Regional Rail (RUR) & North-South Rail Link (NSRL)

Re: North-South Rail Link

The only way I see North South rail ever moving forward is if you bury South Station Expansion. Literally. Put South Station expansion underground on the intended underground path of N-S Rail link and you get phase 1 of NSRL.
 
Re: North-South Rail Link

tangent said:
The only way I see North South rail ever moving forward is if you bury South Station Expansion. Literally. Put South Station expansion underground on the intended underground path of N-S Rail link and you get phase 1 of NSRL.
Click to expand...

No. You don't need the SSX at all if you build the NSRL.
 
Re: North-South Rail Link

dshoost88 said:
As someone that knew didley squat about north-south rail link benefits, this article was incredibly thorough as to its benefits. Necessary reading for any Greater Boston commuters.
Click to expand...

Yeah that's really nicely done.

One key factoid that I think bears repeating is that apparently each existing track at the terminals can handle 1.5 trains per hour; for comparison, each track in the link could carry something like 11 trains per hour.
 
Re: North-South Rail Link

Silly question to which I suspect I already know the answer:

Does the Hub on Causeway disrupt future plan for a potential underground North Station platform for North-South Rail Link?
 
Re: North-South Rail Link

dshoost88 said:
Silly question to which I suspect I already know the answer:

Does the Hub on Causeway disrupt future plan for a potential underground North Station platform for North-South Rail Link?
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No.

32074204103_4c38eec350_b.jpg
 
Re: North-South Rail Link

Is there the possibility to mix up the tracks so that all possible trips offer a cross-platform transfer?

North Station: "In and out Northside"
Inbound Southbound trains would offer cross-platform connection to Outbound/Northbound trains
facilitating V-shaped trips on the Northside
(I picture a center platform and two side platforms, but am fuzzy on details)


Central Station "Through trips transfers"
Southbound trains offer cross-platform to other Southbound trains
Northbound trains offer cross-platform to other Northbound trains
(I picture two island platforms)

South Station "In and out Southside"
Inbound Southside trains offer cross-platform transfer to outbound Southside trains
(facilitate ^ shaped trips on the Southside

This seems much better than just running all 4 tracks such that the same transfer pattern is essentially offered 3 stops in a row.
 
Re: North-South Rail Link

Can the whole "Central Station" concept just disappear already? It adds considerable costs to the project for limited utility (a direct BL connection, and perhaps distributing the commute crush @ NS & SS).
 
Re: North-South Rail Link

Yeah agreed - per the map above, the distance between cs and ss is approximately the length of a platform
 
Re: North-South Rail Link

CSTH said:
Yeah that's really nicely done.

One key factoid that I think bears repeating is that apparently each existing track at the terminals can handle 1.5 trains per hour; for comparison, each track in the link could carry something like 11 trains per hour.
Click to expand...

What about the $100 million in annual operating savings from the link?
 
Re: North-South Rail Link

That's a good one too.

I had the feeling that that article might as well have been a memo written specifically for Charlie baker, and I sure hope he reads it. Bravo ari!
 
Re: North-South Rail Link

dshoost88 said:
As someone that knew didley squat about north-south rail link benefits, this article was incredibly thorough as to its benefits. Necessary reading for any Greater Boston commuters.
Click to expand...

Beautiful work by Ari. The NSRL study should absolutely include an C/B assessment for developing the rail yards at South Bay and North Point. It's a great point that through-running transit lines with the exception of the Red Line don't need downtown yards, but all of the Commuter Rail lines do. Not sure how much maintenance and storage you could relocate to Woburn, Framingham, etc. but it might be a lot.
 
Re: North-South Rail Link

Yeah but I was under the impression that the current commuter rail trains would not be able to go into the tunnel so the non-revenue movement issues would still remain. Can't imagine they would want to get rid of the existing stock, which is sort of why I think the 'Indigo Line' will be separate from the commuter rail as it is and the commuter rail will just be scaled back.

I do think that the Indigo Line would only be extended so far, probably only to 128 to maintain subway levels of service, so Ari's South Acton example wouldn't happen.

