The popular Vermonter Amtrak line could soon wind into four Western Mass towns. It already stops in Springfield, but instead of heading straight to the Green Mountain State, officials are looking to add stops in Holyoke, Northampton, and Greenfield.

A meeting held at a Northampton hotel drew a packed crowd, ready to hear about a rail service in their neighborhood.

"We're going to offer more opportunities and hopefully people will take advantage of it," says principal planner Dana Roscoe.

The study's in it's final stages. The last step is getting public input.

"I think a stop in Holyoke would be wonderful," says Holyoke's Olivia Mausel.

"It would be much more convenient to have the train here in Northampton," says Bill Ames.

They like it and many more showed up. It was standing room only at a Northampton hotel, packed with people ready to hear how this will change their downtowns.

"People who travel through. It would encourage a lot of other businesses too and we want to see downtown be revived," says Mausel, who is hoping it will bring travelers to the Paper City.

If passed, the Vermonter would follow the same path it did before 1988, when it changed into what you see today.

Opponents say Amherst residents would have a longer trip to the station, because their current stop would be removed, but commuters overall, would save 50 minutes of travel time.

"I think it makes more sense to have the Connecticut River line because it's the shortest north-south route," Ames says.

Money's not an issue either. The rail project is the only one in the state ready to receive stimulus funding. If funded, it would receive $750,000.

"It was completely serendipitous that the funding became available when we were already 10 months into our study," Roscoe adds, saying the money is just an added incentive.