newbedfordlight.org
I really think Jon Mitchell would be stupid not to start some tourism advertising in Boston once the SCR service begins. Images of the Whaling Museum, Cisco/the Black Whale, hiking on trails in the area, that fancy hotel downtown.
One of my favorite things over the years has been taking people to New Bedford for the first time. Lots of people think of the "gateway cities" as rundown old mill towns. There's certainly some of that in New Bedford, but the downtown area, waterfront, and Rodney French area look nothing like what the stereotype is. My now-wife (who is from VT) spent weeks on Zillow looking at houses in/around the downtown area after we went together for the first time. A coworker had her art displayed in a gallery downtown, and we organized a work outing to go see it and follow up with dinner/drinks. Everyone loved it and talked about having to go back. I've even heard conversations on the ferry about how surprised they were by the city.
And there are so many things to do away from downtown/the water! The best Portuguese/Cape Verdean food you'll ever have, some of the kindest and most genuine Bay Staters, a lot of hidden gems.
newbedfordlight.org
Good article. So basically covering all the bases when it comes to safety. I read an article a couple months ago that the outreach has been to the extent of running the trains for a year just to get it into peoples' heads that a train is running through their neigborhood! I bet the thinking is for every one person who knows about the project, either for or against, there are probably 100 people that are oblivious that this new rail line is constructed!MBTA is testing safety of South Coast Rail — here’s why it takes so long - The New Bedford Light
The basic infrastructure of the project has been complete for months — tracks are laid, stations are built. But trains can’t carry passengers until an extensive series of safety tests are complete.
newbedfordlight.org
The trunk through Brockton seem to be getting Fairmount Line frequencies, which is quite surprising. I was only expecting the split branches to only get 13 weekday trips and 8 weekend trips (26 weekday and 16 weekend trips in the trunk) at most, which is what our worst commuter rail lines see today (only Stoughton and Foxboro are worse).
Where are these additional trains coming from? Are they squeezing even more out of the Quincy track, or are Greenbush/Kingston just getting absolutely shafted?MBTA provides new details on Fall River, New Bedford and Taunton South Coast Rail Service
The following details were released by the MBTA regarding SouthCoast Rail service in Fall River and New Bedford: “Initially, 26 trips were expected to be part of revenue service daily for the Fall River and New Bedford lines. The team has since increased total weekday trips between South Station...fallriverreporter.com
Or a third in-between option, are the late night trains that terminate at Braintree and a new focus on raising line speeds on the Red Line a sign of things to come?
In 2019, 3 Greenbush trains, 4 Kingston trains, and 3 Middleborough trains all arrived at South Station between 7:15am and 9:35am. Only 4 trains departed South Station in the outbound direction in the same timeframe.
To clarify: Are the East Taunton short-turns operating all day or just during late night hours? The fact that both ideas (late night and East Taunton) are mashed together in the second paragraph doesn't help with the clarity.MBTA provides new details on Fall River, New Bedford and Taunton South Coast Rail Service
The following details were released by the MBTA regarding SouthCoast Rail service in Fall River and New Bedford: “Initially, 26 trips were expected to be part of revenue service daily for the Fall River and New Bedford lines. The team has since increased total weekday trips between South Station...fallriverreporter.com
It reads to me like the East Taunton short turns are going to be midday in the off peak direction like how the Fitchburg short turns at Littleton every other hour. The "This allows for even more frequent service, which is consistent with the All Day Service model across the rest of the Commuter Rail network," line is what suggests that to me. Maybe that's how the increase from 26->32 trips through Middleboro is achieved. If they're still 13/13 direct to the Termini but 2/4 additional shuttles from East Taunton
But if Middleborough service doubles, which I think is a reasonable assumption since currently there are 14 daily round trips and the number given for SCR was 32 in total, then that would suggest at least 4 new trains on the OC mainline during the peak, 2 more than 2019. So I'll ask again, where are the extra trains coming from? Is the OC mainline going to be busier, or will Kingston not have any outbound trains until 9:30 and Greenbush no outbound trains between 6:25 and 9:12? (Or some other equally drastic cut)
