Delvin4519
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What about closing the Commuter Rail Connection at Malden and Oak Grove on the Orange line and building a brand-new Shoulder Regional Rail station at Sullivan Square? It's the first stop that I can see where Newburyport/Ipswich trains and Haverhill trains meet before continuing to North Station. With all the new development planned around Sullivan Square, it seems like this could be the next Ruggles Station-shoulder station that has access to Regional Rail and local subway connections. People coming from Newburyport/Ipswich or Haverhill could transfer one stop to the growing job center of Assembly Square as well. Currently, there is no way to accomplish this from Newburyport/Ipswich unless you travel all the way to North Station and transfer to an Orange line train to Assembly.
Plus, that 1970's Station for Sullivan Square could use a makeover!
This seems like a "reasonable" transit infrastructure project on our way to a more Regional Rail system. Interchange stations of JFK, Quincy Center, Braintree, Ruggles, Back Bay, Forest Hills, and Porter already exist. (I actually don't know how much the Oak Grove and Malden interchanges are used by riders.) However, I think more connections between the mainline subway and regional rail lines is a good thing. (West Medford and GLX maybe at some point?)
What do people on this forum think?
I'm not sure that closing Malden Center is a good idea. It's the last major inner core town/suburb in the north Boston, and a bus hub and that
Oak Grove is mostly empty and surrounded by 2 forested areas, that one could be closed in favor of Sullivan Sq. The latter has multitude of bus connections to Everett, Somerville, and the junction to the Commuter Rail to the North Shore.
West Medford is a bit more tricky. It's the last major square/downtown/center in the inner core of Boston, with two bus connections. Realistically, the rails need to be buried for both the GLX and Commuter Rail to meet there, but that's no easy task. There's only enough space for a grade level crossing for two tracks there. Route 16 is easier than West Medford, since one can just eat off the parking lots, but there's a narrow bridge there, and there's essentially nothing but the Mystic River and a traffic sewer there.
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