I agree 100%. If I were to include Old Colony Double Track as its own “extension,” then I’d rank the priority of this category (intercity in-Massachusetts passenger rail extensions that are on a smaller magnitude than North-South Rail Link) as:
I'd throw finally wrapping up the Franklin double tracking in there just because it's already so annoying close.
I don't see the South Coast commuter rail commuters winning the fight over South Shore red line commuters on that fight.
But it benefits South Shore commuters too, more of whom would have the opportunity to take the CR and skip all the Red Line local stops going into downtown.
South Shore commuters want their fast Red Line commute to Kendall and Downtown - no extra stops in Dorchester (because "reasons").
Yes but my point is that those South Shore commuters getting on at Quincy Center and Braintree would have the option for an even quicker commute that many of them don't have now because of the limited CR capacity. Also the time difference here is like 2 minutes at worst, probably more like 60-90s. It's not a lot and I doubt you would have a wave of protests sweep across Quincy. There wasn't objection when JFK/UMass was added as a stop on the branch for example.
Savin Hill is just as white as North Quincy or Wollaston based on the 2023 survey data.
There’s enough room to add an island platform and double track at JFK/UMass without taking any red line tracks, so long as there’s some road dieting of Old Colony Ave and a reduced footprint of the busway at the station.
I think you're right about it being possible to make JFK work. But JFK isn't the problem, Savin Hill is. You would either need to demolish or at least take the backyards of a dozen homes and two apartment buildings, or take a lane from 93, which already doesn't have a shoulder in that section. Both of those are equally unlikely. If you think there's another way I'd love to hear it but I'm just not seeing it.
The other way would be to tunnel a single track of commuter rail underneath the existing footprint. Not easy and I agree the options that you’ve outlined are highly unlikely, but I think it’s worth exploring when put up against a new flying junction to merge the red line tracks
These are a minority of South Shore red line riders and how many of those riders aren't bound for FiDi but rather statehouse, MGH, or Kendall and won't benefit from going to a two seat ride?
The only way people would backtrack is if the MBTA could offer synchronized connections. And we know the T is no where close to synchronized connection performance.
it really wouldn't make sense in most cases - it would be akin to forcing people to use the commuter rail when the subway would take you right there.
No it just plainly isn't. Adding 90s to a subway trip doesn't "force" anyone to use the Commuter Rail. Again, 90 seconds. That's the amount of time that anyone would be making a fuss over.
Coordinated schedules to make the transfer work between red and commuter rail would mean slower service on the Red line and add up to way more than 90s.
How can the Dutch coordinate trains without slowing service?
Timed transfers, even done in the Netherlands, slow down a service to make it more frequent. I somewhat frequently take the train through Zwolle which has a timed transfer to give each destination pair a half-hourly service, and the stop lasts somewhere around 3-5 minutes most of the time. I'd expect the E. Taunton transfer to work out similarly.
I actually have no idea what your point is here and it's just completely detached from the facts, so I'm going to go back to the start and restate the idea: