LYNN — U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren told North Shore officials on Friday to take advantage of “a perfect place” for obtaining federal transportation project money and submit a commuter-rail-electrification plan.
“We’re in a perfect place if we can get federal money matched up. It’s once-in-a-lifetime money, but you can’t compete for it unless you have a plan,” she told a dozen state legislators and mayors who gathered with her on North Shore Community College’s Lynn campus.
Counting in Warren with her national stature as an ally in the push to electrify the Newburyport/Rockport commuter-rail line and make rail fares more affordable is the latest bid by officials frustrated over the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s (MBTA) March decision to not include electrification in its capital plan for major transportation projects.
State Sen. Brendan Crighton (D-Lynn) said local officials expected the MBTA to follow up a 2019 Fiscal and Management Control Board vote for electrification with a project plan.
“It was a mistake to assume they were acting in good faith. This administration has left us behind,” Crighton told Warren.
Warren acknowledged the officials’ frustration, but said now is the time to take advantage of the billions of dollars in federal funds earmarked for infrastructure projects in the wake of the blow delivered to the nation’s economy by COVID-19.
“I’m worried about the urgency,” she said.
“Frankly,” said Salem Mayor Kimberley Driscoll, “It’s about getting the T, and others, around the table.”
Gov. Charlie Baker has talked in general terms about aligning state transportation needs with federal money pouring into the state. The State House News Service reported that Massachusetts is in line to receive about $9.5 billion over the next five years. To make use of the money, Baker said, lawmakers need to approve the range of spending on transportation and infrastructure projects upfront.
Crighton and fellow Lynn legislative delegation members have vowed to keep pressuring the MBTA to embrace commuter-rail electrification.
The state Senate on April 14 adopted an amendment to its climate policy bill requiring the MBTA to stop purchasing diesel-powered locomotive trains by the end of 2030 and transition to electric service.
Warren vowed Friday to have her senior staff members work on helping electrification advocates craft a plan for submission to federal officials.
“Figure out what it is going to take you to go from this point to that. Let’s get everything moving as fast as we can with maximum help from the federal government,” she said.
