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Last week, New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch signed a law creating the New Hampshire Rail Authority, which will oversee the development and operation of commuter rail in the state. The authority will work to secure federal funding, negotiate contracts, determine fares, and establish rail schedules and service.

Last year, Lynch created a passenger-rail working group comprising representatives from the cities of Manchester and Nashua, Manchester-Boston Regional Airport, Nashua Chamber of Commerce, Pan Am Railways, and the Nashua and Southern New Hampshire Regional Planning Commissions. The group was charged with establishing a plan to develop passenger-rail service in the state. In their January report, working group members noted that creating a rail authority was one of the necessary first steps.

“As the southern tier of our state continues to rapidly grow, we must ensure we have a strong and diverse transportation infrastructure in place,” Lynch said in a prepared statement. “Re-establishing rail in New Hampshire is critical to our future economic growth as a state.”

The governor also included $1 million in his fiscal-year 2008 capital budget to construct platforms in Nashua and Manchester.