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

[riptide]

FYI -SRTA has started this "Uber" type service in both cities. Spotted two of their mini-vans staged in the NB parking lot.

The MicroConnector service is discussed in a little more detail in this article, too. The gist of it appears to be: 1) SRTA started from a place of not wanting to alter their fixed-route bus networks in Fall River and New Bedford, and 2) they instead decided to offer standalone microtransit connections to the cities' stations.

In the case of Fall River, I agree that it doesn't make sense to relocate the bus hub out of Downtown, especially since the city's roadway network naturally feeds into Downtown, but a city of 94,000 people...with a population density near 3,000/sq. mile...with an 11-route local bus network of its own...probably generates enough transit demand that microtransit is not the ideal way to serve a commuter rail station. Since relocating the bus hub doesn't make sense, maybe running an express shuttle between the Downtown bus hub and FR Depot station would.

As for New Bedford, where all routes seem to terminate at the Downtown bus hub, I wonder if through-running a couple routes would be a practical way to expand one-seat ride access to the city's main rail station without upending the existing bus network design. Admittedly I don't know New Bedford's bus system well, but to illustrate the point, maybe Routes 202, 204, and 211 could be matched with 201, 203, and 205, creating a common north-south trunk between Union Street and Logan Street (ignoring the fact that the 211 technically travels on Acushnet, not Purchase).

I don't know what the target percentage should be for bus transit's share of the modal split for rail station access (maybe 15-20% is realistic out here?), but it probably shouldn't be so low in absolute number of riders that microtransit is the most efficient way to serve that cohort. In cities of this size, you shouldn't be expected to drive or squabble over rideshare seats just because you aren't within easy walking range.

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

In the case of Fall River, I agree that it doesn't make sense to relocate the bus hub out of Downtown, especially since the city's roadway network naturally feeds into Downtown, but a city of 94,000 people...with a population density near 3,000/sq. mile...with an 11-route local bus network of its own...probably generates enough transit demand that microtransit is not the ideal way to serve a commuter rail station. Since relocating the bus hub doesn't make sense, maybe running an express shuttle between the Downtown bus hub and FR Depot station would.

Fall River blew it with the bus integration with their lack of interest in moving or tweaking the terminal for Battleship Cove station when that was still in the works. Battleship Cove would've been directly on 2 routes, SRTA 107 & 114, and been within 4 blocks of the City Hall super-loop that nearly all other routes make en route to the SRTA Terminal on the corner of 4th and Borden. But at the time the city didn't want to invest in pedestrian improvements to that part of the street grid or any functional improvements to the super-loop so it could possibly extend westward. They basically sought no multimodal synergies whatsoever except for the Block Island Ferry, which was a bizarre own-goal that tanked the ridership projections for Battleship Cove which only tallied about one-quarter of FR Depot's much parking-heavier projections and got it excluded from ridership-poorer Phase I altogether. It would need some elbow grease to be a fit, but there are definitely some good bus synergies you could cook up for that site if only the city could be arsed to care.

The problem is simply that they don't seem to care. And have been misguided by 20 years of the SCR Task Force telling them it was okay not to care because "only people who drive to stations take Commuter Rail".

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

Phase 2 would entice far more who not only work downtown, but also places like Back Bay and LMA, in addition to enticing far more of those who are driving Downtown or to Cambridge, etc.

The 2013 Final Environmental Impact Report's schedules for Phase 2 had all trains skipping from Back Bay to Canton Jct. at transit loss for the Ruggles, Hyde Park, and Route 128 stops which would lose all their Stoughton trains. All because they stupidly neglected to model any NEC capacity improvements whatsoever. So LMA connectivity (Ruggles-to-bus) wasn't anybody's priority in the rush to puke up that crippled blueprint. I agree that that should be duly reconsidered, and with the T and Amtrak independently planning the NEC third track Readville-Canton a second stab at Phase 2 should be able to reinstate the shortsightedly chopped intermediate stops. But that's just one more reason why the brokenness and incompetence of that FEIR document was so damaging, and why it has to be repudiated in-full if we're ever going to mount this project the correct way to maximum benefit.

