Fall River/New Bedford Commuter Rail (South Coast Rail)

[Teban54]

South Coast Rail will have weekend service, since trains already service Middleborough to begin with on weekends (I guess weekend service is just simply extending the Middleborogh line further south?).

MBTA: South Coast Rail will run on weekends. Here's why it's important and what it'll cost

South Coast Rail’s schedule is a little bit clearer, with a confirmation of weekend service. Here's why that's important and what it will cost riders.

www.heraldnews.com

Article quote:

FWIW, the current Middleborough/Lakeville Line runs every 1.5 hours on weekends. If we simply take these trips and extend to Fall River and New Bedford alternatingly, that gives 3-hour weekend headways.

Weekday headways range between 1 hour (rush hour peak direction) to 1.5 hours (midday), so it's not that much better.

 

[Delvin4519]

FWIW, the current Middleborough/Lakeville Line runs every 1.5 hours on weekends. If we simply take these trips and extend to Fall River and New Bedford alternatingly, that gives 3-hour weekend headways.

Weekday headways range between 1 hour (rush hour peak direction) to 1.5 hours (midday), so it's not that much better.

Quoting from the article only mentions a morning, afternoon, and evening train as a rudimentary level of weekend service for Fall River and New Bedford. 3 trains for the whole service day on weekends.

“I don’t think anyone’s looking for continuous service during the weekend,” he said. “But having a morning train, an afternoon train and an evening train, I don’t think is too much to have.”

Using the existing Middleborough line's schedule gives 5 trains for the whole day for each of the two branches, which is better than then the quoted level of 3 trains for the day (AM, afternoon, evening), but still less than the worst weekend schedules on the CR today, which provides a minimum of 8 trips for the whole day.

To match today's minimum levels of weekend service on the worst CR lines, means having to run 14 - 16 trips in the trunk through Brockton in order to give 8 weekend trips to Fall River and New Bedford., It would be a 1.5x or 1.6x service increase in the trunk (depending on if the first and last train of the day is a mandatory transfer for 1 branch to give the same span of service for both branches).

On weekdays, the worst service levels on the CR seems to be 12 trips on the Franklin Line and 10 on the Foxboro line, only slightly better than 8 trips on the weekends (Foxboro and Stoughton have no weekend service). Giving 10 weekday trips to NB and FR each to match Foxboro still means adding 4 - 6 additional trips on weekdays to the Middleborough Line.

 

[HelloBostonHi]

Quoting from the article only mentions a morning, afternoon, and evening train as a rudimentary level of weekend service for Fall River and New Bedford. 3 trains for the whole service day on weekends.

That quote is from the "executive vice president of Bristol County Economic Development Consultants", aka politely a nobody when it comes to MBTA scheduling.

The MBTA service delivery policy stipulates a maximum of three hour headways on the weekends on commuter rail, I see no reason to believe this project won't easily meet that.

 

[Delvin4519]

That quote is from the "executive vice president of Bristol County Economic Development Consultants", aka politely a nobody when it comes to MBTA scheduling.

The MBTA service delivery policy stipulates a maximum of three hour headways on the weekends on commuter rail, I see no reason to believe this project won't easily meet that.

The SDP only requires 3 hour headways between 8:00 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. on Saturdays, with the first train from each branch arriving at South Station before 8:00 a.m. on Saturday and departing South Station at 6:30 p.m. Saturday or later.

There is no requirement for service OR service frequency for Saturday early AM, Saturday late evening, or Sunday service; on the Commuter Rail.

4 hour headways between 6:30 p.m. and 11 p.m. Saturday evening, or 5 hour Sunday headways, still meets the service frequency standard, since it is "extra, bonus" service after the minimum 6:30 p.m. on Saturdays SDP standard.

By this definition, the T only needs to provide 5 Saturday trips for both Fall River and New Bedford individually, to meet the standard. There is no requirement to provide a 6th Saturday trip, or Sunday service.

 

[thepixelnation]

Quoting from the article only mentions a morning, afternoon, and evening train as a rudimentary level of weekend service for Fall River and New Bedford. 3 trains for the whole service day on weekends.

this might kneecap the efforts for some to use South Coast rail as a connector to the ferries out of New Bedford. I know the NB ferry companies were lobbying for the line to terminate right near the ferry terminals near JFK Memorial and I'm happy they have some space so transit riders need to spend some time/$$$ in New Bedford, but those train-to-ferry riders will definitely be a boost of cash for New Bedford

 

[Stlin]

Given the fiscal cliff looming when service finally starts, and one of the stated likely cuts being weekend CR service... I don't blame the T for not saying anything yet - it wouldn't be wise to until they get a better look at their fiscal state next year.

 

[GP40MC]

this might kneecap the efforts for some to use South Coast rail as a connector to the ferries out of New Bedford. I know the NB ferry companies were lobbying for the line to terminate right near the ferry terminals near JFK Memorial and I'm happy they have some space so transit riders need to spend some time/$$$ in New Bedford, but those train-to-ferry riders will definitely be a boost of cash for New Bedford

Just an FYI, but the ferry parking lot in New Bedford last night was about 98% full (and that included spilling into the commuter rail station area). Not sure what is going to happen when T service starts up. Guess they are thinking everyone is going to walk to the station? Don't think so. Ferry parking is like that most of the summer.

 

[#bancars]

Given the fiscal cliff looming when service finally starts, and one of the stated likely cuts being weekend CR service... I don't blame the T for not saying anything yet - it wouldn't be wise to until they get a better look at their fiscal state next year.

anywhere I can read about this as a potential likely cut? that would be a huge bummer. the $10 CR weekend pass is one of the best things about the T.

 

[thepixelnation]

Just an FYI, but the ferry parking lot in New Bedford last night was about 98% full (and that included spilling into the commuter rail station area). Not sure what is going to happen when T service starts up. Guess they are thinking everyone is going to walk to the station? Don't think so. Ferry parking is like that most of the summer.

I was more thinking the Boston to New Bedford route rather than the other way around. I'm sure the city is much more focused on tourism/transit dollars entering the city, rather than providing park and ride parking for New Bedford residents trying to leave.