The discussion for the East-West Rail continues and Massachusetts State Senator Eric Lesser says the need now is greater than it's ever been.

"We have the highest unemployment rates now in the entire country," Senator Lesser said. "Coronavirus has exposed that inequality and that sense of unfairness that many people in our community have felt for a long time."

While the pandemic has delayed progress of the study for the rail, Lesser also believes now is the time to act.

"The last time our country faced a crisis like this, during the Great Depression, we built 800 airports around the country at a time when most Americans had never even seen an airplane," said Lesser.

The East-West rail would be about a 90-minute ride from Pittsfield, passing through Springfield and Worcester, all the way to Boston. Having this transportation available has the potential to create more job opportunities for those across the state.

"The status quo is not acceptable which is housing prices continuing to go up and up and up, the cost of living continuing to go up and many of our families in Western Mass feeling they have to leave to find good jobs for themselves or their families," said Lesser.

On Wednesday, there was an Advisory Commitee meeting. Lesser said the meeting was a big step in the right direction, but added they are still a long ways away from a shovel in the ground and starting construction. The project will cost over $1 billion and can't be secured until MassDOT's study is complete. But right now, Lesser says the study has gaps, specifically with ridership estimates.

"They are not accurate, they will make the project very hard to move forward because the cost benefit calculations are out of wack," he said. "And frankly the numbers are not conducive to reality."

MassDOT was unavailable for comment, but provided a timeline on the study. They will be accepting written recommendations through October 7 from the Advisory Committee, providing a draft report on October 16 including those recommendations, having a public meeting on October 22, and having a final report available November 30.

When and if the rail becomes a reality, it could take tens of thousands of cars off the road, making it one of the single biggest improvements to the air.

"We need to make these investments, we need to create the jobs, we need to do it for our environment and for our future," said Lesser.

More information on the East-West rail can be found on Mass.gov.