Salem MBTA Station

Yes I mean Washington street, I didn't drink enough coffee that morning :)
 
And now this boneheaded move of blocking double track at Salem Station is precluding plans for regional rail, only 7 years later.
This is so painful. And not that I doubt it, but how can we succinctly complain and have they done anything so boneheaded since?
 
This is so painful. And not that I doubt it, but how can we succinctly complain and have they done anything so boneheaded since?

High frequency 'RUR' service is going to have to peel off on the Peabody Branch before hitting the Depot. There will need to be new side platforms to make the Depot a superstation of sorts.
 
Peabody Branch has to be leveraged any which way, because it has a convenient turnout inside the tunnel and the combo of that junction + the infill Salem State U. platforms end up doing an effective job throttling the frequencies around the single-track tunnel at no disruption. Even if you're just using the Peabody-side platform (which can go 450 ft. or 5 cars) and North St. freight yard for a layover without actually continuing to Peabody Sq. it provides crucial traffic management to build out that side of the station.

Eventually they will have to dig out the mainline hillside for Tk. 2 because Peabody alone won't be enough to keep the schedules "robust" RUR vs. baseline, but that's not an ASAP need when the Peabody side is more shovel-ready and less expensive. Still a terrible cock-up to have ignored this when rebuilding the station for that urban parking white elephant.
 
is the parking garage at least not impinging on these ROW?
 
is the parking garage at least not impinging on these ROW?
ROW's completely, luxuriously clear. You'd sacrifice a row of spots in the aux. parking lot, but that's it. That lot already goes disused a lot of the time.
 
With a Peabody branch, the new stops would soak up some of the parking demand at Salem Station.
 
With a Peabody branch, the new stops would soak up some of the parking demand at Salem Station.
"Demand" or "induced demand". People shouldn't be driving from the highway to park in a dense downtown away from the highway. That's why the new Salem and Beverly garages stink to high heaven. And both are operating well below capacity today because riders don't see the point either, though underutilization probably won't last forever. They just need to get their house in order so the P'nR's are where P'nR's should be and downtown hubs like this are pooling buses from all directions not single-occupancy cars.
 
"Demand" or "induced demand". People shouldn't be driving from the highway to park in a dense downtown away from the highway. That's why the new Salem and Beverly garages stink to high heaven. And both are operating well below capacity today because riders don't see the point either, though underutilization probably won't last forever. They just need to get their house in order so the P'nR's are where P'nR's should be and downtown hubs like this are pooling buses from all directions not single-occupancy cars.
Although, with the fee adjustment a year ago, the Beverly garage fills up most days.
 
"Demand" or "induced demand". People shouldn't be driving from the highway to park in a dense downtown away from the highway. That's why the new Salem and Beverly garages stink to high heaven. And both are operating well below capacity today because riders don't see the point either, though underutilization probably won't last forever. They just need to get their house in order so the P'nR's are where P'nR's should be and downtown hubs like this are pooling buses from all directions not single-occupancy cars.

Can confirm this. There should be a garage at North Beverly instead (with a stand-by siding like in downtown Bev to facilitate frequencies)
 

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