Missing HSR Corridor Designations

[Lrfox]

The Phased Roll-Out: Yes, I know buses aren't the best thing in the world. I don't like riding the bus. Even so, this isn't a zero-to-100 thing. Someone's going to have to get on a bus - a whole lot of someones, actually. Stoughton extension to Taunton as a max-pain, highly accelerated build out. Get it built in 20 months, not 20 years. Extend every Stoughton train to Taunton, add four new inbounds and three new outbounds (one each way express). Don't screw around with electrification, DMUs or any sort of 'South Coast exclusive' equipment, but DO start running express buses from Fall River and New Bedford to downtown... via Taunton Station, so that people can transfer to a train. Let that service go for ten, five, or even three years - then push the three branches of South Coast with five new round trip trains dedicated just to them - the Fall River branch, the New Bedford branch, and the Hyannis branch.

I really like this idea. One of my biggest issues with the entire project is Taunton service depending on FR/NB service. That's one way to get Taunton service going while not completely ignoring FR/NB. You're also still able to get a feel for what demand there would be for FR/NB rail.

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

I really like this idea. One of my biggest issues with the entire project is Taunton service depending on FR/NB service. That's one way to get Taunton service going while not completely ignoring FR/NB. You're also still able to get a feel for what demand there would be for FR/NB rail.

Well, and also they need the main from Stoughton double-tracked to support two branches. Because of the screeching NIMBY's and trying to convince everyone it's not the end of the world for the swamp to reactivate a RR orders of magnitude cleaner than the old one, they compromised down to single-track. That is one of the utter follies of the snow job they're putting: the supportable schedules off single track do not allow full-schedule headways on either FR or NB branches. Which depresses the ridership projections significantly and has caused them to get revised down, down, down until it's now at a point where the T will not even recover fuel costs at the farebox for all south-of-Taunton running. This isn't like the Old Colony main where the single-track bottleneck is inside the city of Boston and can be juggled between SS and Braintree for fullish 3-branch schedules. It's far more limiting to have to stage train meets on a main that doesn't split until it's past 495.

All stations will be built with future double-track capacity, and the railbed and all bridges will be graded with a full empty berth. Raynham station is supposed to be built with an island platform where they just drop down the second track. The others will get 1 side platform with cleared empty space for the other side. Which is perfectly spiffy for Taunton service. They could throw down a mini-layover on the disused freight yard at Weir Jct. (http://goo.gl/maps/6KFdn) for midday storage, and use Middleboro layover for overnight storage then do the short non-revenue jog west on the Middleboro Secondary for the first train of the morning.

But they are on crack if they think significant numbers will actually use the train from FR/NB on such limited rush hour headways. They must double track...full stop...before doing the branches. And they know this. And they're lying about it anyway.

Like I said...this exercise has nothing to do with providing useful service to the South Coast and everything to do with insider ball. The laws of physics do not work for the promises they are pimping to the public.

 

[massmotorist]

I completely support rail connection to Fall River and New Bedford. I think it's something that needs to happen. I don't believe that the solution should be a $2 billion project that spans decades.

This seems to be the general consensus here. But everyone always wants stuff to be cheaper and faster.

It seems to me like the changes to the project people here want (double tracking, for example) would raise costs, not lower them. I guess I'm not really understanding what peoples' alternatives would be. Going to Taunton's a good idea, but that's not going to make the extension to FR/NB any cheaper. Doing it in two separate contracts would probably make it more expensive, not less.

Maybe I'm missing something but I don't see a viable path for this project to be cheaper and still go to FR/NB. Where would the cost savings come from? If you kill it for 10 years and then start it up again, what would that do? To me the options should be 1) Build it now to FR/NB, 2) Build it now to Taunton and forever kill the FR/NB extension, or 3) Forever kill the whole thing.

 

[Matthew]

It seems to me like the changes to the project people here want (double tracking, for example) would raise costs, not lower them.

I'm not a fan of the project, but I can see the point of going double track. If you're going to go through all the trouble of restoring the right-of-way, then the cost of adding a second track isn't as much if there aren't any physical restrictions.

There is, however, a huge difference between 1 and 2 tracks for scheduling purposes. And having good schedules will make a huge difference in ridership.

So you spend a little bit more money to make a lot more money. Pretty standard investment.

