Fall River/New Bedford Commuter Rail (South Coast Rail)
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TheRatmeister
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And quite frankly it doesn't take a genius to see why. I'm really not sure why they thought it would be getting more than 3000 boardings?!?! That would put it on a similar level to Salem, or almost three times the ridership of Worcester. Like, how many drugs were involved in that projection?
F-Line to Dudley
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Boston-Newport locals used to take 2:05 via the Stoughton route in the NYNH&H days, with Fall River-Newport itself taking nearly 40 minutes. That's considerably longer than the 1:45 it takes to do Boston-Wickford, and considerably longer than the 1:30 or so it would take to do Wickford under EMU's. So, yes, it's a very significant difference.You mean, like Wickford Junction? (58 miles as the crow flies to Downtown Boston; in contrast, 61 miles as the crow flies from Newport to Downtown Boston).
P.S. in all sincerity, thank you, as always, for the comprehensive overview...
Wickford likewise has very little commuting affinity to Boston. If RIDOT Intrastate commuter rail were enacted, Wickford probably wouldn't appear on any Boston schedules anymore with the Providence Line's outermost extent being culled to no further than T.F. Green. Secondary markets in Rhode Island were always intended to be two-seat rides to Boston under full intrastate rail buildout.
Calling it the “Donald Trump Environmental Protection Trestle” would be an ironic name.
themissinglink
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Commuter rail riders delayed in Boston for 4 hours as multiple trains canceled: Here's why
Riders trying free weekend South Coast Rail service were delayed in Boston after multiple trains were canceled Sunday. Here's what happened.
www.heraldnews.com
ceo
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You know what would be awesome? If the T and the Seastreak ferry service coordinated their schedules so that you could reasonably do a car-free day trip to Martha's Vineyard via New Bedford. Right now the ferry's summer Saturday morning schedule has a ferry leaving right when a train arrives, and there's a 1-hour gap on the return trip. Probably also help if the 10ish-minute walk between the station and the ferry dock was well signed and lighted, and the whole thing was heavily marketed. Oh, and plan to hold ferries when the train is late and vice versa.
Commuter rail riders delayed in Boston for 4 hours as multiple trains canceled: Here's why
Riders trying free weekend South Coast Rail service were delayed in Boston after multiple trains were canceled Sunday. Here's what happened.www.heraldnews.com
Unfortunately they are getting raked over the coals down here over these delays. The seeds of doubt in reliable service are being sown. "Crew shortages" are a legit part of the service issues. It was just starting to be when I retired back in 2018. I thought about calling in to one of the talk shows, but I know its futile. Especially when the host states we need to "doge" the MBTA.
It was a little amusing the other week when on Facebook, I tried to explain how an incident like that fatality in Campello can blow up service in terms of crews, equipment, etc. Someone replied: "How dare you introduce facts into the equation"!!
There should be a shuttle bus between the ferry and the station. As far as holding trains for late ferries, that's a pandora's box of cascading delays. I remember when the T had a subway delay and wanted us to hold an outbound commuter train at Porter Square, North Station or Malden for 5 minutes or sometimes up to 10 minutes. You'd be surprised how that would affect things down the line. The Fitchburg line, before the double track was restored between S. Acton and Willows, was a bear!
Commuter rail riders delayed in Boston for 4 hours as multiple trains canceled: Here's why
Riders trying free weekend South Coast Rail service were delayed in Boston after multiple trains were canceled Sunday. Here's what happened.www.heraldnews.com
Fair use quotes from the Fall River Herald News article:
"Key Points
-- Staffing shortages caused multiple MBTA trains to and from the SouthCoast to be canceled.
-- Riders in Boston trying to head home faced delays of about 4 hours.
-- Service alerts show many trains on the newly opened South Coast Rail have been running about five to 20 minutes late...
"Delays have been frequent since South Coast Rail rollout...
"A check of Fall River/New Bedford commuter rail line alerts shows that since beginning operations on March 24, many trains have been running five to 20minutes late. Keolis did not respond to inquiries as to why."
I put the third "key point" in bold. What happened Sunday is bad enough. But I'd say that last point is doing far more damage to public perception of the new service.
This same story ran in Gannett's other two dailies in the South Coast Rail region: The New Bedford Standard-Times (southcoasttoday.com) and the Taunton Daily Gazette (tauntongazette.com). This ought to help ridership. /s
Agreed on the last point (bold print).
bigeman312
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When things are done poorly, like South Coast Rail Phase 1, it hurts the public perception of investing in rail (understandably) and makes it less likely that we get proper infrastructure, like South Coast Rail Phase 2.
HBH
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Did a little Fall River trip recently, the station is nice but I do think it's a real shame the city didn't make any effort to spruce up the surrounding area to welcome new visitors to town. The Route 79 side is obviously mid MassDOT construction, can't blame them for that and it'll look great when it's done, but you walk half a block down Pearce Street towards N Main Street (didn't get any pictures this way) and there's no accessible curb ramps at the intersection, there's trash all over the sidewalk, the local SB SRTA stop is inexplicably not at the intersection of Pearce and Main, just little things that left me feeling no one in the city government/staff wants to take advantage of the potential new visitors...
I also would not recommend a Sunday trip to Fall River, there is nothing open, not even a coffee shop to hide out from the rain.
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Agree about Fall River. With New Bedford, the station fits with what's already there. Like 40 years ago NB worked on the historic downtown district, even moving some buildings around. There's the Whaling Museum, ferry to the islands, and several restaurants and hotels all relatively close. There's also the ginormous Wamsutta mill that's been converted into apartments and it's a working seaport. People are used to going down there.
