How much money goes down the drain in studies like this where the outcome is pre-ordained? Not asking rhetorically - would we know?
Regional New England Rail (Amtrak & State DOT & NEC)
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How much money goes down the drain in studies like this where the outcome is pre-ordained? Not asking rhetorically - would we know?
All MassDOT studies are preordained.
In most cases, probably yes. Most every state budget or bond bill is filled with earmarks - while the newspaper headline will be something along the lines of 500M for transportation improvements across the Commonwealth, in practice the legislation has several pages of "provided that not less than $XXX,000 be expended for ABC project in the Town of Somewhere." If you had the patience to shift through every piece of legislation that allocates funding, you'll find a lot of things like the below, which so all add up.
In 2019, Bakers signature $18B Transportation Bond Bill included 3M to study a new GL branch from Boylston to Nubian (or Mattapan), 920k to study for an extension of the E from Heath to Hyde Park, 1M to study a new City Point to S. station bus route (with
$1,000,000 shall be expended for costs associated with the study and implementation of an additional and alternative bus route in the South Boston section of the city of Boston to connect the City Point bus depot and South Station; provided further, that the route shall bypass Summer street between L street and D street and shall run at peak service times during morning commuting hours; provided further, that the route may head west down First street, turn northeast up D street and turn northwest onto Summer street in order to arrive at South Station
That said, some studies and projects are legislatively written into law without a defined funding source with only a requirement to report back to the legislature. That's the track by which this Northern Tier Passenger Rail Study came into being; it was written into the FY2020 budget alongside a study to extend the Blue Line into Lynn, and the 2019 bond bill (signed into law in 2021) also called for a new study on a RL extension from Alewife into Arlington. Unfortunately, because they don't come with earmarks, the only way to find out how much was spent is likely via a FOIA filing or procurement data. I have no idea if the legislature actually tracks these, but so far no reports have yet been sent (or at least posted to the legislature's website). I imagine the only reason Northern Tier has emerged is that it has a legislative champion in the form of Sen Comerford, who has been tracking and pushing this.
themissinglink
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Amtrak reports 30% growth on the New Haven-Springfield line
Amtrak celebrates an all-time ridership record in fiscal year 2024 , welcoming a historic 32.8 million riders.
www.masslive.com
F-Line to Dudley
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Double-tracking is funded. They're filling all of the gaps excepting about a mile bookending Hartford Union Station (the tracks sit on a weak viaduct that hasn't been shored up, and the station and tracks may be moved a block away if the state proceeds on sinking I-84), and the immediate approaches to the Connecticut River Bridge in Windsor Locks (bridge needs a top-down rehab that hasn't yet been funded).I hope the New Haven-Springfield line gets double tracked and electrified sooner rather than later.Amtrak reports 30% growth on the New Haven-Springfield line
Amtrak celebrates an all-time ridership record in fiscal year 2024 , welcoming a historic 32.8 million riders.
Now, the fact that MassDOT has reneged on its original pledge to help build a combo CTrail/Amtrak layover yard at Armory Jct. in Springfield (thanks, Baker!) does cap service levels at something less than the final-target Hartford Line service development plan. So we still have to get on with that before service can be saturated all the way to Springfield.
Err, do please correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding is that is still the plan, if delayed? the Commonwealth bought this site in Winter 2023, and it's stated intention at the time was for it to become a Rail Maintenance & Layover Facility within the larger scope of Springfield Area Track Reconfiguration. I'm lead to believe that the site acquisition was crucial in MassDOT being able to progress preliminary design, and thus also receiving an additional 36.8M CRISI grant last month to finish design.
That said, I know Amtrak previously had specified that they wanted 2 layover tracks here for the Airo, but those disappeared in the FY25 NEC capital plan having previously existed in the FY24 - I'd be curious to know if that implies the plan is to now thru-run as Inlands, and if that's also behind Amtrak wanting an Allston Layover.
themissinglink
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Has the state of Connecticut expressed any interest in electrifying the line? I've seen people talk about electrification between New Haven and Hartford, but I wasn't sure if there were actual plans or if it was just online speculation.