The problem for SCR and other projects has been in the ways they are spending a lot of money to gain a tiny benefit, or none at all.

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

This seems to be the general consensus here. But everyone always wants stuff to be cheaper and faster.

It seems to me like the changes to the project people here want (double tracking, for example) would raise costs, not lower them. I guess I'm not really understanding what peoples' alternatives would be. Going to Taunton's a good idea, but that's not going to make the extension to FR/NB any cheaper. Doing it in two separate contracts would probably make it more expensive, not less.

Maybe I'm missing something but I don't see a viable path for this project to be cheaper and still go to FR/NB. Where would the cost savings come from? If you kill it for 10 years and then start it up again, what would that do? To me the options should be 1) Build it now to FR/NB, 2) Build it now to Taunton and forever kill the FR/NB extension, or 3) Forever kill the whole thing.

Yes, double-tracking would be more expensive. Not that much more when the infrastructure is all pre-prepped for it, but yes, more expensive. The problem is physical reality...you can't run a viable schedule to 2 branches off a single-track main that forks 30 miles out of town. So neither South Coast city hits the minimum headways that would attract the ridership projections the state is quoting. It simply won't run often enough at peak commute hours. There are no two ways about this...the numbers do not wash.

If they're going to FR and NB with usefully full service they must double-track to Taunton. They conceded single track because it was the only way to placate the opposition. Fine, if that's what does it. Nobody's going to complain about chucking down second iron in a half-dozen years when it turns out the first train isn't carrying the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Therefore they must either phase the project Taunton first, then south-of-Taunton + double track separately if they value getting shovels in the ground with quieted opposition. Or, go back an tell Raynham and Easton to S.T.F.U., that this ain't going to work without doing both tracks at the start, and dig in their heels. Instead they're playing pretend...telling Easton and Raynham whatever they want to hear about a minimalist build, and telling Fall River, Freetown, and New Bedford whatever they want to hear about an all-the-bells-and-whistles build. Disingenuous at best, corruption at worst.

So don't look at it as 1) build all, 2) build some but never more, 3) build none as a one-shot decision. Because as designed #1 is physically impossible to succeed. #1 is "build it as someone's political monument, but with a schedule so crippled the ridership will never justify going back and doing it right." Like Cordage Park on the Plymouth Line...except >$1B, 40 track miles, and 3-5 stations more. So either they get real about what #1 entails, or there are only 2 options. That's the reality.

They have to phase it. Otherwise it doesn't bloody work. At bare minimum build something that bloody works. We'll never be allowed to build anything again if we build an albatross. Say what you will about the Big Dig, but at least it fucking works.

 

[massmotorist]

Yes, double-tracking would be more expensive. Not that much more when the infrastructure is all pre-prepped for it, but yes, more expensive. The problem is physical reality...you can't run a viable schedule to 2 branches off a single-track main that forks 30 miles out of town. So neither South Coast city hits the minimum headways that would attract the ridership projections the state is quoting. It simply won't run often enough at peak commute hours. There are no two ways about this...the numbers do not wash.

If they're going to FR and NB with usefully full service they must double-track to Taunton. They conceded single track because it was the only way to placate the opposition. Fine, if that's what does it. Nobody's going to complain about chucking down second iron in a half-dozen years when it turns out the first train isn't carrying the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Therefore they must either phase the project Taunton first, then south-of-Taunton + double track separately if they value getting shovels in the ground with quieted opposition. Or, go back an tell Raynham and Easton to S.T.F.U., that this ain't going to work without doing both tracks at the start, and dig in their heels. Instead they're playing pretend...telling Easton and Raynham whatever they want to hear about a minimalist build, and telling Fall River, Freetown, and New Bedford whatever they want to hear about an all-the-bells-and-whistles build. Disingenuous at best, corruption at worst.

So don't look at it as 1) build all, 2) build some but never more, 3) build none as a one-shot decision. Because as designed #1 is physically impossible to succeed. #1 is "build it as someone's political monument, but with a schedule so crippled the ridership will never justify going back and doing it right." Like Cordage Park on the Plymouth Line...except >$1B, 40 track miles, and 3-5 stations more. So either they get real about what #1 entails, or there are only 2 options. That's the reality.

They have to phase it. Otherwise it doesn't bloody work. At bare minimum build something that bloody works. We'll never be allowed to build anything again if we build an albatross. Say what you will about the Big Dig, but at least it fucking works.

