(NEW YORK CITY) - Prominent Unions and Transit Advocates have 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 held earlier this month.

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 National Conference of Firemen & Oilers (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, Connecticut 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, Connecticut 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 with Bronin describing 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.

To Continue Reading This Labor News Report, Go To: Unions, transit advocates kickoff new coalition for New York City-to Boston high-speed rail – LaborPress