Charlie_mta
Senior Member
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Re: North-South Rail Link
I concur. These political discussions will never be resolved.
I concur. These political discussions will never be resolved.
In which we at TransitMatters blow up the MassDOT Arup NSRL Study:
https://commonwealthmagazine.org/opinion/states-rail-link-study-full-of-flaws/
This has been a long time in the making and we appreciate your patience. We were originally waiting for the final report to drop but then MassDOT sat on it and still hasn't released the final (we still only have the "draft"). We also had the opportunity to sit down with the team and discuss the NSRL study, which proved valuable in correcting inaccuracies from the June FMCB presentation like using manual doors in the NSRL (thankfully that is not the plan, despite what was said at that meeting). In this piece we point out factual inaccuracies, estimating mistakes & cost inflation as well as highlight the fact that the report dramatically understates the benefits of the link.
This is not directly related, but TransitMatters might find this useful:
I was just joking with my wife that its a shame that the NSRL hasn't been built, because she's at the Bruins game tonight (I had to work) and we live in Quincy. She could just take the Commuter Rail in a nice spacious comfy train straight from the TD Garden to Quincy Center.
And then I realized that that is an amazing marketing pitch: we have two major sports venues, TD Garden and Fenway that are directly on the Commuter Rail lines (yes TD Garden is literally directly on it, while Fenway is just right next to it), but are only accessible to part of the population - TD is convenient for North Shore, Fenway is convenient for Metro West and somewhat for South Shore. This is also true of Gillette, but thats pretty far out in the suburbs, whereas Fenway and TD are right in the city itself.
With how sports-crazed our city is, these are the people you guys should be pitching to. Pitch a one-seat trip from their hometown (or near enough) to their sports venue of choice, on the Commuter Rail, so much more spacious, comfortable, and relaxing than the Green, Red, or Orange lines. Not to mention that it gives these people time to sober up after the game. And obviously avoid the atrocious traffic that comes with any such event releasing 30-60 thousand people into the system all at once (much worse for Gillette in this case, where you almost have to drive there).
Honestly, just handing out fliers outside the venues as they get out would be a good way to raise the profile of the project and get people interested. Get a grass roots movement going, get average voters supporting this idea. I think it's a much more emotionally resonant pitch than just 'save x minutes off your commute.'
What a great discussion (thanks DominusNovus for seeding this). I agree with all of these sentiments expressed so far.
Such a branding effort (thinking back again to the sports crowds scenario) should emphasize departures frequency as well as increased connectivity. (I know this is something the RegionalRail guys emphasize well...but just pulling it into this discussion here)...many Celtics/Bruins/Sox people are aware of the "commuter rail" but hate the "miss the boat" aspect of it: there's ONE ideal trail that you have to get to after the game, and if you miss it, you're SOL. With the regional rail concept, there'd be another train some short time later on game nights. We need to rebrand the entire concept...this is not just "take the commuter rail to the game" anymore.
In which we at TransitMatters blow up the MassDOT Arup NSRL Study:
https://commonwealthmagazine.org/opinion/states-rail-link-study-full-of-flaws/
This has been a long time in the making and we appreciate your patience. We were originally waiting for the final report to drop but then MassDOT sat on it and still hasn't released the final (we still only have the "draft"). We also had the opportunity to sit down with the team and discuss the NSRL study, which proved valuable in correcting inaccuracies from the June FMCB presentation like using manual doors in the NSRL (thankfully that is not the plan, despite what was said at that meeting). In this piece we point out factual inaccuracies, estimating mistakes & cost inflation as well as highlight the fact that the report dramatically understates the benefits of the link.
This is a brilliant pitch.
With the Foxboro extension pilot, you could probably include Gillette.
Patriots trains from the North Shore would not be far fetched at all.
That said, Patriot Place does have one key problem: its so far out that its nkt an easy trip to much of the system - Worcester and the South Shore branches all would need to go into the city and back out.
Nah, a Worcester Patriots train already did a test run a year or two ago. It went Worcester to Framingham on the B&A and Framingham to Foxboro on the Framingham Secondary. The speeds were too low at the time for it to be worth it, but Mass Coastal is almost done with their contract to upgrade the line so maybe it will get a second look.
Really? Awesome! Any good links on this?
This is not directly related, but TransitMatters might find this useful:
I was just joking with my wife that its a shame that the NSRL hasn't been built, because she's at the Bruins game tonight (I had to work) and we live in Quincy. She could just take the Commuter Rail in a nice spacious comfy train straight from the TD Garden to Quincy Center.
And then I realized that that is an amazing marketing pitch: we have two major sports venues, TD Garden and Fenway that are directly on the Commuter Rail lines (yes TD Garden is literally directly on it, while Fenway is just right next to it), but are only accessible to part of the population - TD is convenient for North Shore, Fenway is convenient for Metro West and somewhat for South Shore. This is also true of Gillette, but thats pretty far out in the suburbs, whereas Fenway and TD are right in the city itself.
With how sports-crazed our city is, these are the people you guys should be pitching to. Pitch a one-seat trip from their hometown (or near enough) to their sports venue of choice, on the Commuter Rail, so much more spacious, comfortable, and relaxing than the Green, Red, or Orange lines. Not to mention that it gives these people time to sober up after the game. And obviously avoid the atrocious traffic that comes with any such event releasing 30-60 thousand people into the system all at once (much worse for Gillette in this case, where you almost have to drive there).
Honestly, just handing out fliers outside the venues as they get out would be a good way to raise the profile of the project and get people interested. Get a grass roots movement going, get average voters supporting this idea. I think it's a much more emotionally resonant pitch than just 'save x minutes off your commute.'
If all 11-12 commuter rail lines are going to be passing through Boston this Rail Link is going to need a lot more than 2 tracks. It might need like 5-6 tracks like Back Bay in order to handle all those train routes.