Re: Fall River/New Bedford Commuter Rail
^Well, F-Line, since the state govt is corrupt and worthless, this project is pretty likely to go through eventually. Nevermind that there's twenty other projects that in person-dollar-hours-saved projections would have a much much much bigger impact. Ugh.
Don't get me wrong, as freight projects what they're doing now is fine. It was all wrapped up in that megabucks public-private CSX deal. CSX wanted to focus on its intermodal freight profit center; it wasn't interested in running so many lower margin door-to-door locals all over Eastern MA. So CSX got its relocation to state-of-the-art Worcester and clearances to double-stack shipping cubes in the deal. The state got its real estate windfall. And then CSX cut deals with 2 private shortlines--Mass Coastal down here and Grafton & Upton RR in Norfolk County--to take over some of the smaller branchlines that didn't fit the corporate strategy. They did it because the shortlines would put more elbow grease into developing door-to-door business, increase carloads at their interchanges with CSX, and CSX would make higher profit margins than if they kept it to themselves. The state helped play matchmaker to sweeten its haul, and took on some I.O.U.'s to make SGR upgrades on these branches so the shortlines could make good on their promise to develop more business. Massport was bouncing around in there too with its long-range proposals to upgrade the minor ports at FR and NB, which supported these parties' goals to develop more business. Last year the state followed-up and bought the Framingham Secondary from CSX, the route they take from Worcester and Framingham to interchange with Mass Coastal in Middleboro every night. Piles of new rail and ties got dropped all along it over winter so they could start upgrading it this spring.
All of this is an inseparable part of that big wad of public-private deals and the ensuing I.O.U.'s the state took on so it could get its haul. Everybody will make money, and not a single commuter train has to run on any of these tracks--South Coast or Foxboro--for the investment to eventually pay itself off. Though clearly buying up a lot of prospective commuter rail territory was
a motivation.
They would actually look somewhat smart to a skeptical electorate who doesn't think they're very smart if they'd just
^tell it like it is^. "Yeah, we spent money to make money. Look at how much money Worcester's making! Look at all this cool stuff like Beacon Park we got that's going to make us money. We're stimulating the local industrial and shipping economy right now on the South Coast. Stimulate the economy, and someday you're eventually going to need better transit; we got that covered too by owning all these lines. Goddamn, we are such magnificent bastards when it comes to stimulating the economy for you taxpayers! Re-elect me!"
You'd think they would have *slight* motivation to play that up as a general-purpose confidence builder. To build a case that their commitment to developing the region is a little broader than promising everyone a magic pony? To build any sort of case that they can be trusted with large sums of money without suspicion? To make some sort of confidence-building suggestion that they're doing something productive while this dumpster fire of a transit project goes for retooling?
Nope. "FREE PONIES FOR EVERYONE TODAY!
[applause]" Even when they're half-right, they can't help but double-down on being twice as wrong.
