Local leaders tout panel’s support for rail study, Nashua park-and-ride land purchase, as a success

NASHUA – Local leaders didn’t hide their elation for a pair of Wednesday votes that breathe new life into efforts to bring commuter rail from Boston to Nashua. The Legislature’s Capital Budget Overview Committee approved two pieces of legislation that resurrect a Capitol Corridor rail study in New Hampshire and allow using toll credits as a match toward a $1.5 million purchase in Nashua for a future park-and-ride – which one day may include a rail station. “Let the church bells ring!!!” Greater Nashua Chamber of Commerce President Chris Williams posted on his personal Facebook page Wednesday, sharing the news. Mayor Donnalee Lozeau spread the word among city aldermen with an email titled “Success.” “Getting this study done is so important because whether you’re for rail or not for rail, unless the study is done, we’re not going to be able to move forward or not move forward,” Lozeau said Wednesday. “It’s great news,” Board of Aldermen President Brian McCarthy added. “There is a lot of work to do, and while I don’t think I’m going to be on the train next week, I’m very hopeful I’ll be on a train in the future.” The rail study request still requires the blessing of the Executive Council, which turned down a planning grant that would have funded it in a 3-2 vote last year. But Wednesday’s decision at least put the study back on track. “The Capital Budget Overview Committee got this one right,” state Sen. Peggy Gilmour said in a statement.