A whole station is unnecessary but if the Indigo Line could stop at Aquarium I could see that being useful.
 
Re: North-South Rail Link

Central/Union Station has always been the sticking point for me on NSRL. I just don't see the need for it given the density of transit in the area already. I don't know what % of the cost estimate it accounts for, but even if it's only modest, I still say nix that part and re-program that $ for upgraded CR rolling stock (EMUs pretty pretty please).
 
Re: North-South Rail Link

jklo said:
Yeah but I was under the impression that the current commuter rail trains would not be able to go into the tunnel so the non-revenue movement issues would still remain. Can't imagine they would want to get rid of the existing stock, which is sort of why I think the 'Indigo Line' will be separate from the commuter rail as it is and the commuter rail will just be scaled back.
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I think the idea is that the link takes long enough to build that they can integrate with the existing equipment lifespan & procurement process...i.e. by the time the tunnel is done it will be well past time to buy new equipment anyway...
 
Re: North-South Rail Link

I hope the current studies will answer the Central Station question. I can and do argue it both ways:

No Central: It does seem to me that we'd need only a North and South and you could use long escalators/moving sidewalks to tie North to Aquarium.

Pro Central: the long run it might be nice to have the platform capacity closer to the FiDi, particularly if the Blue Line gets busier with extensions to Charles/MGH and Lynn, redevelopment at Suffolk Downs & Wonderland, and continued growth at Maverick & Airport.
 
Re: North-South Rail Link

^ But then can't you use the same long escalators/peoplemovers argument for your second point?....how tough would it be to build a separate/narrow portal that lets passengers exit in FiDi?

In other words, SS exiting passengers could have 3 exit options:
- SS/seaport
- Aquarium/blue line
- FiDi

There are/will be 4 main office clusters in boston proper: FiDi, SS/seaport, Gov Center/NS, and Back Bay. If, in addition to locomotive throughput, the goal is to connect rail commuters to these 4 nodes as efficiently as possible, then the above plan will cover 3 of the 4 (relatively) directly....and the remaining (back bay) is accessed via a single connection (green line from NS)
 
Re: North-South Rail Link

Central station gives blue line riders a way to get to the commuter rail without multiple transfers, which cutting down on transfers is one of the main points of this development. If it extends to lynn in the future it will be even more important than it is now. Without it your cutting off East Boston, Revere, maybe Lynn, along with a 2nd route to Logan when the silver line is at capacity. I think the point of this is to make everything much more connected not to spend all this money and still have gaps in service. This should be one of the end all be all additions to the network and I think central station brings that closer to reality. Its not that bad to add only 1 more station to give the entire blue line a connection to the commuter rail network and in turn the rest of the state. If coming from Framingham now I can choose to take CR to Blue instead of the Silver Line to get to Logan which I know is going to be a cluster fuck.
 
Re: North-South Rail Link

stick n move said:
Central station gives blue line riders a way to get to the commuter rail without multiple transfers, which cutting down on transfers is one of the main points of this development. If it extends to lynn in the future it will be even more important than it is now. Without it your cutting off East Boston, Revere, maybe Lynn, along with a 2nd route to Logan when the silver line is at capacity. I think the point of this is to make everything much more connected not to spend all this money and still have gaps in service. This should be one of the end all be all additions to the network and I think central station brings that closer to reality. Its not that bad to add only 1 more station to give the entire blue line a connection to the commuter rail network and in turn the rest of the state. If coming from Framingham now I can choose to take CR to Blue instead of the Silver Line to get to Logan which I know is going to be a cluster fuck.
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If I'm spending a billion on the Blue Line, I'd rather it be for Red/Blue than for Central Station, especially if the latter is the sticking point for building NSRL at all.
 
Re: North-South Rail Link

Equilibria said:
If I'm spending a billion on the Blue Line, I'd rather it be for Red/Blue than for Central Station, especially if the latter is the sticking point for building NSRL at all.
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^ This. Can also just build in a BL/MBCR transfer at Lynn or Wonderland. Central Station is superfluous and, when push comes to shove, should be chopped.
 
Re: North-South Rail Link

Or bowdoin -> NS -> Charles mgh
 
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