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

[Riverside]

They suggest adding infill stations at Brickbottom and Union Sq. If they want it to be regional rail why are they adding subway-spaced stops that are already served by rapid transit? If the Union Branch is never extended to Porter then a stop there is sensible for a transfer but 2 regional rail stations 0.4 miles apart is pointless.

Technically, I think they are proposing Brickbottom or Union Square. (Including one option meant to split the difference.)

I took a quick read through the whole report and my general reaction is the same as with their other recent reports: it’s too all-or-nothing — not nearly enough discussion of what can be done incrementally or as a compromise. It’s a nice enough concept piece, but I don’t see it shifting policy or spending very much.

(And then there are things that make my eyebrows shoot up. 100 mph? A viaduct through downtown Waltham?)

 

[ceo]

Does anyone even make open gangway EMUs? If not, I can't imagine a custom job like that would cost less than building full-length platforms.
I can see the utility of a Union Square station (for one thing, it serves the same need as extending the GLX to Porter and is way cheaper), but where the heck are you going to put a Brickbottom station? Under the Squires Bridge?
And yeah, Waltham is a problem. I doubt you're going to see much enthusiasm for this viaduct proposal, and trenching the line would be really expensive. It might work simply to have both directions stop at the current outbound platform location (with full high-levels etc.) and have the Moody St gates reopen once the train has stopped. I wonder if with PTC you can get away with not closing the gates for inbound trains before they stop.
Oh, and they don't mention that full-highs at Concord will be non-trivial, due to the grade crossings on both sides and the buildings in the middle of the platform, which will have to be either raised (and maybe moved back) or demolished.

 

[HenryAlan]

I took a quick read through the whole report and my general reaction is the same as with their other recent reports: it’s too all-or-nothing — not nearly enough discussion of what can be done incrementally or as a compromise. It’s a nice enough concept piece, but I don’t see it shifting policy or spending very much.

This is an interesting observation, considering their first white paper was very much about incrementalism. It broke transition in to a series of discreet steps, each of which would lead to improvement on its own, and that collectively, once fully implemented, would give us the regional rail system we all want to see.

 

[GP40MC]

Southcoast Rail Update....From Southcoast Today this morning:

Commuter rail riders who were expecting a smooth ride to Boston sometime this year have to wait a little longer at the platform. The latest timetable for passenger service on South Coast Rail from Fall River and New Bedford is now summer of 2024. Previous statements from MBTA officials estimated passengers would ride the rails "by the end of 2023.” What's the holdup? Read on.

How close is the South Coast Rail project to being done?​

Very close. At an MBTA board of directors meeting Thursday, Chief Operating Officer Ryan Coholan updated the timeline.
Freetown station: 100% complete
Fall River Depot station: 100% complete

• Middleboro station: 98% complete
• East Taunton station: 69% complete
• Church Street station in New Bedford: 86% complete
• New Bedford station: 94% complete
• Weaver’s Cove and Wamsutta layover facilities: 100% complete

The line from Myricks Junction to Fall River is done. From New Bedford to Middleboro is 85% there.

If the stations are done, why was South Coast Rail pushed to 2024?​

Months of safety checks. Coholan said even though the construction phase is nearly done, the automatic and positive train control systems testing phase is “a monumental phase unto its own” that will take months.
Then for three months, conductors and engineers will drive trains all down the line to familiarize everyone with the new line, stopping at all stations, opening doors, and so on. When the MBTA is confident everything runs perfectly, they’ll submit test results to the Federal Railroad Administration for review.
“Once all that is done … then we enter into revenue service,” Coholan said.

What’s next for the South Coast Rail project?​

Final construction and safety seminars. The MBTA’s Safety First program will continue educating communities about right-of-way safety. A train disaster safety drill for first-responders in Greater New Bedford is set for Nov. 19.

Dan Medeiros can be reached at dmedeiros@heraldnews.com. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Herald News today.

