MBCR Unveils USA’s First Gold Star Commuter Rail Memorial Coach Honoring Massachusetts’ Fallen Heroes

Train bears the names of state’s sol­diers, marines, sailors and air­men who made ulti­mate sac­ri­fice in Iraq and Afghanistan

(Boston, MA)–Mass­a­chu­setts Bay Com­muter Rail­road yes­ter­day unveiled the United State’s first-ever Gold Star Memo­r­ial train. The pas­sen­ger coach, which bears the names of every sol­dier, marine, sailors and air­man who lost their lives while serv­ing in Iraq and Afghanistan, fea­tures Gold Star memo­r­ial emblems atop of patri­otic image.

The Gold Star Memo­r­ial coach will travel thou­sands of miles across Mass­a­chu­setts and Rhode Island as a reminder of all of our fallen heroes who gave their lives dur­ing Oper­a­tion Iraqi Free­dom and Oper­a­tion Endur­ing Freedom.

“With so many vet­er­ans employed by the rail­road, it is a priv­i­lege to oper­ate this one-of-a-kind trav­el­ing memo­r­ial for those who made the ulti­mate sac­ri­fice for our coun­try and their fam­i­lies” said MBCR Gen­eral Man­ager Hugh J. Kiley Jr. “MBCR is hon­ored to oper­ate the memo­r­ial train across the MBTA com­muter rail system.”

The new train coach was unveiled at cer­e­mony today at Boston’s South Sta­tion, with dig­ni­taries from across the state on hand to salute the memo­r­ial. While roads and bridges are often named after armed ser­vice vet­er­ans, the launch of the first-ever memo­r­ial train coach is an exten­sion of the trans­porta­tion community’s recog­ni­tion of mil­i­tary ser­vice. More than 30,000 vet­er­ans have returned to Mass­a­chu­setts from the Global War on Ter­ror and Over­seas Con­tin­gency Operation.

“Mass­a­chu­setts is proud to honor all vet­er­ans who have bravely served our Com­mon­wealth and coun­try,” said Lieu­tenant Gov­er­nor Tim­o­thy Mur­ray, Chair of the Governor’s Advi­sory Coun­cil on Vet­er­ans’ Ser­vices.  “With the launch of the United State’s first-ever memo­r­ial train, Mass­a­chu­setts will have the unique oppor­tu­nity to rec­og­nize our mil­i­tary ser­vice­men and women who sac­ri­ficed their lives for our coun­try dur­ing Oper­a­tion Iraqi Free­dom and Oper­a­tion Endur­ing Freedom.”

“This coach will serve as a rolling memo­r­ial to those ser­vice mem­bers and their fam­i­lies who gave the ulti­mate sac­ri­fice,” said Mass­a­chu­setts Sec­re­tary of Vet­er­ans Affairs Cole­man Nee. “It heart­ens me to know that this memo­r­ial will be on the tracks, pass­ing through cities and towns across the Com­mon­wealth as a reminder of these brave heroes and their dedication.”

About MBCR

The Mass­a­chu­setts Bay Com­muter Rail­road Com­pany, LLC (MBCR) is a part­ner­ship of Veo­lia Trans­porta­tion, the largest pri­vate sec­tor oper­a­tor of mul­ti­ple modes of tran­sit in the North Amer­ica and one of Europe’s largest pas­sen­ger trans­porta­tion com­pa­nies; Bom­bardier Trans­porta­tion, the world’s leader in the man­u­fac­ture and main­te­nance of pas­sen­ger rail vehi­cles; and Alter­nate Con­cepts, the lead­ing trans­porta­tion main­te­nance and oper­a­tions firm in the United States. MBCR oper­ates and main­tains the fifth largest com­muter rail net­work in the United States under a con­tract with the Mass­a­chu­setts Bay Trans­porta­tion Author­ity. MBCR pro­vides ser­vice to 40 mil­lion pas­sen­gers a year in nearly 80 cities and towns in Mass­a­chu­setts, as well as Prov­i­dence, RI.