In his last visit with Boston Public Radio, former Governor Michael Dukakis spoke out against the proposed South Station Expansion, working alongside Former Governor Bill Weld to promote linking the North-South rail. Weld has since joined the Libertarian party as a candidate for president, while Dukakis continues to promote his proposal, planning to fight for North-South Rail at a MassDOT community meeting on Wednesday at 6pm, as the South Station Expansion inches closer to approval.
“What I and a large number of other people… are going to tell them is that nobody on the planet earth is expanding 19th-century stub-end terminals,” Dukakis said on BPR on Wednesday. “No city I know in the world is doing that, they’re all connecting them. We’re going to strongly suggest that the commonwealth stop wasting time and money.”
According to Dukakis, the city has already “wasted” $40 million on planning the South Station Expansion, which Governor Baker and Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack have both expressed interest in pushing forward. “It makes absolutely no sense at all,” Dukakis said. “On connecting [North and South] stations permanently, the results would be dramatic and they will be vastly better than what you’ll get by spending, you ready for this? $1.6 billion for a total of seven new tracks at south station.”
To hear the full interview with Boston Public Radio, click on the audio link above.