 

[TheRatmeister]

Does anyone even make open gangway EMUs? If not, I can't imagine a custom job like that would cost less than building full-length platforms.
I can see the utility of a Union Square station (for one thing, it serves the same need as extending the GLX to Porter and is way cheaper), but where the heck are you going to put a Brickbottom station? Under the Squires Bridge?
And yeah, Waltham is a problem. I doubt you're going to see much enthusiasm for this viaduct proposal, and trenching the line would be really expensive. It might work simply to have both directions stop at the current outbound platform location (with full high-levels etc.) and have the Moody St gates reopen once the train has stopped. I wonder if with PTC you can get away with not closing the gates for inbound trains before they stop.
Oh, and they don't mention that full-highs at Concord will be non-trivial, due to the grade crossings on both sides and the buildings in the middle of the platform, which will have to be either raised (and maybe moved back) or demolished.

Go anywhere outside the USA and you will find them. See the Elizabeth Line or London Overground in the UK, or just about any rail line in Japan.

 

[TheRatmeister]

Transitmatters posted quite the press release about the Fitchburg Line and it’s interesting…

https://static1.squarespace.com/sta...sitMatters-Modernizing+the+Fitchburg+Line.pdf

View attachment 43110
They suggest adding infill stations at Brickbottom and Union Sq. If they want it to be regional rail why are they adding subway-spaced stops that are already served by rapid transit? If the Union Branch is never extended to Porter then a stop there is sensible for a transfer but 2 regional rail stations 0.4 miles apart is pointless.
View attachment 43111
They also suggest narrower platforms which I don’t get at all. If they’re worried about freight clearance gallery tracks are a thing.

View attachment 43113Shorter platforms sure I guess but the platforms already exist at 800’ so why make only half of it high level. And open gangway EMUs? Just have EMUs with doors between cars that can operate via a button press like every other EMU.
View attachment 43115
“These grade crossings on a single track section are busy, therefore frequent gate closures are fine and it shouldn’t be double tracked” is quite an interesting conclusion. Disregarding whether or not running a train every 7.5min bidirectionally on a single track section with a stop is possible, I don’t think the grade crossing problem was very thought out here. Admittedly I haven’t been over to the Waltham station but if it works anything like Norwood Depot then the gates remain down for the duration of the station dwell time because of the train’s proximity to the signal (if this is incorrect apologies). This would mean the gate is down for the 30-60sec before train arrival plus however long it’s in the station. Potentially half of the 7.5min before the next train coming the other direction starts the same cycle over again. Said busy street would likely have its gate closed for ~4min every ~4min. Because of this I don’t think it would be possible to have a grade crossing here without double tracking to at least have the gates down their target of only every 7.5min.

Ultimately this seems like they’re trying to bring back 1910s service of many stops but frequent service with modern trains and their associated infrastructure rather than a completely modernized service. With how long the Fitchburg trip is the best thing for the line would be their suggested electrification and EMUs along with a couple infill and transfer stations like Union Sq and Alewife, but combining these with more mixed express patterns like the upcoming South Acton Express and existing Littleton Local trains.

Thoughts on this:

• You're right about those infill stations, they don't make much sense. Extend the Green Line to Porter instead and benefit rapid transit as well as the CR with additional connections.
• Could you elaborate on gallery tracks? I can't find anything about what this might look like.
• With open gangway trains shorter platforms are absolutely a possibility, especially at more space-constrained or lesser used stations. And frankly, I'd be sorely disappointed if new trains were not open gangway.
• While I'm not totally sure on your math about the level crossing times, you're absolutely right that it would likely be closed for too long, especially in central Waltham. Add to that the noise from the level crossings and you'll get plenty of objections. A grade separation is very clearly the best option here and I highly doubt 15 minute service is possible either practically or politically without one.

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

• Could you elaborate on gallery tracks? I can't find anything about what this might look like.

I think he meant "gauntlet" tracks. Those are a possibility for Shirley and North Leominster. Ayer needs a full-on passing track because of the number of freight moves around the junction. None of the other stations need anything because they're either on a non-clearance route (Littleton-inbound) or on passenger-only turnouts (Fitchburg, Wachusett).

