Latest News & Updates

Lots of great news to round out a productive year! Among the highlights: The Charlestown, RI Town Council passed a resolution in support of our efforts to secure infrastructure upgrades and commuter rail service at Westerly Station About 150 people from Westerly, Pawcatuck, and surrounding communities packed the room for RIDOT's December 10th Public Listening Session in Westerly (thank you all for making your voices heard!) The CT Examiner, New London Day, Westerly Sun, and O

“Brown University’s Marc Dunkelman, who wrote the bestselling book  Why Nothing Works , called the proposed Westerly improvements ‘low-hanging fruit’.” Read the full article from Ocean State Media (RI NPR) here: https://www.oceanstatemedia.org/transportation/what-specific-improvements-would-you-like-to-see-in-rhode-island-rail-service

WPRI 12 News aired a brief segment reporting on last night’s public listening session and the idea of extending Shore Line East and the MBTA to Westerly. Watch the video above! Link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyOApjWVWHE

The Westerly Sun published a front-page article about how RIDOT’s December 10 public listening session went. Read the article here: https://www.thewesterlysun.com/daily-news-alerts/speakers-ask-state-for-rail-improvements-in-westerly/article_1cec58c8-8652-468c-9ba9-119d1e05d9f1.html

The Connecticut Examiner covered the input of nearly 150 attendees at RIDOT’s December 10 public listening session in Westerly. Read their article here: https://ctexaminer.com/2025/12/11/westerly-and-stonington-residents-pack-meeting-to-discuss-added-train-service/

Providence Now ABC6 aired a brief segment reporting RIDOT’s public listening session will happen tonight – and that one of the proposals on the table is bringing commuter rail to Westerly. Watch the video above! Link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyOApjWVWHE

The Connecticut Examiner posted an article previewing RIDOT’s December 10 public listening session in Westerly and its implications for Southeastern Connecticut. Read the full article here: https://ctexaminer.com/2025/12/09/full-house-expected-at-wednesday-public-forum-on-future-of-westerly-rail-service/

The New London Day ran a front-page article previewing RIDOT’s December 10 public listening session in Westerly and its implications for Southeastern Connecticut. Read the full article here: https://theday.com/news/820623/residents-officials-to-advocate-for-rail-upgrades-at-rhode-island-meeting/

The Westerly Sun ran a front-page article previewing RIDOT’s December 10 public listening session in Westerly. Read the full article here: https://www.thewesterlysun.com/daily-news-alerts/r-i-to-get-input-on-rail-upgrades-plan/article_ffbff599-0ca9-4fc1-b646-f2bdd61164a0.html

The RI Department of Transportation has posted an online survey for its update of the State Rail Plan at this link: https://surveys.piopinions.com/SE/1/RIDOT/. The feedback RIDOT receives through this survey and upcoming public outreach meetings will help it decide which new rail projects to prioritize through its new State Rail Plan. This is a key opportunity to advance the extension of Shore Line East and the Westerly Station upgrades! Please take a few minutes to fill out

Our focus swung back to Rhode Island during this quarter as our efforts to upgrade Westerly Station’s platforms reached a key milestone. Among the highlights: The Westerly Station platform upgrade project was officially added to Rhode Island’s new FY 2026-35 State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP), making the project eligible to receive federal funding The platform upgrades, as well as a turnback track enabling future Shore Line East trains to pull off the mainline to

“There’s also $30.5 million penciled in for high-level platforms at the Westerly train station to improve Amtrak service ‘and to enable the future extension of [Connecticut’s] Shore Line East and MBTA commuter rail service,’ the program states.” Read the full article from the Boston Globe here: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/09/11/metro/ri-council-votes-transportation-improvement-funding/

“Wolf commended the state for including ‘excellent individual projects’ such as plans to install high-level platforms at Westerly’s Amtrak station starting in federal fiscal year 2029.” Read the full article from the Rhode Island Current here: https://rhodeislandcurrent.com/2025/09/11/state-planning-council-oks-plan-for-next-decade-of-r-i-transportation-projects/

RI and CT residents: Make your voice heard for upgrading Westerly Station! The RI Division of Statewide Planning has opened the public comment period for its 2026-2035 State Transportation Improvement Program. The deadline to comment is July 30th, 2025.  Please send in a comment expressing your support for the Westerly Platform project. The draft plan already calls for the construction of high-level platforms at Westerly Station, which is a prerequisite to extending Shore Lin

Much of our focus this quarter was on Shore Line East-related matters. Some highlights include: We wrote and sent letters of support for restoring full funding for Shore Line East to the Connecticut General Assembly’s Transportation Committee We conducted outreach conversations with legislators and other stakeholders in Connecticut We workshopped outlines for a few Shore Line East policy papers we plan to write in the coming months The New London Day ran a front-page article

The New London Day ran a cover story on how our vision fits into the broader sphere of commuter rail advocacy in Southeastern Connecticut. Read the full article here: https://theday.com/news/731467/rhode-island-eyes-commuter-rail-connection-to- connecticut/

We hit the ground running during the first quarter of 2025! Among the highlights: The Stonington, CT Board of Selectmen and the Hopkinton, RI Town Council both passed resolutions in support of our efforts to secure infrastructure upgrades and commuter rail service at Westerly Station The Town of Westerly’s Public Works Committee voted to designate the Westerly Station platform upgrades its top priority out of its five new project proposals to send to the RI Division of Statew

Members of our group have been working to restore Shore Line East service levels to what they were before the pandemic and potentially...

Our group was recently interviewed by ecoRI News where we talked about our goals of making Westerly a rail transportation hub. Read the...

Westerly Town officials recently met with Governor Dan McKee and other state officials to discuss the need for elevated platforms at...