 

[TrolleybusFoaming]

As for New Bedford, where all routes seem to terminate at the Downtown bus hub, I wonder if through-running a couple routes would be a practical way to expand one-seat ride access to the city's main rail station without upending the existing bus network design. Admittedly I don't know New Bedford's bus system well, but to illustrate the point, maybe Routes 202, 204, and 211 could be matched with 201, 203, and 205, creating a common north-south trunk between Union Street and Logan Street (ignoring the fact that the 211 technically travels on Acushnet, not Purchase).

I know that the SRTA does already through-run, from what I saw at the terminal, as well as Google Maps, but I have no idea what all the pairs are and I am not sure if they are published anywhere.

 

[Lrfox]

I could not agree more. It’s just such a missed opportunity, as Phase 2 would actually cause a mode shift towards transit.

This will allow those who are currently parking and riding from stations further from their home to be able to drive less and take a train the whole way from South Coast to a day trip in the city or their jobs downtown.

Phase 2 would entice far more who not only work downtown, but also places like Back Bay and LMA, in addition to enticing far more of those who are driving Downtown or to Cambridge, etc.

Phase 1, at face value, is good. But the massively missed opportunity it’s important to point out. This should not be the finish line.

Agreed.

I'm curious to see how many people, especially in the Freetown area, North end of New Bedford, etc. opt to drive to East Taunton even if there's a stop closer. The shuttle adds about 10 minutes and a transfer to the trip, so it may just be more convenient to drive a relatively short distance and not have to worry about the shuttle. Unless I lived right next to Fall River Depot or Whales Tooth, I might be tempted.

 

[bigeman312]

Agreed.

I'm curious to see how many people, especially in the Freetown area, North end of New Bedford, etc. opt to drive to East Taunton even if there's a stop closer. The shuttle adds about 10 minutes and a transfer to the trip, so it may just be more convenient to drive a relatively short distance and not have to worry about the shuttle. Unless I lived right next to Fall River Depot or Whales Tooth, I might be tempted.

I’d be very interested to know how many on the South Coast still opt to drive to a Providence Line station to commute into Boston. That would be a very telling metric.

If I lived in Fall River and worked in Longwood, I’d be driving to Attleboro.

 

[TheRatmeister]

If I lived in Fall River and worked in Longwood, I’d be driving to Attleboro.

I can't imagine that would be faster, and it's definitely not cheaper or less stressful. You're already at 1:30 with no traffic, probably more like 1:50 with traffic, just to get to Ruggles. It's around 1:20-1:30 from Fall River to JFK station, then another 30 minutes to LMA on the shuttle. This sounds hellish but so does any other 2h commute and people still do it.

 

[Teban54]

If I lived in Fall River and worked in Longwood, I’d be driving to Attleboro.

to JFK station, then another 30 minutes to LMA on the shuttle.

I'd expect taking the Providence Line to Ruggles saves you a lot more time on the LMA shuttles, and the shuttles can get stuck in traffic east of Ruggles too.

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

I’d be very interested to know how many on the South Coast still opt to drive to a Providence Line station to commute into Boston. That would be a very telling metric.

If I lived in Fall River and worked in Longwood, I’d be driving to Attleboro.

It's going to depend on scheduling reliability. If Fall River/New Bedford keeps routinely seeing miserable OTP and lengthy cascading delays like has plagued it in the first week of service (the service alerts this morning show a another horrible rash of 15-45 minute cascaded delays), the schedule is going to be adjusted to further gap out the trains and drag the Old Colony even further from a rough clock-facing schedule to save face. Then you'll see people throwing up their hands and seeking more reliable alternatives or just saying "fuck it" and staying in their cars. The T probably doesn't have as much time as they think to troubleshoot these delay-prone schedules, as the media hoopla is still going for the start of service and is starting to laser in more on the service's so-far wild unreliability.

I'd expect taking the Providence Line to Ruggles saves you a lot more time on the LMA shuttles, and the shuttles can get stuck in traffic east of Ruggles too.

Don't forget, EMU service on Providence is projected by the T and Amtrak to lop off up to 18% off the scheduled travel time. If the T quickly follows on its Fairmount BEMU order with the supplemental order for Providence/Stoughton, those 47 minute travel times between Attleboro to Ruggles slim down to as little as 38 minutes. The alternatives are not necessarily going to stay static forever.

