Fall River/New Bedford Commuter Rail (South Coast Rail)

All the work that is left is punch-list stuff, and waiting for equipment such as switch heaters to arrive and be installed.
 
Photo of the pedestrian bridge from the article
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From what I'm hearing the FRA requires a month of simulated non revenue service before signing off on the project. Look for much more traffic on the lines very soon. Right now Keolis is running one set in the daylight to qualify employees. It will be interesting to see what Mass Coastal does to cope.
 
The MBTA has undertaken an extensive testing phase for the positive train control system, which is a group of automatic safety systems to prevent collisions, derailments and other accidents. Eng said that’s all done, too.

“All 988 tests that were required for positive train control have been successfully completed,” Eng said. “We’re in the final steps.”
 
Man thats weird. I can read the whole article, but if I click on the picture gallery it says I need a subscription. That sux cuz it has 18 pictures and theres been hardly any pics of this project going around.
I am able to view the photos. You are not missing much as they look to be mostly older construction / progress shots over the last year.
 
I recently posted of a 30 day non-revenue simulated schedule to get the FRA sign off on the South Coast Rail project . That may be shortened to a much shorter time period.
 
At the meeting Thursday evening, Fox said that while a start date for the new service hasn’t been decided, it will likely be discussed at a meeting on Monday, Feb. 10, as well as a discussion regarding a definitive schedule.

She added that service will “definitely” begin sometime in the spring.

“We are absolutely at the finish line,” she said.
 
South Coast Rail commuter service will begin on March 24, with a one-way ticket to Boston costing $12.25.

State Sen. Mark Montigny, D-New Bedford, said in a press release he was informed by MBTA officials today of the long-awaited start date for passenger service linking New Bedford, Fall River and Taunton to Boston via passenger rail for the first time since the late 1950s.
 
I was looking through the 1995 proposal for SCR, with one of the alternatives being a short extension from Stoughton to North Easton (which would probably be Easton Village, under current plans). How feasible would this be as a new “Phase 2”, pushing the full build to “Phase 3”? Seems to me it would be better since they get service without having to worry as much about environmental concerns, and could be built without electrification (I’m assuming).
 
I was looking through the 1995 proposal for SCR, with one of the alternatives being a short extension from Stoughton to North Easton (which would probably be Easton Village, under current plans). How feasible would this be as a new “Phase 2”, pushing the full build to “Phase 3”? Seems to me it would be better since they get service without having to worry as much about environmental concerns, and could be built without electrification (I’m assuming).
Probably not very feasible, as the Easton ridership wasn't that high in the 2003 FEIR. North Easton was projected at 460 daily boardings, and Easton Village was only 150 daily boardings. This is compared to 917 daily boardings at Stoughton and 470 daily boardings at Canton Center in the 2018 counts. Plus there'd still be no layover yard if you went as far as Easton, so there'd be frequent deadheading runs from Readville to shift-change service for those not-a-lot of passengers. Given that Easton was generally hostile to the extension, I don't think this is something you can feasibly mount unless you can complete the whole connection to active track in Taunton.
 
Probably not very feasible, as the Easton ridership wasn't that high in the 2003 FEIR. North Easton was projected at 460 daily boardings, and Easton Village was only 150 daily boardings. This is compared to 917 daily boardings at Stoughton and 470 daily boardings at Canton Center in the 2018 counts. Plus there'd still be no layover yard if you went as far as Easton, so there'd be frequent deadheading runs from Readville to shift-change service for those not-a-lot of passengers. Given that Easton was generally hostile to the extension, I don't think this is something you can feasibly mount unless you can complete the whole connection to active track in Taunton.
I’m surprised that Canton gets less than 500 people boarding.
 

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