MassDOT's Koziol to oversee West-East Rail effort

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey and Transportation Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt last week announced that they will appoint Andy Koziol as director of West-East Rail, which would extend passenger-rail service from Boston to Worcester, Springfield and Pittsfield.

As the West-East Rail director within the Massachusetts Department of Transportation's Rail and Transit Division, Koziol will oversee and coordinate ongoing and future projects in support of West-East Rail and the Compass Rail program with MassDOT staff and consultant support, according to a MassDOT press release.

Kaziol also will be responsible for implementing federal grants, such as the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) awards received for the Inland Route and Springfield Union Station area improvements and lead the pursuit of additional federal resources to advance the effort to expand passenger rail service.

Through a recent $108 million federal grant, MassDOT is making progress on West-East Rail by undertaking the necessary trackwork to enable two daily Amtrak round trips —  the Inland Route — between Boston and New Haven, Connecticut, with a stop in Springfield, state officials said.

Also, the Boston and Albany Corridor has been accepted into the Federal Railroad Administration's Corridor Identification Program, which will lay the groundwork to expand passenger rail west of Springfield to Pittsfield and beyond. The Healey-Driscoll administration also included $12 million for the Palmer and Pittsfield rail projects.

Koziol joined MassDOT's Rail and Transit Division as director of rail and transit in June 2023. He has more than 15 years of transportation planning experience centered on implementing multimodal transportation. Before joining MassDOT, Koziol worked for 12 years at the Rhode Island Department of Transportation, where he collaborated with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and Amtrak on rail service and capital planning.