 

[riptide]

Fall River blew it with the bus integration with their lack of interest in moving or tweaking the terminal for Battleship Cove station when that was still in the works. Battleship Cove would've been directly on 2 routes, SRTA 107 & 114, and been within 4 blocks of the City Hall super-loop that nearly all other routes make en route to the SRTA Terminal on the corner of 4th and Borden. But at the time the city didn't want to invest in pedestrian improvements to that part of the street grid or any functional improvements to the super-loop so it could possibly extend westward. They basically sought no multimodal synergies whatsoever except for the Block Island Ferry, which was a bizarre own-goal that tanked the ridership projections for Battleship Cove which only tallied about one-quarter of FR Depot's much parking-heavier projections and got it excluded from ridership-poorer Phase I altogether. It would need some elbow grease to be a fit, but there are definitely some good bus synergies you could cook up for that site if only the city could be arsed to care.

The problem is simply that they don't seem to care. And have been misguided by 20 years of the SCR Task Force telling them it was okay not to care because "only people who drive to stations take Commuter Rail".

I ended up finding SRTA's South Coast Rail Service Plan, completed about 2 years ago, so after SCR Phase 1 had cut Battleship Cove out of the initial equation. They looked at 3 different service scenarios, among them microtransit and new fixed-route services. The public outreach summary in that report shows one of the main comments they heard from Fall River riders was "Support for direct shuttle service from the Fall River bus terminal to Fall River Depot station."

You might expect that's what they studied for the fixed-route service scenario. Instead, they proposed an alignment that would avoid the bus terminal at all costs:

Another outreach comment a little further down the same page: "Concerns that future rider volumes may overwhelm a microtransit system." Public input clearly played a key role in SRTA's decision-making.

Even if Battleship Cove were built and became the station where you focused your energy for multimodal access improvements, and you more or less wrote off FR Depot as being only for drive-up or walk-up access...I still suspect the ideal link between the rail station and the bus hub would be a dedicated shuttle pinging back and forth between the two. It's a 20-minute walk with a 100-foot change in elevation. Able-bodied riders could probably deal with the uphill walk, but it would not be ideal for anyone with a mobility impairment.

If they do ever get around to building Battleship Cove, I hope they at least leave enough room for a cross-platform transfer as future-proofing for the Fall River-Newport rail shuttle idea from way back. At the rate SCR Phase 2 is likely to go, it's not impossible RIDOT could catch up to them in terms of planning for future improvements south of Fall River.

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

If they do ever get around to building Battleship Cove, I hope they at least leave enough room for a cross-platform transfer as future-proofing for the Fall River-Newport rail shuttle idea from way back. At the rate SCR Phase 2 is likely to go, it's not impossible RIDOT could catch up to them in terms of planning for future improvements south of Fall River.

Battleship Cove was to be a single side platform with freight passing track. It's in a constrained area of ROW surrounded by wetlands so there's probably not enough room to make it an island for future cross-platform transfers. Not that they were really all that engaged with the planning for it to begin with given the total lack of attention to the buses. The SCR Task Force couldn't be bothered to return any of RIDOT's phone calls about even *possible* future project synergies leaving their neighbors to sort of wild-guess at the future considerations for their Aquidneck Island studies and the RI State Rail Plan, so Newport was definitely not so much as a figment of their imagination.

 

[CheapLeak]

If they do ever get around to building Battleship Cove, I hope they at least leave enough room for a cross-platform transfer as future-proofing for the Fall River-Newport rail shuttle idea from way back. At the rate SCR Phase 2 is likely to go, it's not impossible RIDOT could catch up to them in terms of planning for future improvements south of Fall River.

I never knew they considered a Newport shuttle

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

I never knew they considered a Newport shuttle

Studied in 2002 and 2011, and got a fairly lengthy write-up in the 2014 RI State Rail Plan.

Again...the SCR Task Force paid no attention that this was even in the universe of possibilities, so there was no interstate coordination whatsoever.

 

[riptide]

I never knew they considered a Newport shuttle

Yup, and in the 2002 study F-Line mentioned in the post above, they explicitly assumed the cross-platform transfer would occur at Battleship Cove station. But looking at that conceptual design, yeah, looks like the SCR Task Force "tuned out the haters" and did their own thing.