I gotcha. I fully support the idea that it should be done right or not at all. But will double-tracking and shorter headways increase ridership so much that the project will have a decent cost per rider? It seems like it would still have the problems with trip times and the cost is ridiculously high.

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

I gotcha. I fully support the idea that it should be done right or not at all. But will double-tracking and shorter headways increase ridership so much that the project will have a decent cost per rider? It seems like it would still have the problems with trip times and the cost is ridiculously high.

Oh yes, it's definitely got problems and a poor cost-per-rider any way you slice it. But even assuming you trimmed the fat and waste out of the stations, cut the political favors, got the costs in line...the final design with single track does not bloody work. That's the irrefutable fact. Below a certain schedule frequency people simply ignore the option. There's very much a minimum threshold of train frequency on the AM/PM peak that triggers an actual shift in commute patterns and makes the transit usage a viable draw. Taunton will have that viability pretty much any way this is built. Easton, for all their bitching...yes. Raynham...well, depends on how they TOD the dog park, but the site's fundamentals look good. Anywhere on the branches...they won't and can't meet that capacity threshold. And there's no way to fix that than to add enough double-track miles north of Taunton (if not 100% then definitely well north of 60% with multiple double-tracked intermediate stops and ALL of the existing line to Stoughton doubled) to stage several train meets en route. It must be amended to something other than what that current design is, or it won't work. If they continue to bluster around that fact, they're lying.


It's also in no way an "if you build it, they will come" thing. The ridership potential's absolutely there long-term. Getting the potential on a train is a different story. You gotta develop it from inertia of rest to inertia of motion. Hype and PR pieces in the newspaper don't do that...making transit riders out of non-transit riders does. Even the pretty robust current ridership at Kingston and Middleboro took a decade to percolate with slow, conservative expansion of those station facilities, TOD, and parking. Ditto for those lines' intermediate stops with BAT and other buses expanding transfer service to the stations, Bridgewater State promoting the on-campus transit access to several new years of new enrollments, and TOD starting to take shape around the Weymouth base. The slow-starting ridership at Greenbush is partly the result of them getting away from the slow-burn that worked on the first two Old Colony branches and just assuming overinflated hype and air-mailing payola to the towns will carry people out of their cars.

Where's the coordination with the pretty robust current system of express buses? Why aren't they ramping up service to Middleboro and Attleboro right now to get people accustomed to the trains? Why is nobody talking about the possibility of doing the same at Taunton when those buses use 24 and 140 all the same? Why is nobody talking ANY kind of interim route-priming strategies like the Cape Rail folks are to bait attention for their lower-rent rail proposal? Where is their goddamn ground game? They're dropping $2B to start that engine ice cold. It'll get them what it gets them...Cordage Park to the nth power and then a massive retreat from ever trying to develop that flat-footed initial ridership further.

 

[Commuting Boston Student]

Maybe this is not the best thread for it, but I posit that Providence Station really needs to move... again.

Specifically, the platforms need to move ~800 feet down the line, beneath the Providence Place Mall, and a new concourse built to house ticketing facilities as well as connect the new station to the mall properly.

We should do this because the station is sitting on top of the terrible, awful, no good very bad NEC main line curve and it's right in the worst possible spot it can be. There's no way to conceivably run tracks east of the station without bypassing it entirely (bad) or having to reverse direction not once but twice - backing out of the station, then pulling forward onto the other set of tracks (worse). If the station moves into the mall, then we can avoid obnoxious bypasses or double-reverse moves entirely by creating the Providence Interlocking where the station is now - it won't make the situation any worse than it already is penalty-wise (seriously, look at that curve!), and it'll enable trains to move east from the station. 1/4 mile or so of new tunnel would connect the Providence Interlocking to the existing East Side Railroad Tunnel, which if combined with careful restoration of an abandoned ROW, could bring commuter rail back to East Providence. I envision the end product to look something like this.

We could then divert every other Providence Line commuter rail train over the East Providence Secondary. Should Providence - Newport service ever be rolled out, 100% of those trains would have to go through East Providence no matter which alignment (via Attleboro - Taunton or via I-195 Corridor) would be chosen for the service.

