Fairmount Line Upgrade

Re: Fairmont Line Upgrade

Furthermore, if increased service led to higher demand, you could see a lot of infill around the stops which might lower overall prices
 
Re: Fairmont Line Upgrade

I wonder if a study has been done for a Boston Landing to Fairmont station route via back bay station. Could this route have better ridership than a south station terminus? Back bay is a large destination in its own right but also provides an orange line connection which may be more desirable than a red line connection at south station. I am curious if this would have better or worse maximum headways compared to south station.
 
Re: Fairmont Line Upgrade

Much, much worse. We've talked about this before with the Track 61 debacle. Going from the Fairmount Line to the Worcester Line involves crossing over all the Northeast Corridor tracks; at rush hour, there's simply no way you can keep any sort of useful headway.
 
Re: Fairmont Line Upgrade

Congressman Capuano wants to do a free fare promotion to boost awareness and get people hooked: http://www.dotnews.com/2017/capuano-asks-open-gate-promotion-highlight-fairmount-line-positives

After the promo ends I'd like to see the conductors on this line equipped with handheld Charlie Card readers until AFC 2.0 is ready. Accept the standard Link pass, maybe even the monthly bus pass, and remove as much fare media friction from bus and red line transfers as possible.
 
Re: Fairmont Line Upgrade

Scipio said:
Congressman Capuano wants to do a free fare promotion to boost awareness and get people hooked: http://www.dotnews.com/2017/capuano-asks-open-gate-promotion-highlight-fairmount-line-positives

After the promo ends I'd like to see the conductors on this line equipped with handheld Charlie Card readers until AFC 2.0 is ready. Accept the standard Link pass, maybe even the monthly bus pass, and remove as much fare media friction from bus and red line transfers as possible.
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Great idea. Near term added expense will pay long term dividends. You can't collect fares from people who aren't riding, right?
 
Re: Fairmont Line Upgrade

Get a load of the description Go Boston 2030 has for this project...

https://www.boston.gov/sites/default/files/go_boston_2030_-_full_report_to_download.pdf

Expanding beyond current service improvements to the Fairmount Line, a new set of urban rail cars would be introduced, operating at higher speeds and 5 to 10 minute frequencies to create Boston’s sixth rapid transit line. Working in close partnership with a wide array of neighborhood interests, the line is envisioned to be extended both south to Dedham Corporate Park/Legacy Place along existing tracks and north past South Station into the Seaport and South Boston via the existing Silver Line tunnel and/or Track 61/Seaport Rail (p183) with a new tunnel below the congested South Station tracks to directly link with the Silver Line. Further station area improvements would bring a true urban subway environment and service quality to Dorchester, Mattapan, Hyde Park, and beyond. New transit centers at Readville or Widett Circle would allow riders to connect to the Providence Line commuter rail and inter-city Amtrak service. To make this project successful, a separate operating and financing entity other than the MBTA—such as a municipal transit district (p193)—may be necessary, given the MBTA’s already overburdened financial constraints.
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Three extreme ideas here: suggesting that the Indigo Line naturally ends at Legacy Place (Dedham Corporate Center, but whatever), proposing that EMUs run in the Silver Line Waterfront transitway using a tunnel underneath the South Station tracks (not sure if they mean a tunnel under the tracks at Widett to access Track 61 or a tunnel under South Station itself to access the transitway, but both are... um... unlikely), and suggesting that Boston could create its own transit agency with surrounding towns to run the service if the MBTA can't afford it.

Maybe reforming the MBTA's funding and governance or founding a new parallel agency should be a larger discussion, instead of being dropped in there in a project description...

EDIT: BTW, cost estimate for the extended Indigo Line tunnel under South Station to meet (and eat) the Silver Line? $60 million. Really.
 
Re: Fairmont Line Upgrade

Equilibria said:
Get a load of the description Go Boston 2030 has for this project...

https://www.boston.gov/sites/default/files/go_boston_2030_-_full_report_to_download.pdf



Three extreme ideas here: suggesting that the Indigo Line naturally ends at Legacy Place (Dedham Corporate Center, but whatever), proposing that EMUs run in the Silver Line Waterfront transitway using a tunnel underneath the South Station tracks (not sure if they mean a tunnel under the tracks at Widett to access Track 61 or a tunnel under South Station itself to access the transitway, but both are... um... unlikely), and suggesting that Boston could create its own transit agency with surrounding towns to run the service if the MBTA can't afford it.