For the transfer to occur at Battleship Cove Station, you'd probably have to build the station on the other side of Ponta Delgada Blvd. There's room to straighten out that curve in the tracks. (In fact, there's lots of room for water-proximate TOD too, inside the angle of Arnold & Ferry Streets...)

A more complicated/expensive alternative would be to reconfigure Fall River Depot by widening part of the existing side platform enough so it could serve as a partial island platform, with the pocket track for Newport-Fall River shuttle trains running along the western side. You'd have to put in a switch north of Turner Street and widen the elevated embankment as necessary; the garage at 175 Baylies Street would probably have to be demolished, as its rear side would be in the way.

To get SCR Phase 2 done, at a bare minimum, SCR + Old Colony riders' displeasure with the quality of service has to be harnessed and channeled toward pushing for Phase 2 as the solution to all their problems. But I think there needs to be some sort of external push as well, and the main source I can think of would be RIDOT wanting to study rail from Newport again...not just to Fall River, but also to Boston for a seasonal service. The Stoughton alignment could gain renewed interest/relevance if it were to serve an out-of-state party in addition to the T's own constituents. Maybe that creates a new opportunity to challenge the Army Corps' findings in the FEIR and pave the way for a saner, double-tracked version of Phase 2.

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

To get SCR Phase 2 done, at a bare minimum, SCR + Old Colony riders' displeasure with the quality of service has to be harnessed and channeled toward pushing for Phase 2 as the solution to all their problems. But I think there needs to be some sort of external push as well, and the main source I can think of would be RIDOT wanting to study rail from Newport again...not just to Fall River, but also to Boston for a seasonal service. The Stoughton alignment could gain renewed interest/relevance if it were to serve an out-of-state party in addition to the T's own constituents. Maybe that creates a new opportunity to challenge the Army Corps' findings in the FEIR and pave the way for a saner, double-tracked version of Phase 2.

As I've said before, I don't think Newport has the demand to move the needle on Phase 2. It's a long way away from Boston in another state, with not a huge commuting population at stake. RIDOT's certainly not going to consider the shuttle--as much as it remains a long-term wishlist item--as long as their intrastate Commuter Rail plans on the NEC and to Blackstone Valley remain stuck in neutral. I can't see the Newport shuttle being even a glint in the imagination for the 2030's at the rate they're going with the Intrastate corridor. While the replacement bridge and restoration of the Tiverton trackage wouldn't be budget-busters by any means (the new bridge compares more favorably than the Gloucester Drawbridge replacement the T just did because it's only single-track/single-bascule instead of double-track/twin-bascule), they're a financially constrained state and it would be irresponsible to do so when unfinished Woonsocket-Providence-Westerly corridor reaches four fifths of the state's population within a 10 minute drive to the planned stations.

Regional Rail is much more the impetus for Phase II. You've got to find a way to get reliable clock-facing :30 service that's faster than Phase I to East Taunton and faster hourly service on the branches for there to be any serious mode shift from the cities. Phase II is the only feasible way to achieve that, because not even the Old Colony main double-track megaproject will completely solve for the train conflicts issue that figures to gap out service to non- clock-facing. And it certainly won't improve the travel times at all. EMU locals on a Stoughton route that's up-to-spec for the traffic levels can lop a no-foolin' 18-20 minutes off the Phase I end-to-end schedules based on the fairly conservative internal estimates for EMU's on the Providence Line. That's the hammer that can smash the crippled Phase II 2013 FEIR and bring a (nearly) full double tracking do-over to the fore if only we were looking at the big picture. The cities also have to deal with their bus connectivity oversights ASAP, especially in Fall River, because the lack of SRTA bus connections are leaving a ton more connecting ridership on the table than a Newport shuttle and are making infills like Battleship Cove a total ridership nonstarter left to their disconnected lonesome. And there needs to be a pivot back to the 2009 Corridor Plan's aims on aggressive mixed-use infill around the stations to recoup some of the ridership losses around stations like Freetown and East Taunton when those plans were completely abandoned in favor of total one-dimensional car dependency. The existence of the MBTA Communities Act alone isn't going to bring that about; they need to go full-bore at creating new transit-connected mixed-use neighborhoods around these stops. I don't know why they let the Corridor Plan completely lapse into history. It was ambitious but not unachievable. I guess "car brain" just ran too rampant on the Task Force, so in their arrogance they concluded "Why bother?"

