MBTA Commuter Rail (Operations, Keolis, & Short Term)

Delvin4519 said:
"West Station" is absolutely a terrible name, and it should really be called "Beacon Yards". Literally not a single bus route can get to "West Station" easily because it's not "on the way to anything". "Beacon Yards" as a name accurately reflects the fact that the station is not on the bus grid that can be connected to anything.
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Is not just a tentative/working name? Are they actually planning on naming it that? I’ve assumed the final name will be whatever the new development gets coined, if it gets one. If not, “Beacon Yards” or “Beacon Park” should be the name. To me, it’s fine to call something a name like “West Station” when it’s more of an idea/early-in-development plan, but dumb as a final name. North and South Stations aren’t a valid defense given their name origins.
 
CheapLeak said:
Is not just a tentative/working name? Are they actually planning on naming it that? I’ve assumed the final name will be whatever the new development gets coined, if it gets one. If not, “Beacon Yards” or “Beacon Park” should be the name. To me, it’s fine to call something a name like “West Station” when it’s more of an idea/early-in-development plan, but dumb as a final name. North and South Stations aren’t a valid defense given their name origins.
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It's a working name, but a stupid one. They're explicitly leaning into the "West = North Station = South Station" comparison, when really the thing is going to be relatively transit-starved for transfers and is almost wholly reliant on the (thus far blank-slate) surrounding development a la Boston Landing. I'd change the name right now simply on grounds that the state's design for the station is so rock-stupid (4 platform tracks, 10 jitney bus berths, the useless layover yard, self-isolating decking layout, etc. etc.) it needs a complete reboot and attitude adjustment. The only one the "West" false advertising seems to have duped and sucked in is MassDOT itself as it flails to design the thing.
 
HBH said:
Over 7 years ago I worked on conceptual designs of the triple track project on the Worcester line, final design was then awarded in 2021 and as far as I know no one has heard a thing publicly since about that project. Their own slides say it was supposed to be in construction by last year, and as far as I know they haven't even started environmental permitting. Worcester leaders need to get on the T to deliver their capital projects to enable these services.

archive.org

Worcester Line Track and Stations Accessibility Improvements (P0261) Design and Engineering Services : Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Worcester Line Track and Stations Accessibility Improvements (P0261) Design and Engineering Services
archive.org
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To my knowledge the project has been effectively cancelled. Not to say it can’t come back in the future but there are no plans to advance it further at this time. Which is a huge bummer considering all the increased service that they want to run soon.
 
North Point - Cambridge Crossing :: West Point - Allston Crossing/Boston Crossing/Beacon Crossing

Maybe?
 
F-Line to Dudley said:
They're explicitly leaning into the "West = North Station = South Station" comparison,
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Back Bay station today already pretty much functions as the de-facto “West Station” in all but name.

Beacon Yards station is never going to displace Back Bay station or overtake it on the likes of North Station or South Station, being awfully located on the outskirts of Packards Corner. Back Bay station, on the other hand, is already located properly right in the western edge of the CBD and is much more deserving of the name “West Station”.
 
TheRatmeister said:
I would go 4th or 5th behind South Station obviously, Back Bay, Worcester, and maybe Framingham.

But I still think it should have passing tracks, it needs to be a huge pull to justify stopping Intercity services there. Like you said that's not impossible and it would be prudent to keep provisions for those services to stop in the future, but likely for 15 years after it opens you'd likely just be slowing Worcester commuters down.
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As mentioned, Boston Landing already jumped to near Lansdowne's daily ridership and based on the reddit graph it is one of the most bidirectional stations in the system. That's with only part of the Allston Yards development completed and only a few offices on Guest. What would be adjacent to West Station is both little old Boston University and Harvard Business School only a half mile walk away. These are major destinations not only for the large numbers of employees that work at the universities but also non-car-having students. A West Station would not only be the first good transit connection between the western suburbs and the area, but also a much faster way to get between the campus and Downtown. There's also the huge crowds at Agganis events and the Boston Fleet PWHL team moving there starting next season. The existing demand to get to the area of the proposed West Station site is already huge, and a regional connection that would also serve as an express of existing modes (Green Line, 57, etc.) only adds to that.
 
The MBTA released a new depiction of the Newtonville station renovation project:
Newtonville rendering.jpeg

Newton Commuter Rail Stations Accessibility Improvements | Projects | 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.
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The Pawtucket/Central Falls glass doesn't look too shabby. Ditto the Route 128 glass.
 
Outsourcing cleaning to the lowest responsive bidder probably doesn’t help. Cleaning the glass requires specialized equipment. The Pioneer crowd probably looked at the estimates for that and noped out of it.

Unrelated: has there been any update on the Rotem option orders? They were due to start arriving this year.
 
RandomWalk said:
Outsourcing cleaning to the lowest responsive bidder probably doesn’t help. Cleaning the glass requires specialized equipment. The Pioneer crowd probably looked at the estimates for that and noped out of it.
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The T didn't do any cleaning eons before the Pioneer crowd came into power. It's old habit, not new(ish) austerity.
RandomWalk said:
Unrelated: has there been any update on the Rotem option orders? They were due to start arriving this year.
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Still on-target for the first cars to arrive before the end of the year. Usually there's a press release when the first completed cars are shipped by boat from South Korea, so we'll have to be on the lookout for that.
 
RandomWalk said:
Outsourcing cleaning to the lowest responsive bidder probably doesn’t help. Cleaning the glass requires specialized equipment.
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The "best value" bidder rating system should be used for this instead of just simple low bidder. Best value takes into consideration specific technical expertise for the job.
 
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