Transit Matters put out a report last year, Modernizing the Lowell Line, which included looking at that extension. They put the extension to Manchester, but they didn't really consider Concord, which is a little frustrating. I mean, Concord is a lot smaller, and so that might be a perfectly reasonable cut off point, but I do wish TM would show their work on some these things a bit more.
www.dot.nh.gov
My understanding is that since the leading Dem candidate, Joyce Craig, is the current mayor of Manchester (And originally from there), she's naturally quite keen on bringing CR to Manchester, and I'd expect more top-down pressure if she wins.Transit Matters put out a report last year, Modernizing the Lowell Line, which included looking at that extension. They put the extension to Manchester, but they didn't really consider Concord, which is a little frustrating. I mean, Concord is a lot smaller, and so that might be a perfectly reasonable cut off point, but I do wish TM would show their work on some these things a bit more.
Despite my nitpicking (and some other criticisms starting here), the report is well worth a read
NHDOT has done a few more thorough studies. I think Manchester would be the end point of the any initial expansion, but they priced out an extension to Concord, too, at least in the 2014 study if you want to see the details
Capitol Corridor
The proposed service will use approximately 10 miles of MBTA railway from Lowell, MA to Nashua, NH, and 20 miles of MBTA trackage rights on Pan Am Railways (Pan Am) Northern Branch northward into Manchester. The project is currently in the development phase. Key steps to be completed in this...
I don't follow NH politics much. Is this really becoming a campaign issue? That's great! Or... could turn out bad. Either way, exciting
The Concord study split the services, with 30 trains originating/terminating at Nashua and only 8 continuing on to Manchester + Concord. With the Concord runs running express in MA stopping only at Anderson-Woburn and Lowell then turning local in NH in order to speed up their run times (about 1:45). Left Manchester a bit short on service with the limited schedules, so the Manchester full-serve terminating option probably works better. There's probably still a market for the Concord super-expresses, though. But that would lean a bit heavier on NHDOT subsidy since so many stops in MA would be skipped. That's definitely something they need to sort out for themselves.Transit Matters put out a report last year, Modernizing the Lowell Line, which included looking at that extension. They put the extension to Manchester, but they didn't really consider Concord, which is a little frustrating. I mean, Concord is a lot smaller, and so that might be a perfectly reasonable cut off point, but I do wish TM would show their work on some these things a bit more.
Despite my nitpicking (and some other criticisms starting here), the report is well worth a read
NHDOT has done a few more thorough studies. I think Manchester would be the end point of the any initial expansion, but they priced out an extension to Concord, too, at least in the 2014 study if you want to see the details
Capitol Corridor
The proposed service will use approximately 10 miles of MBTA railway from Lowell, MA to Nashua, NH, and 20 miles of MBTA trackage rights on Pan Am Railways (Pan Am) Northern Branch northward into Manchester. The project is currently in the development phase. Key steps to be completed in this...
I don't follow NH politics much. Is this really becoming a campaign issue? That's great! Or... could turn out bad. Either way, exciting
The problem is that the Lowell Line lacks a layover yard. They have nowhere to stuff consists for headway corrections or crew changes except for long layovers on the Lowell platform, and start-of-day/end-of-day + shift changes require a deadheading move back to Boston Engine Terminal in Somerville. Lowell has the highest quantity of deadheading 'waste miles' by far of any line on the Commuter Rail, and it's only somewhat manageable because the line is only 25 miles long (shorter than all except Fairmount, Needham, and Stoughton). So they can't reliably extend the line without fitting in a layover yard. And all of the feasible sites for a layover are in New Hampshire, not Massachusetts, because of the way the NH Mainline stays bolted to the banks of the Merrimack (and wetlands therein) literally the whole way to the state line after leaving Downtown Lowell. If layovers and lack of MA land for them weren't the constraint, the line probably would've already been extended to State Line/Pheasant Lane Mall long ago.
There is 8.5 miles of single track between Stony Brook and Nashua. A Nashua only run could be relatively cheap, as track upgrades and some bridge rebuild would be needed, but that 30 min service would not unduly tax the capacity. Signal upgrades will probably cost more. Three simple single platforms should even be within NHs budget. Manchester is a heavier lift
www.concordmonitor.com
A new pedestrian bridge would be a welcome change.
During one of the public feedback sessions people commented that the highway creates a barrier between downtown Concord and the Merrimack River. There was discussion of how to use the opportunity of this highway project to create greater public access to the river.This isn't directly related to the potential NH Commuter Rail extension, but I'm posting it here to compare the two projects. NH has no problem spending nearly $400M on a 5-mile highway widening project, but a Commuter Rail extension is apparently "too expensive".I-93 expansion in Concord and Bow now has $370 million pricetag
The projected price tag for the long-discussed expansion of I-93 and I-89 in Concord and Bow has risen to $370 million, almost 50% more than projections made before the pandemic, with the purchase of rights-of-way now slated for 2026 and first major...
A new pedestrian bridge would be a welcome change.
I know New Hampshirites who think taxes for things like roads and schools are stupid, they already have enough. Anything that increases taxes for a good for the public would be a fight.
New Hampshire Brain simplified:
Massachusetts probably wouldn't skimp on the funds. They want this badly for the in-district constituency up to the border and for traffic relief. So chances are they'd fund everything needed--stations at UMass and North Chelmsford + double-track to the border--for Manchester service up-front to be done with it forever. Everything except the UMass stop has been studied to death, so would save them the cost of having to re-study to just xerox the Manchester track layout to the border. It's really only the 4.5 miles from the state line to Crown St. that would have to be value-engineered at the station level and with single-tracking. But I assume that federal grants would pay for most of the capital cost for that since there was so much federal funding available for the canceled plans, and the Nashua layover inside the CSX yard can be paid for by a combo of fed funds and slushing funds across the border to CSX in the guise of "freight improvements" (since they'd probably be the ones tasked by the MBTA with building the actual facility). City of Nashua might have to pick up some of the tab for the Pheasant Lane and Downtown stations, but it's mostly just hashing out a subsidy agreement with them to make it happen.