It all requires a lot more big-picture brain-engage than the Task Force was ever able to accomplish in its existence, so first requires a change to more intrepid political leadership in the region. But in addition to restarting development on the superior-service corridor re-flavored with a firm Regional Rail-spec service push, they've got to start minding the little details like surface transit connections and TOD that were left completely un-engaged the first time. That of course involves returning RIDOT's phone calls about Newport considerations for a change instead of arrogantly going it alone to their exclusion, but again...Newport is only a tiny bit player in the mix. The full-court press has to prevail in order to make something transformative out of this service.

 

[AndrewOnTheMBTA]

Took my first trip from Boston down the Fall River/New Bedford extension yesterday for a fun daytrip to New Bedford - to explore a city I've never really patronized, despite being a MA resident for the 31 years of my life! I had been on the Middleboro/Lakeville line a few times or so, after growing up on the South Shore on the Kingston/(nee Plymouth) line, and the ride until Middleboro/Lakeville junction was all-too familiar. We rode on a 6-car double-decker set on the way down, 8:37 departure from South Station, and had to switch at East Taunton (5-car double-decker set) to finish up the trip to NB. It was a transfer at 9:50am and the NB was set to leave at 9:58 (I believe (going off memory here)). Arrived at about 10:10 or so, and walked under a mile to Downtown New Bedford, a few minutes away. Found a great spot, Tia Maria's European Cafe, for a Portuguese-influenced breakfast (sweet bread chocolate chip French toast) and shared a side of chorico-loaded homefries; topped off with delicious local coffee. It was 45 and drizzly all-day, so we visited the Whaling Museum, the National Park visitors' center museum, a couple of mansions, a nice coffee shop, a local seafood tavern, some quaint gift shops, and Fort Phoenix in Fairhaven. Going through the old city, that had more thriving times back during the whaling and textiles boom, there's obviously a beautifully optimistic groundwork for a potentially waterfront destination city, like a Salem that could soon boom. There's a dense downtown with mid-rises, patios with fresh local beer and seafood, VERY multicultural roots (Azorean, Portuguese, Cape Verdean), history EVERYWHERE, local pride, and a lovely view of the water. It felt like a smaller Providence, but it hadn't met its potential yet. NB is very safe during the day - don't let the stereotypes fool you. The station is connected to downtown via their newly constructed bridge between the station over Route 18.

Some things that stuck out to me for pros and cons:
Pros:
- The station art at New Bedford had local history to highlight city pride
- The location of New Bedford is as close to downtown as they could get it - with shuttles that will get you to the Vineyard/Nantucket ferries from the lot.
- New-ish trains
- The transition to the New Bedford shuttle was announced and explained clearly by the conductor upon arriving to E. Taunton
- The train moved fast through sections between Middleboro and E. Taunton (79 MPH), and E Taunton and Church St. (79 MPH ish).
- Trains were clean
- People were riding it to go into the city
- Shopkeepers and locals were aware and enthusiastic of the new train being in town, in the sense they were finally so appreciative they could go into Boston on a 1-seat ride and not have to worry about their car!
- Temporary free parking thru 4/30 at new stops
- Guides at East Taunton from Keolis to assist anyone with the xfer

Cons:
- Limited trash cans at the new stations
- No vending machines or cafe at the stations further down (it's a 10+ min walk to downtown from NB, and other stops are also remote, so it almost seems like some sort of concessions help, when there's a 1-1.5-hour train ride ahead?)
- Passengers who may have been unaware of how to buy tickets from NB were trying tap-to-pay with their Apple/Google pay and the old Keolis machines don't allow that (seems out of date).
- Pretty minimal decor at new stops
- Stations could use landscaping or more cover from the elements
- Limited signs around NB advertising the new service

Overall, I'm so grateful and excited for this extension, whether it's phase 1 or not! Most importantly, I enjoyed a ride from Boston to New Bedford for a very jam-packed day in a rich unexplored city! Go check it out! I'll be back to stop there for a nice summer day, and or be back to take the train to switch to the MV ferry.

 

[DBM]

Studied in 2002 and 2011, and got a fairly lengthy write-up in the 2014 RI State Rail Plan.

View attachment 61594

Again...the SCR Task Force paid no attention that this was even in the universe of possibilities, so there was no interstate coordination whatsoever.

Thanks for posting this map... duly inspired, I googled "Newport to Boston train" and found that an enterprising citizen shot this highly educational footage documenting the current state of that rail corridor. I don't believe this has been posted on this thread yet:

Note, at the 2:10 mark, the videographer states "based on the MBTA's Gloucester* bridge project, a new moveable structure over the Sakonnet River would likely cost around $50M."

Given how that MBTA link says the Gloucester bridge cost $100M, I have no idea why this person is projecting only $50M; meanwhile, the remaining cost to get the corridor ready for regular MBTA commuter rail service from Downtown Newport to that shiny new Tiverton bridge must be formidable if not fearsome.

Again, though, nice that someone took the time to go tramping around through the puckerbrush to illuminate just what conditions are there along the corridor.

*(note the videographer's pronunciation of "Gloucester." To quote Jaws--I think?--"you ain't from around these parts, are you, Chief?")

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

Note, at the 2:10 mark, the videographer states "based on the MBTA's Gloucester* bridge project, a new moveable structure over the Sakonnet River would likely cost around $50M."

Given how that MBTA link says the Gloucester bridge cost $100M, I have no idea why this person is projecting only $50M; meanwhile, the remaining cost to get the corridor ready for regular MBTA commuter rail service from Downtown Newport to that shiny new Tiverton bridge must be formidable if not fearsome.

Gloucester Draw has 2 bascules, one for each track. Sakonnet would only have one track and one bascule, so it's half the overall complexity. The bridges are similar overall length with approach spans. Gloucester also attempted, before the condition of the old bridge was deemed too severe to continue allowing train service, to stage most of the work around existing train service...so that would be a significant cost saver for Sakonnet's inactive rail line. The only complexity that Sakonnet has that Gloucester wouldn't is the need to relocate the power line towers (which were specially designed so trains going over the old bridge went directly through them with the truss structure being bowlegged around the tracks) off to the side...but that's really not much of a cost bloater. And the adjacent Riverside Dr. rail overpass immediately on the Tiverton side would have to be replaced, since the deck was removed in recent years to get rid of a low-clearance obstruction. $50-60M should pretty much do it for the package.


There wouldn't ever be full commuter rail going to Newport. NYNH&H didn't even do that after the 1920's, focusing instead on the weekender audience. The distance is simply too long from Boston for a local, and the thru ridership would be microscopic. It's a significantly smaller population than the Cape that's in another state. You'd only be looking at an in-season Newport Flyer weekender train running express, plus whatever commuter shuttles to Fall River that RIDOT wants to run. That only requires Class 2/30 MPH track south of Fall River/Battleship Cove, and no signal system (you can do up to 8 train occupancy movements or 4 RT's per day before a signal system with PTC is FRA-required). That significantly cuts down on the total cost of restoration. RIDOT's also long been planning to incrementally upgrade the active trackage on the island so it can run a general purpose Aquidneck Island RDC shuttle in-season, so the rickety Class 1 condition of the tourist train is not necessarily going to require serious degrees of upgrade by the time it comes time to reconnect to the mainland. This is definitely not a front-burner proposal, but they're looking at it in appropriately bite-size enough installments that it stands a reasonable chance of eventually coming to fruition.

 

[RandomWalk]

How amenable are the locals to a train?

 

[Rover]

Some thoughts:

1) I would love a seasonal train to Newport, a place I spend a lot of time in so I may be a little biased. However I don't blame the MBTA for moving forward without extensive talks with RIDOT. Rhode island politicians can't find their asses with both hands. They can't even replace a bridge carrying an interstate through Providence but are blowing 100M+ on a minor league soccer stadium.

2) Would also like to see phase 2 but don't underestimate determination of Hockomock swamp NIMBY'S who are going to sue like crazy even if the Army Corps of Engineers changed their mind. Maybe offer to put Trump's name on the tracks and he'll sign an executive order waiving all lawsuits?

3) NB does have a more advantageous location but it's funny how that's based is decisions that were made 175 years ago as to where to run the tracks. Fall River's station is in the middle of a construction zone after Rt 79 got torn down. They have big plans but it's going to take awhile.