You have the unique ability to bring your voice to this table to commit some resources to the advocacy effort, to put some pressure on both sides of the aisle, and to make the powerful case for the economic opportunity that doing this would represent,” Bronin said.
Effaw added that as of now the project is heading in the right direction but ultimately to be successful it’s going to take commitment.
“If we’re not going to go in this full throttle, we’re not going to get it done,” he said.