 

[Nexis4jersey]

Each system & Projects list....and cost...ridership , Projected Ridership...The T doesn't have that many projects or that are that expensive..compared to PA or NY

Various systems of the Northeast in 2012 and 2030...includes Regional Rail , Subway / Metro , Light Rail , Streetcar and Bus rapid Transit , Regional Bus and Urban / Suburban Bus

Metropolitan Transportation Authority
System Size in 2012 : 2,282 miles
System size by 2030 : 3,580 miles
Stations in 2012 : 751
Stations in 2030 : 823
Cost of all Uncompleted Projects : 79 Billion $
Daily Ridership in 2012 : 11.6 Million
Projected Ridership by 2030 : 16.2 Million
Target Date of Master Plan : 2045

New Jersey Transit / PATH / PATCO / Private Bus operators
System Size in 2012 : 1,390 Miles
System Size by 2030 : 1,720 miles
Stations in 2012 : 690
Stations by 2030 : 883
Cost of all Uncompleted Projects : 16.7 Billion $
Daily Ridership in 2012 : 1.8 Million
Projected Ridership by 2030 : 4.7 Million
Target Date of Master Plan : 2035

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority & Bus Operators in Eastern Massachusetts
System Size in 2012 : 1,193 miles
System Size in 2030 : 1,660 miles
Stations in 2012 : 270
Stations in 2030 : 349
Cost of all Uncompleted Projects : 18.2 Billion $
Daily Ridership in 2012 : 1.7 Million
Projected Ridership by 2030 : 3.7 Million
Target Date of Master Plan : 2045

Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority
System size in 2012 : 567 miles
System size by 2030 : 720 Miles
Stations in 2012 : 280
Stations by 2030 : 370
Cost of all Uncompleted Projects : 35.9 Billion $
Daily Ridership in 2012 : 1.6 Million
Projected Ridership by 2030 : 4.2 Million
Target Date of Master Plan : 2045

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority & Northern Virginia Transit
System Size in 2012 : 195 Miles
System Size by 2030 : 428 Miles
Stations in 2012 : 108
Stations by 2030 : 297
Cost of all Uncompleted Projects : 25.8 Billion $
Daily Ridership in 2012 : 1.5 Million
Projected Ridership by 2030 : 4.4 Million
Target Date of Master Plan : 2035

Maryland Transit Administration
System Size in 2012 : 232 Miles
System size by 2030 : 664 Miles
Stations in 2012 : 90
Stations by 2030 : 216
Cost of all Uncompleted Projects : 18.2 Billion $
Daily Ridership in 2012 : 370,000
Projected Daily Ridership by 2030 : 1.5 Million
Target Date of Master Plan : 2040

CT Transit & CDOT Rail Operations
System Size in 2012 : 157.4 Miles
System Size by 2030 : 510 Miles
Stations in 2012 : 59
Stations by 2030 : 112
Cost of all Uncompleted Projects : 40.4 Billion $
Daily Ridership in 2012 : 278,000
Projected Daily Ridership by 2030 : 650,000
Target Date of Master Plan : 2040

Northern Virgina Transit Agencies
System Size in 2012 : 101.5 Miles
System Size by 2030 : 160.8 Miles
Stations in 2012 : 44
Stations by 2030 : 100
Cost of all Uncompleted Projects : 5.9 Billion $
Daily Ridership in 2012 : 183,600
Projected Daily Ridership by 2030 : 580,200
Target Date of Master Plan : 2030

Rhode Island Public Transit Authority
System Size in 2012 : 20 Miles
System Size by 2030 : 280 Miles
Stations in 2012 : 5
Stations by 2030 : 59
Cost of all Uncompleted Projects : 10.3 Billion $
Daily Ridership in 2012 : 81,070
Projected Daily Ridership by 2030 : 360,000
Target Date of Master Plan : 2035

Delaware First State Rail & Bus
System Size in 2012 : 18 Miles
System Size by 2030 : 190 Miles
Stations in 2012 : 4
Stations by 2030 : 26
Cost of all Uncompleted Projects : 5.1 Billion $
Daily Ridership in 2012 : 65,000
Projected Daily Ridership by 2030 : 310,000+
Target Date of Master Plan : 2030

New Hampshire (Capital Corridor) Bus & Future Rail Systems
System Size in 2012 : 0
System Size by 2030 : 69 Miles
Stations in 2012 : 0
Stations by 2030 : 15
Cost of all Uncompleted Projects : 3.9 Billion $
Daily Ridership in 2012 : 45,600
Projected Daily Ridership by 2030 : 240,000+
Target Date of Master Plan : 2035