• With open gangway trains shorter platforms are absolutely a possibility, especially at more space-constrained or lesser used stations. And frankly, I'd be sorely disappointed if new trains were not open gangway.

There aren't any FRA-compliant open gangway EMU's on the market right now. And the T's minimum-spec platform in the CR Design Guide is 450 feet (5 cars), per Mass. Architectural Board regulations. TransitMatters is recommending going shorter, but that's illegal here. One annoying thing about these TM Regional Rail Modernization reports are the obvious errors a proofreader should've been able to catch, like that one.

• While I'm not totally sure on your math about the level crossing times, you're absolutely right that it would likely be closed for too long, especially in central Waltham. Add to that the noise from the level crossings and you'll get plenty of objections. A grade separation is very clearly the best option here and I highly doubt 15 minute service is possible either practically or politically without one.

Disagree. If double-side, double-track 800 ft. platforms were built west of Moody St. where the current long platform is you'd clear both crossings for a station stop with any-size consist. You'd save the Elm St. gates from any long delays, and a DTMF signal (engineer-triggered crossing signal) can make sure that the Moody gates aren't down while the train is at the station stop. Then simply configure the road signals to queue-dump after the gates raise. It would be a way better situation than today with the between-block platform making it impossible to do a DTMF signal, and no queue-dumping currently programmed on the area road signals.

As for "practical or political"...you have to consider what's politically practical about the grade separation scheme. It's impossible to sink the tracks because Waltham Center is in the Charles River floodplain; that won't pass an EIS. So the only separable solution is a Chinese-wall viaduct...which is not only going to cost more than TM is estimating if they're trying to make it look "attractive", but is probably a political nonstarter for the city for dividing the downtown. I very much doubt they'd ever come to agreement on that. But again...despite more train movements the signals have a LOT of optimization left to go, and :15 minute service will take a lot of unnecessary cars off the road in this area. So it's not like it's a binary choice between expensive perfection and sheer hell.

 

[TheRatmeister]

Entirely unrelated to the previous discussion, but here's a Commuter Rail map I made that's actually correct.

Full changelog

• Added symbols for flag stops, stations not served on weekends, stations where short-turning trains terminate, stations with only a local service, stations closed (Temporarily) for construction, and stations with limited service.
• Removed Pride's Crossing, Hastings, Silver Hill, Mishawum, and Plimptonville. They're gone for good (Except *maybe* Mishawum) even if the MBTA won't admit it.
• Added the SL4 and SL5 downtown sections since we're at least going to keep pretending they're rapid transit I guess.
• Made the OL less squiggly
• Changed up the GL branches so Landsdowne is now in the right spot (Ish, it's way better than before)
• Removed all rapid transit station names (Unless the CR also stops, obviously)
• Kingston Line now has a bend in it because Middleborough/Lakeville is very long, and also because I like how it looks.
• Foxboro now has its terminus blob and bolded name
• Redid Readville station to show the limited through services on the Franklin/Fairmount Line accurately.
• Removed the Wildcat Branch as trains using it do not stop along the Lowell Line, therefore making it redundant to show. N. Wilmington-Malden Center have been marked as local only stops instead.
• Back Bay is no longer in bold, and now has one fewer connector blob.
• Made the North Shore look more realistic
• Added the Lynn and Winthrop ferries
• Changed things I thought were ugly, like how the OL was on the left of the Haverhill Line, leading to more squigglyness than necessary.
• Fixed a whole bunch of weird inconsistencies on the original map.

Bonus item: Made a version of this map with SCR that's not horrific.

Q&As

Why did you remove rapid transit information?

Because there's a separate map for that, and the CR map is way too cluttered trying to fit all the downtown stations in, at the expense of things like the Silver Line.

You didn't mention taking out Plymouth

I know, I didn't. The original map has removed Plymouth, but not the other stops. Like I said, weird inconsistencies.

The ferries are a mess

I know, that's just how they are.

