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Role and Purpose

* Committee is charged with making recommendations and development of
a strategy to the Mayor and Board of Alderman to bring passenger rail to
Nashua.

¢ Members
* Two (2) Members of the Board of Aldermen - Brian McCarthy & Mike O’Brien
* One (1) Representative from Nashua Regional Planning Commission - Jay Minkarah
¢ One (1) Representative from Greater Nashua Chamber of Commerce - John Stabile
)
)

Two (2) Mayoral Resident Appointments - Carl Seidel & Bette Lasky
One (1) Mayoral Designee Appointment - Dan Kelly

Two (2) Members of New Hampshire Rail Authority (Nashua Delegates) - Steve
Michon (chair) and Paul Patti

Meetings, Visits, Planning

¢ Met monthly to review likelihood and feasibility of passenger rail
options for City of Nashua

¢ Briefed and convened with Mayor and City staff to review options and
assess progress

¢ Communicated with other state, regional and local rail interest to
assess roles and partnership opportunities (NH Department of
Transportation, NRPC, SNHPC, NH Rail Authority, legislative
delegation)

¢ Met to brief on plans and assess opportunities with Boston Surface
Railroad Company (BSRC), interested cities (Lowell, Worcester,
Woonsocket), Exeter, NH, station managers

Context and Status of Passenger Rail in
Nashua

Imperative for Passenger Rail

Economic Development
* Create value of land adjacent to and surrounding station = increased taxes

* Build economic activity and future improvement opportunities to
underdeveloped corridor (Bridge Street/Crown Street)

¢ Support industry development — stronger connections to Boston market and key
clusters in life sciences, healthcare, financial services, information technology,

educational services
¢ Meet talent demands — improved flow of labor to/from Nashua businesses

° Increase resident connections to job and career advancement opportunities in
Boston Metro market

* Increase accessibility to Nashua’s Downtown and Riverfront Development areas

Imperative for Passenger Rail

Mobility

¢ Improve mobility of labor to/from Nashua

¢ Improve flow of tourists, patrons of the arts, retail shoppers and others to Nashua

* Increase students to/from educational institutions in Nashua, Lowell, Cambridge,
Boston

* Increase modal connectivity with road, bus, bike, walking systems in Nashua

* Increase transit ridership/mode-share by expanding existing rider base and
attracting new riders

¢ Increase travel options to/from Downtown Nashua and area industrial parks
* Integration with Taxi/Uber/Lyft options, walk routes, and bike trail
° Link to Performing Arts Center and GAD events

¢ Increase options for Manchester Airport access and provide a Manchester Airport

to Boston Logan Airport link via passenger rail
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Imperative for Passenger Rail

Environmental and Social

* Mitigate adverse environmental impacts resulting from increased congestion on
roadways (e.g. decrease CO2 emissions) and position Nashua as leader in
environmental sustainability

¢ Support development patterns/lifestyle choices that retain and attract younger
demographic
° Offer transit choices for residents of all ages through retirement

¢ Promote Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) to mitigate patterns of sprawl
development

¢ Strengthen Nashua’s connections to an increasingly global economy and diverse
cultures and communities

¢ Provide more eco-friendly transportation to/from Boston

Passenger Rail Options for Nashua

1. NH Capital Corridor — led by State of NH in partnership with Mass
DOT/MBTA to operate passenger rail from Concord to Boston with

one or more stops in Nashua

2. Boston Surface Railroad Company - a public-private partnership
(PPP) to operate passenger rail from Concord to Boston, with one

stop in Bedford and one in Nashua

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NH Capital Corridor

oS ‘@ Sopra
¢ 2005 Nashua re-introduced phased oes \\
approach to extend MBTA Commuter ee
Rail Service from Lowell to Nashua on — QL
existing rail meet

¢ 2007 State efforts kickstarted to re-
introduce passenger rail service from
Concord, Manchester, and Nashua to
Boston as option

¢ 2015 Capital Corridor Rail Analysis —

Capitoj Corridor Alternatives
lysis and Service Development Plan)

completed by NH DOT a tase seme rdbaemg ow

¥o7 \ ere /
4 ONE SP

‘ }
ew \

++ Airport i e ‘
° . . © City roe Rss ‘
* Outlined range of transit alternatives and eee MOA ANNE i
economic benefits (see study) EE ie , SE
* Total capital investment to bring ae ps
passenger rail to Capital Corridor ae boa
estimated at 9245.6M — although could ee acemem Po oe
be reduced to $72M é- BGT so
(9 24 8 12 18 hes B'S = ss SH Pe
*contribution from MBTA and 50% federal support projected to Sageeeeeeenyeel ein ih LAN Ne ie:

reduce capital investment to $72M (see note)

NH Capital Corridor

¢ 2017-2018 Next step to raise $4
million of federal funding to complete
project development phase

* engineering analysis for upgrading the
rail corridor

* calculation of more definitive costs
associated with project

* environmental impact statement
* detailed financial plan

¢ 2018 - HB2018 part of NH 10 year
transit plan included S4M of federal
funding to complete project
development phase for Capital
Corridor (S4M drawn from existing
funds from federal govt.)

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NH Capital Corridor

¢ 2018 - HB2018 Passed NH House to
access S$4M in federal funding for
project development phase

e 2018 - NH Senate voted to remove
S4M in federal funding

¢ Capital Corridor project stalled
until development phase
completed

¢ New efforts likely in 2019 to “re-
insert” S4M funding for project
development phase

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