BARTA (Reading) Transit
System size in 2012 : 0
System Size by 2030 : 50 Miles
Stations in 2012 : 0
Stations by 2030 : 15
Cost of all Uncompleted Projects : 1.9 Billion $
Daily Ridership in 2012 : 35,600
Projected Daily Ridership by 2030 : 150,000+
Target Date of Master Plan : 2040


Capital Area Transit (Harrisburg)
System size in 2012 : 0
System Size by 2030 : 105 Miles
Stations in 2012 : 0
Stations by 2030 : 19
Cost of all Uncompleted Projects : 1.4 Billion $
Daily Ridership in 2012 : 27,400
Projected Daily Ridership by 2030 : 120,000+
Target Date of Master Plan : 2040

Amtrak Northeastern Division
System Size in 2012 : 2970 miles
System Size by 2030 : 3650 miles
Stations in 2012 : 109
Stations by 2030 : 141
Cost of all Uncompleted Projects : 70 Billion $ (New NEC)
Daily Ridership in 2012 : 45,900
Projected Ridership by 2030 : 215,000
Target Date of Master Plan : 2045


Total Daily Ridership in 2012 : 19.6 Million
Projected Daily Ridership by 2030 : 36.8 Million
Cost of All Uncompleted Projects : 332.8 Billion $

 

[Commuting Boston Student]

Rhode Island Public Transit Authority
System Size in 2012 : 20 Miles
System Size by 2030 : 280 Miles
Stations in 2012 : 5
Stations by 2030 : 59
Cost of all Uncompleted Projects : 10.3 Billion $
Daily Ridership in 2012 : 81,070
Projected Daily Ridership by 2030 : 360,000
Target Date of Master Plan : 2035

59?! What the hell? How'd you arrive at that number?

59 is way too much...

 

[Nexis4jersey]

Maybe this is not the best thread for it, but I posit that Providence Station really needs to move... again.

Specifically, the platforms need to move ~800 feet down the line, beneath the Providence Place Mall, and a new concourse built to house ticketing facilities as well as connect the new station to the mall properly.

We should do this because the station is sitting on top of the terrible, awful, no good very bad NEC main line curve and it's right in the worst possible spot it can be. There's no way to conceivably run tracks east of the station without bypassing it entirely (bad) or having to reverse direction not once but twice - backing out of the station, then pulling forward onto the other set of tracks (worse). If the station moves into the mall, then we can avoid obnoxious bypasses or double-reverse moves entirely by creating the Providence Interlocking where the station is now - it won't make the situation any worse than it already is penalty-wise (seriously, look at that curve!), and it'll enable trains to move east from the station. 1/4 mile or so of new tunnel would connect the Providence Interlocking to the existing East Side Railroad Tunnel, which if combined with careful restoration of an abandoned ROW, could bring commuter rail back to East Providence. I envision the end product to look something like this.

We could then divert every other Providence Line commuter rail train over the East Providence Secondary. Should Providence - Newport service ever be rolled out, 100% of those trains would have to go through East Providence no matter which alignment (via Attleboro - Taunton or via I-195 Corridor) would be chosen for the service.

I can't see this getting past the ALon Levy smell test , hes thrown out all NEC Bypasses like Newark , Wilmington and Baltimore even though the alignment is very curvy or tight like Providence... The Wilmington Bypass has no tunnels....hes against Newark , Baltimore due to the Tunnels same with Philly and the NYC Tunnels to GCT which he thinks are a waste... So What do you think he will say about Providence? I think your idea is wonder...and would benefit Amtrak... However I don't like the idea of a New Station in the Mall , Providence needs a grand Station not a New York Penn type station....its needs to be a daylighted welcoming open yet covered station.... I wouldn't abandoned the tracks....I would use them for Woonsocket and Providence line services...

 

[Nexis4jersey]

59?! What the hell? How'd you arrive at that number?

59 is way too much...

The Newport Commuter Proposals have 5 stations
The South County line will have 12 stations full build out
The Woonsocket line will have 4 stations
Then I left room for Future Streetcar , Bus Rapid Transit and Light Rail stations...so when you look at it like that 59-65 comes up..its not a big number...