How did you make this map?

Through frankensteining the original in GIMP.

Will you keep this up to date going forward?

idk maybe

 

[ritchiew]

So the only separable solution is a Chinese-wall viaduct...which is not only going to cost more than TM is estimating if they're trying to make it look "attractive", but is probably a political nonstarter for the city for dividing the downtown.

I don't really disagree, except I like to remind that rail viaducts can be really nice, and don't have to feel like they divide the town. I bet the people of Waltham wouldn't mind something like this between Moody and Elm. But then, like you say, the cost....

 

[TheRatmeister]

I don't really disagree, except I like to remind that rail viaducts can be really nice, and don't have to feel like they divide the town. I bet the people of Waltham wouldn't mind something like this between Moody and Elm. But then, like you say, the cost....

View attachment 43124

Even the Berlin Stadtbahn (Which I'm 99% sure that this) can feel like it divides areas at times. Museuminsel is sliced through by the line and there's not really an easy way to get from the Pergamon-Museum to the Bode-Museum. But I can't deny it's still pretty nice, especially the original stations like Hackescher Markt.

 

[vanshnookenraggen]

I don't really disagree, except I like to remind that rail viaducts can be really nice, and don't have to feel like they divide the town. I bet the people of Waltham wouldn't mind something like this between Moody and Elm. But then, like you say, the cost....

View attachment 43124

They built something like this under the commuter rail viaduct in downtown Lynn.

 

[themissinglink]

On Thursday, the MBTA posted some info about the Foxboro Pilot becoming permanent:

Foxboro Station, Commuter Rail Pilot’s Success Leads to Permanent Weekday Service Beginning October 2 | 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

I'm glad (and a bit surprised) that Foxboro is exceeding ridership projections.

The successful pilot exceeded targeted goals in key metrics like ridership in which expectations were exceeded with approximately 112-133 boardings per day in the third quarter compared to a goal of achieving 83-118 daily boardings on weekdays.

Apparently, Foxboro is planned to be rebuilt with full-length high-level platforms eventually, according to the press release:

As part of the establishment of permanent service, the Kraft Group will complete design plans for a fully accessible station. As the MBTA’s Capital Investment Plan does not include funding for Foxboro Station, the MBTA and Kraft Group will partner to seek funding to deliver a fully renovated station that includes the construction of full-length high-level platforms to modernize the rider experience at Foxboro.

 

[cbrett]

Why is the single track pinch there in the first place?

Also, prepandemic working at Brandeis the traffic could get brutal with the gate crossings, not sure if thats still an issue

 

[Riverside]

Entirely unrelated to the previous discussion, but here's a Commuter Rail map I made that's actually correct.

Full changelog

• Added symbols for flag stops, stations not served on weekends, stations where short-turning trains terminate, stations with only a local service, stations closed (Temporarily) for construction, and stations with limited service.
• Removed Pride's Crossing, Hastings, Silver Hill, Mishawum, and Plimptonville. They're gone for good (Except *maybe* Mishawum) even if the MBTA won't admit it.
• Added the SL4 and SL5 downtown sections since we're at least going to keep pretending they're rapid transit I guess.
• Made the OL less squiggly
• Changed up the GL branches so Landsdowne is now in the right spot (Ish, it's way better than before)
• Removed all rapid transit station names (Unless the CR also stops, obviously)
• Kingston Line now has a bend in it because Middleborough/Lakeville is very long, and also because I like how it looks.
• Foxboro now has its terminus blob and bolded name
• Redid Readville station to show the limited through services on the Franklin/Fairmount Line accurately.
• Removed the Wildcat Branch as trains using it do not stop along the Lowell Line, therefore making it redundant to show. N. Wilmington-Malden Center have been marked as local only stops instead.
• Back Bay is no longer in bold, and now has one fewer connector blob.
• Made the North Shore look more realistic
• Added the Lynn and Winthrop ferries
• Changed things I thought were ugly, like how the OL was on the left of the Haverhill Line, leading to more squigglyness than necessary.
• Fixed a whole bunch of weird inconsistencies on the original map.