Fall River has nothing from Assonet to the Rhode Island border on the water except for Battleship Cove and one restaurant near it. It's all inaccessible. Maybe once they fill in where the highway was torn down but otherwise it's a relative no man's land not centrally located. Nothing to be done because that's where the tracks are but it's going to take awhile.
Fall River has nothing from Assonet to the Rhode Island border on the water except for Battleship Cove and one restaurant near it. It's all inaccessible. Maybe once they fill in where the highway was torn down but otherwise it's a relative no man's land not centrally located. Nothing to be done because that's where the tracks are but it's going to take awhile.
The Fall River station location sucks and will continue to suck especially while Route 79 construction continues. New Bedford is certainly a different story. If you're stuck right by the station, Mesa 21 is actually a really decent restaurant with a number of good Portuguese dishes (pizza is OK too). Al Mac's used to be a decent diner, but I haven't been in years. On the other side of 79, Barrett's Waterfront, and Duke's Bakery/Cafe are both decent places to hang before/after a train. Downtown Fall River is bleak.
But the bold isn't accurate. The Battleship area is pretty easily accessible on foot. The fastest way is to cross Davol St. by The Cove restaurant and walk along the water. The most enjoyable way is cross Davol St. at President Ave., start at the WWII memorial at Bicentennial Park, and walk along the boardwalk to the Battleship/Heritage State Park area. Easy, and pleasant. Especially when the weather's nice. Apart from The Cove restaurant (OK seafood, but great back deck/views if you want to get an appetizer/drink), that area has Primo on Water, Tipsy Toboggan (solid), Tipsy Seagull (seasonal floating tiki bar/restaurant), Morgan's Cantina (opened in March), Canned Heat brewing (solid bar pizza), Troy City Brewing, and Pier 52 (seasonal, solid raw bar). There are often food trucks by the Gates of the City in warmer months. And if you want something a bit more classic Fall River, Columbia St. is not a bad walk - Sagres Restaurant is a Portuguese staple and Barca is good too. There are a few Portuguese bakeries here as well, and some good classic Portuguese markets (Chaves and Nobregga).
I've been to several of these places and I just don't hold them in the same esteem as you do, but there's nothing wrong with that. I will say the walk from the T station to the Tipsy Toboggan is a bit of a haul and not very scenic, while hoofing it to Columbia Rd really seems like a long distance for not much payoff. As an aside I had the pleasure of camping out overnight on the USS Massachusetts with my boys scout troop and while it was uncomfortable as all hell the staff did a really good job. I recommend trying it...once.
Chickenman
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Pleasurable is generous, considering how the whole room was a chorus of snores, back when I did it
HenryAlan
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I'm not familiar with Fall River at all, but from looking at things on google maps, I suspect very few people (including myself) would make the walk from the station to the Tipsy Tobogan or any of the other interesting sounding places near there (brewery, tiki bar). I would definitely bike it, though, so when I make my likely trip down there this summer, I'll bring a bike on the train with me. But a bike shouldn't be required to reach the interesting destinations from the train station.
It's definitely a lengthy walk, but nearly the entirety of it can be and frequently is done on the Bicentennial Trail/Boardwalk which runs on/over the water for the one mile between Bicentennial Park and the Battleship. Is it the Newport Cliff Walk? Absolutely not. But it's pleasant and there are some nice views of the bridge, Battleship, Borden Light, etc. Walking the length of it is popular in warmer months. Alternatively, there's a water taxi ($3pp) that runs between the Tipsy Seagull and Bicentennial Park with stops in between. A good option if you don't want to walk both ways. Weirdly, Google Maps doesn't seem to acknowledge that you can walk (or bike) the entirety of this along the waterfront. You can (and should).
I'm also not claiming that any of those places is going to be the best meal anyone's ever had. Just pointing out that "there's one restaurant" is more than a little misleading. And the atmosphere in that area in the summer is kind of... unique. Particularly down by the Tipsy Seagull, Morgan's, Pier 52, Canned Heat, etc. They jokingly call it "The Fall Riviera" and it's not far off. Jimmy Buffett meets an old industrial town in New England. Certainly worth experiencing at least once.
I would argue that getting Portuguese food on Columbia St. (along with a stop at a bakery and market) is probably the best thing someone from outside of the area can do with their time in the city. Yes, it's a lengthy walk, but you'd pass the Gates of the the City which is a replica of/monument to Sao Miguel's Portas Da Cidade in the Azores. Worth a visit. And the food at Sagres (or one of the others in the area) is very good and not easy to find in the Boston area.
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HBH
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Service Changes Planned for Fall River/New Bedford Line This Weekend | News | MBTA
Official website of the MBTA -- schedules, maps, and fare information for Greater Boston's public transportation system, including subway, commuter rail, bus routes, and boat lines.
www.mbta.com
It's easy to dismiss the USS Massachusetts for precisely that reason--"oh, it's just an attraction for Boy Scout troops"--but I contend it's an amazing (even if not possessing the most slick and sophisticated "production values") WW2 museum, with some haunting memorabilia. I'll always be struck by seeing, in its gallery of wartime media artifacts, a framed Life magazine cover from 1943 or so, at the height of the Nazi terror machine, featuring Himmler superimposed over a graphic of hundreds of skulls. The caption: "Europe's Policeman."
Also, if you have the chance to visit the USS Alabama in Mobile Bay, it's a similarly awesome spectacle. (When I was there in late March, conditions were already getting oppressive, so it's probably best done between Halloween and St. Patrick's Day)