 

[Commuting Boston Student]

I can't see this getting past the ALon Levy smell test , hes thrown out all NEC Bypasses like Newark , Wilmington and Baltimore even though the alignment is very curvy or tight like Providence... The Wilmington Bypass has no tunnels....hes against Newark , Baltimore due to the Tunnels same with Philly and the NYC Tunnels to GCT which he thinks are a waste... So What do you think he will say about Providence? I think your idea is wonder...and would benefit Amtrak... However I don't like the idea of a New Station in the Mall , Providence needs a grand Station not a New York Penn type station....its needs to be a daylighted welcoming open yet covered station.... I wouldn't abandoned the tracks....I would use them for Woonsocket and Providence line services...

Moving it into the mall requires nothing to be abandoned except the current station building (which could be repurposed as Kennedy Plaza v2) and the platforms (which, let's be honest, are in the precisely worst possible spot they could be.)

If we do move it into the mall, we can make sure to include natural lighting considerations. The mall itself is already far more welcoming than the existing station even if you assume the bare minimum is done to accomodate it.

I see a hole being cut out in the central section of the mall so that the 1st floor matches the second and third. From there, new escalators and elevators would ferry people into the ticketing/waiting area and then the platforms themselves. Direct exits onto the streets would be a matter of one more staircase, and no existing businesses would need to move. (Possible exception of Joe's, but I'd bet they'd be willing to strike a deal to integrate with the new station instead.)

East Providence Secondary would be strictly a RIDOT/RIPTA/Commuter Rail line. Diverting 50% of all BOS-PVD commuter trains on it frees up capacity on the main line for extra Woonsocket Line trains. The goal would be to have a 50/50 split of Providence (Boston) Line service between Pawtucket and East Providence - 100% of the Woonsocket trains would go through Pawtucket, 100% of Newport trains would go through East Providence. All of these lines should terminate at the Airport in my opinion, with the result being that even 1 train per hour to Newport/Woonsocket/Boston/South County gets us a train to the Airport every 15 minutes. Figure Boston is a priority and gets 2 trains per hour, that's 12 minutes, add in one Amtrak train per hour and we're at show up and go frequency for the Airport. That's huge.

(Naturally, we're going to need four tracks Providence-Warwick.)

I'm not sure why you keep bringing up Alon Levy? I don't agree with the man on 100% of what he says, you know.

The Newport Commuter Proposals have 5 stations
The South County line will have 12 stations full build out
The Woonsocket line will have 4 stations
Then I left room for Future Streetcar , Bus Rapid Transit and Light Rail stations...so when you look at it like that 59-65 comes up..its not a big number...

I don't think BRT or streetcar stations should count.

South County Stations:

1. Westerly (Amtrak)
2. Kingston - URI Station (Amtrak)
3. Wickford Junction (ugh)
4. West Davisville (double ugh)
5. East Greenwich
6. Warwick - TF Green Airport (MBTA, future Amtrak)
7. Cranston
8. Elmwood
9. Olneyville
10. Providence (MBTA, Amtrak)

Anything north of Providence is firmly not South County, and everything between Providence and the Airport is iffy - I included them to try and get to 12 only. We're still two short. Did I miss something?

 

[Nexis4jersey]

Rhode Island Transit & Rail Plans/Proposals/Ideas I will add the LRT , Streetcar and other BRT in tommorrow...

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=215312482559953359515.00049110c2f416653cba3&msa=0&ll=41.636999,-71.434479&spn=0.684573,1.674042

Commuter Rail

South County line
Providence Central
Olneyville
Elmwood
Cranston
Warwick - TF Green Airport
East Greenwich
Davisville
Wickford JCT
Kingston
Westerly

Quonset Branch
Providence Central
Olneyville
Elmwood
Cranston
Warwick - TF Green Airport
East Greenwich
Davisville
Quonset Ferry Terminal

Worcester - Woonsocket / Quonset line
Worcester Union
Millbury
Uxbridge
Woonsocket
Manville
Route 295 Park / Ride
Cumberland
Valley Falls
Pawtucket Central
Charles - Smithfield Ave
Providence Central
Olneyville
Elmwood
Cranston
Warwick - TF Green Airport
East Greenwich
Davisville
Quonset Ferry Terminal

Providence line
South Station
Back Bay Station
Ruggles
Westwood / Route 128
Canton JCT
Sharon
Mansfield
Attleboro
South Attleboro
Pawtucket
Smithfield Ave - Charles
Providence Central

