114 replies to this topic

[Sloan]

http://www.wickedloc...g-in-Fall-River

[Sloan]

http://www.capebusin...et/article/1625

[jacorbett70]

STOUGHTON - First of a two-part series on the status of the South Coast commuter rail line

A decade ago, Kevin Paicos, then Easton town administrator, did not mince words about the proposed commuter rail line to New Bedford and Fall River that would cut through his town.

“We plain don’t want it here,” Paicos said in December 1998, echoing the view of Easton selectmen and many townspeople.

Times have changed, and these days, instead of fighting the train outright, residents want to cut the best deal they can to reduce the train’s impact if the $1.4 billion South Coast commuter rail line goes through Easton.

http://www.enterpris...es-losing-steam

[KevinKorell]

From The Gov Monitor, 11/25/09:

Massachusetts And CSX To Move Forward With South Coast Rail Plan

The Patrick-Murray Administration today announced that the Commonwealth’s comprehensive multi-year rail transportation agreement with CSX Transportation (CSXT), the national freight carrier serving Massachusetts, has been submitted for federal review with the Surface Transportation Board.

Continue here.

[Sloan]

http://www.wickedloc...-commuter-rail-

Edited by AlanB, 10 February 2010 - 12:10 PM.

[CCC]

"We're sorry. The page you've requested no longer exists."

[AlanB]

Link fixed.

[Sloan]

http://www.google.co...FejWVQD9GD66L00

[KevinKorell]

It seems a bit presumptuous to forecast a completion date (in this case 2017), when the eventual route is still not known. They don't mention the NIMBY's along both preferred routings who may throw more legal obstacles in the way of progress. Going directly south from Stoughton as an extension of that line through Taunton seems the most direct routing to me. The other routing via Attleboro would use part of the Northeast Corridor, but it's more out of the way.

[Lyle McBride]

IMHO the best way to overcome NIMBY delay is to start by using the track that's there. That is, run the trains from New Bedford and Fall River into Attleboro station, reverse and run express into Boston on the corridor line. No new routes would be needed, so no wildlife habitat will be endangered. Electrifying the new line, running non-stop on the corridor, and using Amtrak's electrification from Attleboro would raise the speed to beat diesel service on the more direct but slow line through Stoughton. When the service is a success and heavily used will be time enough to build a new direct route, if and when it's needed. Reversing in Attleboro has the additional advantage of permitting SE Mass. residents to travel to Providence as well as Boston. Historically, N.B. and F.R. have been more closely tied to Rhode Island than to Boston. (I assume that someday R.I.'s current economic depression will end!) Naysayers say reversing in Attleboro will slow the service unacceptably. The reasons for that are bureaucratic, not technical. A change of engineers at Attleboro could be accomplished in a couple of minutes. The trains already are push-pull; all that is needed is an engineer waiting at the Boston end of the platform to board and pull out as soon as the train is loaded. Such operation is standard in stub-end stations in Europe; through trains routinely are reversed with a two- or three-minute stop even where a locomotive change is needed. The MBTA is making noises that the double track corridor is inadequate to handle additional trains; they want to add a third track. This is a red herring. They scarcely have a maximum of four trains an hour each way at present--if they ran on schedule they could double the number of trains without interference, especially if run at Amtrak speeds. Somebody should go to Europe and learn how to run a railroad.