I assume that moving the station/tracks (or modifying the viaduct) in Hartford is a prerequisite to electrification.
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Amtrak is the line owner, so they'd be the lead party in making any electrification commitments. There are no current plans, and it's unlikely they'd consider doing that until Gateway is officially completed and they have lots more throughput to throw at Springfield schedules.
From ConnDOT's perspective they're still trying to get all the double-tracking and infill stations completed so they can ramp up schedules to something more Regional Rail-like. While electrification would ultimately be their goal, right now they've got a lot more interim work to do to grow the service to what it was originally intended.
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That's a different site than was last proposed (though if it's large enough it would probably work equally well). The 2012 Environmental Assessment sited the layover at Armory & Taylor Streets occupying the junction with the former NYNH&H Armory Branch. Deval Patrick tried to get a wad of Hartford Line funding inclusive of this site acquisition and design in his massive 2013 transportation bill, but House Speaker Bob DeLeo gutted the funding so large tracts of it including this were left unfunded. Patrick held talks with then CT Gov. Dan Malloy about trying to get supplemental funding to restore the Hartford Line elements, but ran out of time before the end of his term. Baker then simply stopped returning Malloy's phone calls, and absolutely zero progress was made during the entirety of his 8-year term. And that's where things have stood for an entire decade. No design work has commenced, and certainly not for this new site (which doesn't even have an EIS like the original site) so we're still looking at years and years of paperwork before first shovel hits the ground assuming Healey's people truly are all-go for it. And that's going to keep Hartford Line schedules north of Hartford pretty anemic for years more given that the nooks-and-crannies around Springfield Union can pretty much only handle Amtrak's layover needs not CTrail's. Currently about 40% of CTrail's schedules terminate/originate in Hartford instead of covering the northern portion of the corridor. And that's more due to the lack of layover space than it is the remaining single-tracking.
It's a fairly substantial site, especially since they also bought the building marked 255. Certainly larger than that for which they drew up the conceptual plans for in 2012; back then they were looking for layover for up to 7 500' trains and a small maintenance bay; the new site could accommodate substantially more.
As for the amount of engineering work completed thus far, it's probably not zero; the Springfield Area Track Reconfiguration Project has explicitly checked the storage and layover facility box since MassDOT won the first CRISI grant in June 2022. It closed on that new layover site in December 22, just before Healey took office. Healey added some fair share money in June 24 (1.75M) which was probably necessary to finish out the preliminary design, as the October 2024 CRISI final design grant announcement mentions that "preliminary engineering for the Springfield Area Track Reconfiguration Project [is] now nearing completion."
Probably twice that.
themissinglink
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Too bad there's a 0% chance of this bill passing.
www.markey.senate.gov
Sen. Markey, Rep. Deluzio Introduce Legislation to Transform U.S. Rail Network | U.S. Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts
New All Aboard Act would make $200 billion investment in rail Bill Text (PDF) | One Pager (PDF) |...
www.markey.senate.gov
I’m asking a lot here, but I have many questions. First off, if this is better for a new thread in the NH/Vermont section, let me know. Next, what is the best way to serve Portsmouth, upgrading the tracks connecting to the Downeaster and making a branch, or restoring the Newburyport line? Finally (this is the biggest), how much would it cost to electrify all of Massachusetts current rails that sees trains, no matter the speed of the tracks? This is assuming CSX and other smaller companies would be on board.
Edit: since I was very vague with the electrification section, let me specify. Overhead catenary wherever possible, and let’s just say electric engines all doing push pull for passengers, to keep costs down. I’d get more specific if anyone has a question about it.
Edit: since I was very vague with the electrification section, let me specify. Overhead catenary wherever possible, and let’s just say electric engines all doing push pull for passengers, to keep costs down. I’d get more specific if anyone has a question about it.
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themissinglink
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Restoring the Newburyport Line would be best, but it would be expensive and NH isn't supportive of passenger rail. Portsmouth isn't getting rail service at all without a change in public sentiment about rail transit in NH.
About 6M per mile