Hartford - Boston Commuter Xpress
Hartford Union
Manchester
Willimantic
Danielson
Johnston
Providence Central
East Providence
Seekonk
Attleboro
Mansfield
Sharon
Canton JCT
Westwood/Route 128
Ruggles
Back Bay
South Station

Newport Xpress
Providence Central
Smithfield Ave - Charles
Pawtucket Central
Taunton
Fall River Depot
Battleship Cove
Tiverton
Middletown
Coddington Cove
United States Naval War College
Newport Waterfront

New Bedford line
South Station
Back Bay Station
Ruggles
Westwood / Route 128
Canton JCT
Canton Center
Sloughton
North Easton
Easton
Raynham Park
Taunton
East Taunton
Kings Highway
Whales Tooth / Downtown New Bedford

Newport / Fall River line
South Station
Back Bay Station
Ruggles
Westwood / Route 128
Canton JCT
Canton Center
Sloughton
North Easton
Easton
Raynham Park
Taunton
East Taunton
Freetown
Fall River Depot
Battleship Cove
Tiverton
Middletown
United States Naval War College
Newport Waterfront

Middlebough / Cape Cod line
South Station
JFK/UMASS
Quincy Center
Braintree
Holbrook/Randolph
Montello
Brockton
Campello
Bridgewater
Middleborough
Wareham
Buzzards Bay
Sandwich
Barnstable
Hyannis

Cape Cod Xpress
Providence Central
Smithfield Ave - Charles
Pawtucket Central
Taunton
Middleborough
Wareham
Buzzards Bay
Sandwich
Barnstable
Hyannis

 

[Commuting Boston Student]

Ah, Quonset. That's what I was missing.

I'm not sure Quonset is worth going to, frankly. It's an industrial wasteland, and that's exactly how the North Kingston NIMBYs want it. "Quonset Business Park." It'd be a River Works-esque 'employees only' stop in all but name.

Hell, I'm sure they'd jump at 'your Quonset Business Park ID is required to detrain here' if they thought they could get it. (Which, frankly, the cost of Quonset - Newport being measured in $B is the only thing stopping a line extension that would enable that.)

Quonset barely rates worth 5 trains daily each way. Frankly, I'd give them 2 peak direction trains and 1 off-peak, and no more - certainly nowhere even close to the level of service of the Woonsocket line.

The Airport rates as a perfectly acceptable terminus. Furthermore, having it be designated 'all trains stop' makes it extremely useful in terms of setting up things like South County Line expressing through Cranston-Elmwood-Olneyville or a Woonsocket Line train that expresses to Wickford-Kingston(-Westerly) and links up with South County Beach shuttles.

Or, hell, through run the 'Rhode Island Main Line' Westerly-Woonsocket.

 

[kmp1284]

This seems to have been quite the entertainingly pointless exercise, who exactly is going to ride all of these trains to nowhere(and in many cases, trains from nowhere)?

 

[Nexis4jersey]

This seems to have been quite the entertainingly pointless exercise, who exactly is going to ride all of these trains to nowhere(and in many cases, trains from nowhere)?

Make it a Ferry Terminal , Muti-Modal , TOD the area...add some shops there you go you have a destination....kinda like what the Proposed Cape May line will be....a City to Ferry Shuttle Train... That land is prime for Smart Growth and TOD....I would say 3 billion $$ worth of developments could be built there.

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

http://www.wtnh.com/dpp/traffic/trains/121-million-for-highspeed-rail_00391943

Well, OK...here's some REAL corridor development news. $121M in reallocated stimulus money going to the Springfield Line project for eventual 110 MPH service.

 

[Nexis4jersey]

Only 3700 riders a day? Where do they find these firms? The Orignal Ridership Projection was 45,000 , now its 3700....wtf... I can see that on the Brattleboro-Springfield but Not Springfield - New Haven thats way to low.... 800 million , WTF its not even going to be completely grade separate or Electric...and you call the South Coast a boondoggle....this shouldn't cost 800 Million... Wasn't the Original cost 350 million with electrification and grade separation?

 

[Commuting Boston Student]

To be honest, 3700 daily riders seems a little high to me. 3000-3200 seems closer to what the actual number should be.

Still, it's great news and I'm happy.