Bonus item: Made a version of this map with SCR that's not horrific.

Q&As

Why did you remove rapid transit information?

Because there's a separate map for that, and the CR map is way too cluttered trying to fit all the downtown stations in, at the expense of things like the Silver Line.

You didn't mention taking out Plymouth

I know, I didn't. The original map has removed Plymouth, but not the other stops. Like I said, weird inconsistencies.

The ferries are a mess

I know, that's just how they are.

How did you make this map?

Through frankensteining the original in GIMP.

Will you keep this up to date going forward?

idk maybe

Looks gorgeous! Definitely nicer -- in both concept and execution -- than my attempt a few years ago: https://archboston.com/community/th...ns-keolis-short-term.5974/page-15#post-382039

 

[WarpedReality]

Why is the single track pinch there in the first place?

I think it has something to do with the vertical clearance underneath the bridges on Jackson Street & Newton Street

 

[TheRatmeister]

Looks gorgeous! Definitely nicer -- in both concept and execution -- than my attempt a few years ago: https://archboston.com/community/th...ns-keolis-short-term.5974/page-15#post-382039

There's definitely value to a map done in that style that shows all the services, except maybe with the Fairmount Line which is frankly just a mess. I debated doing it that way for the Worcester Line, but without the heart to hub service it wasn't necessary. Your legend is also better than mine.

 

[DBM]

"I bet the people of Waltham wouldn't mind something like this between Moody and Elm. But then, like you say, the cost...."

It's interesting to think of how Downtown Waltham's sociology would influence this. On the one hand, the Brandeis community is just .5 miles from what I consider the western edge of Downtown (Prospect St.). Yet how invested would anyone affiliated with Brandeis be with such a proposal? As for the rest--Downtown residents are now an incongruous mix of the many hundreds of wealthy apartment tenants at the three high-end apartment complexes (MERC, Edison, Watch Factory) vs. the remaining housing stock, which is generally quite modest/working-class, no? Then there's the cultural node right at the riverbank, with the artists' studios abutting the train station (unless they've been converted) and the Museum of Industry--a real hidden gem. Finally, for all of the restaurant/retail vibrancy along the Moody St. corridor, how organized are they? Is there even a Downtown Waltham merchants' association?

 

[Riverside]

I've replied re the TransitMatters report in the Regional Rail thread -- this really isn't about current Commuter Rail ops at all.

 

[ritchiew]

Even the Berlin Stadtbahn (Which I'm 99% sure that this) can feel like it divides areas at times. Museuminsel is sliced through by the line and there's not really an easy way to get from the Pergamon-Museum to the Bode-Museum. But I can't deny it's still pretty nice, especially the original stations like Hackescher Markt.

Yeah, that's Berlin. It seems like you know the city better than I do, so I'll trust you on those rough areas. But it's a several mile long viaduct, and the spots I've been around didn't seem like they divided the neighborhood. In some spots the train seemed like center of the neighborhood.

For a local example of an elevated station that doesn't divide a neighborhood, the new Lechmere is really nice. It's not the prettiest (and the car traffic is an obstacle), but it's really unobtrusive.

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

I think it has something to do with the vertical clearance underneath the bridges on Jackson Street & Newton Street

Correct. The inner Fitchburg + the former Fitchburg Cutoff were the clearance route into Boston before the Lowell Line was re-cleared in 1979 to allow the Cutoff to be abandoned for the Red Line extension. B&M intervened somewhere around WWII to re-center the tracks with a short length of single so taller cars could reach Boston.

Inbound of Willows Jct. in Ayer there's no clearance preemption anymore, and indeed no freight traffic whatsoever inbound of the ex-Ocean Spray bottling plant on Harvard Rd. in Littleton. The T didn't re- double-track Waltham when it was doing South Acton-Ayer because it makes no difference to current schedules. But it's simple enough to do lumped in with a Waltham platform reconfig when they're ready for :15 service.