Maybe reforming the MBTA's funding and governance or founding a new parallel agency should be a larger discussion, instead of being dropped in there in a project description...

EDIT: BTW, cost estimate for the extended Indigo Line tunnel under South Station to meet (and eat) the Silver Line? $60 million. Really.
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Is the Seaport transitway really large enough for EMU's?
 
Re: Fairmont Line Upgrade

I think F-Line has said in the past that all transit tunnels are built with dimensions to be large enough for a red line car so if that is the case here for everything aside from the loop where the buses turn then yes an EMU could fit, but the stops are short enough that I don't think you could run anything longer than 2-3 cars and it wouldn't be accessible unless there are low floor EMUs that could be used.
 
Re: Fairmont Line Upgrade

http://www.dotnews.com/2017/two-weeks-free-rides-coming-fairmount-line-may

Rep Cupuano plans to spend $53,000 in campaign funds to make the Fairmont Line free for 2 weeks (May 8 - May 21). While I do like the idea of a free window to get people in the habit of using an underutilized service (and hopefully getting more people behind getting higher frequencies on the route), I have some concerns over whether this is a legal use of campaign funds and whether that could prevent this plan from happening.
 
Re: Fairmont Line Upgrade

The FEC responded to a Globe request and confirmed that it is a legal - if highly unusual - use of campaign funds.

The full Boston Foundation report, for those interested, is here.
 
Re: Fairmont Line Upgrade

So what data collection will they be doing during this?
 
Re: Fairmont Line Upgrade

Been a while since we had an update. Blue Hill Avenue station is well on its way - most of the platform is in place, as are the supports for the ramps.

 
Re: Fairmont Line Upgrade

Can a mod change this thread's title to "FairmoUnt" please?

Also, it's Fairmount, guys.
 
Re: Fairmont Line Upgrade

The EGE said:
Been a while since we had an update. Blue Hill Avenue station is well on its way - most of the platform is in place, as are the supports for the ramps.

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Yeah, I drive by there at least once a week cutting over to Rozzie, and its amazing how fast things seem to be coming together for it. Lots of night construction, too. The City still owns the Cote Ford Transportation parcel there, right? Seems like such a great parcel for TOD right there that they could leverage with a shrewd land lease.
 
akmags said:
Is this legit? A neighbor posted it on the Nextdoor app.


https://malegislature.gov/Bills/190/H2723.Html
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I'm not an expert, but this is called a "petition". It's not a law. I'm not sure what happens with it now, but surely it could be considered as or inserted into legislation...

The real issue is that they call for rapid transit level service but suggest doing a pilot of it with loco/carriage consists. You won't get the headways that way. They probably know that and are using the colloquialism, but it builds unrealistic expectations.

This is important to do, though, because these folks need to beat out Bob Kraft and his promises of bags of gold for an extension to Foxborough. Scheduling is such that you can't do both.
 
Equilibria said:
I'm not an expert, but this is called a "petition". It's not a law. I'm not sure what happens with it now, but surely it could be considered as or inserted into legislation...
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I suspect most likely it won't go anywhere. There's an awful lot that the legislature considers that doesn't really go anywhere.

A bill with a sizable number of cosponsors might get somewhere, but even that is no guarantee. But if you don't see elected legislators sponsoring / cosponsoring it, it probably isn't going anywhere.

The real issue is that they call for rapid transit level service but suggest doing a pilot of it with loco/carriage consists. You won't get the headways that way. They probably know that and are using the colloquialism, but it builds unrealistic expectations.
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Why wouldn't it be possible to run diesel hauled commuter rail trains on 15 minute headways?

This is important to do, though, because these folks need to beat out Bob Kraft and his promises of bags of gold for an extension to Foxborough. Scheduling is such that you can't do both.
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What prevents running 15 minute headways along the South Station to Readville segment with some trains extended to Foxboro and others terminating at the Readville yard?
 
Also that petition is from January 2017, so it's been a year.
 
A 'petition' is a bill. It had a hearing in September but didn't get reported out of the committee, so it will probably be reported out to the House in February at the deadline for reporting bills out of their committees.

It's probably not going anywhere the legislature doesn't really do anything.
 
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