Just to remind folks this is the link to the study;
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1o8XEMn ... okSJ7/view" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
My understanding is the current plan is to adopt Option 1A which requires (in theory) no new equipment other than an engine I believe. The train would be operated in push-pull configuration and layover in Pittsfield and would only operate (initially) 20 weeks of the year.
I do agree it would make sense to consider adding in a Saturday trip.
As for the Housatonic, having grown up in the area, I've always been a fan of restoring service here and I think there's merit.
Yes, Wassaic gets heavy use, but again, I think there's an argument for a "weekend only" train that traverses this route to at least Canaan, and more likely Pittsfield on the weekends. It's not about daily commuters at all, but the weekenders.
Wassaic is already pretty maxed out on parking and this would relieve some of that. It would also permit more families where one partner works in the city during the week and comes to the country on the weekend to maintain just one car, rather than leaving one at the station, or having to make the round trip from locations such as Great Barrington, etc.
And, as I've suggested up above, it's ultimately about the network.
Multiple connections along the ALB-BOS east-west route in Albany, someday perhaps Pittsfield, now Springfield and Boston ultimately make the entire network stronger. I suspect with enough flexibility you'd start to see folks taking the trains for more local trips also.
I think we'll see in general over the next decade, despite the naysayers a slow but steady uptick in rail traffic in the US. It's simply going to take investment.
Check out
QuiCR, Quick, Crowdsourced Responses for businesses.