New Hampshire mulls P3 for rail project
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Maggie Hassan, the Governor of New Hampshire (USA), together with other government and business groups are supporting the development of the commuter rail expansion from Massachusetts to serve Nashua and Manchester through a public private partnership (P3) model.
The project would involve the development of station infrastructure and rail upgrades from Boston through Nashua to Manchester. Supporters of the project say the rail project would attract highway traffic from Route 3 in Nashua and Interstate 3 in Manchester.
The Capital Corridor Rail & Transit Alternatives Analysis report, released by the state transportation department, states that the total project investment is expected to be about US$245.6 million. Estimates for the capital costs include $20 million for stations, $150 million for construction costs and nearly $70 million for railway and signal improvements.
The study calls for two rail stops in Nashua with 34 daily trains and additional stops at the Manchester airport and in the city's downtown. Projections for weekday ridership was 3,120 passengers.
It has also been disclosed in the report the project would require a US$11 million annual operational expenditure in O&M.
According to sources, the state would pay approximately US$72 million in capital costs. The payment would be made trough a 20-year bond at US$6 million per year.
In June this year, legislators approved two bills that streamlined the NH Rail Transit Authority and created a legislative committee to study the feasibility of PPPs as potential revenue sources for passenger rail and other transportation projects.
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It has a population of approximately 1.33 million inhabitants and an area of about 24,000 km2.
We have recently reported on several P3 projects in the USA:
