MBTA Commuter Rail (Operations, Keolis, & Short Term)

F-Line to Dudley said:
Definitely. But it'll be pricey to do the relocation to a uni-island the other side of Elm. And require lots of community input from a town that's got somewhat of a notorious reputation for being difficult for the state to work with. It would be nice to see some movement afoot to get something done here, even though realistically we can expect it to take awhile to thrash through and get it done.
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I hope the initial design work for the project starts in the near future to accommodate for the long timeframe and likely delays from the community.

Is there any chance of Franklin/Dean getting accessibility upgrades before Walpole, even though it’s not as much of a priority?
 
themissinglink said:
I hope the initial design work for the project starts in the near future to accommodate for the long timeframe and likely delays from the community.

Is there any chance of Franklin/Dean getting accessibility upgrades before Walpole, even though it’s not as much of a priority?
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Franklin/Dean is the second highest-ridership non-accessible stop after Walpole, so that one too is an urgent priority. And that one really isn't complicated...no freight clearance route south of Walpole Jct., so it can be a full-high with no extracurricular. The only thing they'd have to factor is potentially re-spacing the tracks to at least provision for a 2-track future (not hard...the current platform is double-width). With Walpole there are at least valid excuses for deferring given the complexity of the project. Franklin has no such excuses.

With the Worcester Line's non-accessible backlog finally being tamed by in-the-pipeline projects, the Franklin Line is the new dregs-of-the-system accessibility-wise. Only Windsor Gardens has any sort of plan. Walpole, Franklin, Islington (yup...third highest-ridership non-accessible left on the system), and Endicott all have zero plans to-date.
 
Four Commuter Rail coaches have arrived in Baltimore from South Korea, pics are from the MBTA’s recent post on Instagram

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jklo said:
Am I reading this wrong? A month and a half is not bad sailing from SK to Baltimore.
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I know nothing about RORO transit times, but if it tracks with the container transits I'm more familiar with I agree that that feels about right given the backlog at ports. Pre-covid transit times of 12-16 days was common from Asia to Long Beach / LA, 27-30 to NYNJ. These days it's closer to 30+ for long beach - sometimes 45 - NY seems to have managed to keep it about 35.
 
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I was looking at the official CR map today, and... I have questions.

First, while it reflects the opening of the Union GLX branch, 4 of the 5 stations closed in April '21 as part of forging ahead and which have not appeared on schedules since are still shown: Plimptonville, Hastings, Silver Hill, Pride Crossing. Of these, I would expect none to actually be reactivation candidates anytime soon? is there any reason they should be?

On the other hand, the one which has been deleted from the map is Plymouth, which is a shame as I would hope that service would be restored at some point. Also, it's list of "stations without parking" includes Pawtucket/Central Falls, despite that station not yet being open.
 
Stlin said:
I was looking at the official CR map today, and... I have questions.

First, while it reflects the opening of the Union GLX branch, 4 of the 5 stations closed in April '21 as part of forging ahead and which have not appeared on schedules since are still shown: Plimptonville, Hastings, Silver Hill, Pride Crossing. Of these, I would expect none to actually be reactivation candidates anytime soon? is there any reason they should be?

On the other hand, the one which has been deleted from the map is Plymouth, which is a shame as I would hope that service would be restored at some point. Also, it's list of "stations without parking" includes Pawtucket/Central Falls, despite that station not yet being open.
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It's probally just as simple as Plymouth being a terminal stop caused someone to notice they needed to change it in the map. Whereas the other stops not so much.
 
Stlin said:
I was looking at the official CR map today, and... I have questions.

First, while it reflects the opening of the Union GLX branch, 4 of the 5 stations closed in April '21 as part of forging ahead and which have not appeared on schedules since are still shown: Plimptonville, Hastings, Silver Hill, Pride Crossing. Of these, I would expect none to actually be reactivation candidates anytime soon? is there any reason they should be?

On the other hand, the one which has been deleted from the map is Plymouth, which is a shame as I would hope that service would be restored at some point. Also, it's list of "stations without parking" includes Pawtucket/Central Falls, despite that station not yet being open.
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Plymouth is (was?) scheduled to reopen on July 5. They were waiting for the start of the new state fiscal year to do it, but announced it way back last Fall.

None of the others have any plans for reopening.
 
Riverside said:
Lynn is closing “temporarily.”

UPDATED: Lynn Station to Temporarily Close on July 25 for Upgrades and Improvements | News | MBTA

Official website of the MBTA -- schedules, maps, and fare information for Greater Boston's public transportation system, including subway, commuter rail, bus routes, and boat lines.
www.mbta.com www.mbta.com
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"Temporarily" sound like could be until 2024!

The T and MassDOT are doing a great job of coordinating simultaneous disruptions in North Shore to Boston access (as in typical Mass clusterf***).
 
That press release is titled

Lynn Station to Temporarily Close on July 25 for Upgrades and Improvements

However this paragraph is at the end,

“The project is currently at 75% design. The specific length of time for the station closure will be determined when the design is fully complete, and the MBTA will communicate these details to riders as they become available.”

-Translation- We found a critical safety issue that requires a complete closure. Instead of fixing it, the station will be closed for a year until until our previously scheduled reconstruction project starts in Spring ’23.

Odds are Lynn won’t have a station for at least the next two years. Their headline sounds better than mine though.
 
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The pre branch section of the Newburyport Rockport line has to be the densest (most urban) section of the commuter rail other than the Fairmont.

At least there are frequent buses to wonderland.
 
tysmith95 said:
The pre branch section of the Newburyport Rockport line has to be the densest (most urban) section of the commuter rail other than the Fairmont.

At least there are frequent buses to wonderland.
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The Wonderland buses that serve the area around the commuter rail tend to fill to capacity around rush hour. This is not going to be a pretty closure.
 
I would hope that the MBTA will add a few buses to 441/442 short turns, and they really should honor Zone 2 passes at Swampscott. But I don't think it's going to be an absolute disaster. Lynn averaged 549 daily boardings pre-COVID - 370 inbound, 179 outbound - and a substantial fraction of those have not yet returned. 441/442/455 ridership already skews heavily towards Wonderland (in 2018, 5-10x the number that alighted at Lynn); Lynn is not like rapid transit stations where most/all bus riders are transferring to rail.
 
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