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Brighton could get first commuter-rail stop in five decades
By adamg on Thu, 05/16/2013 - 7:26am
The Boston Business Journal reports the Department of Transportation's Finance Committee this week approved a plan under which New Balance will build a new Worcester Line station near its impending new Brighton complex. The stop will be called Boston Landing.
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Comments
Indigo Line
Now we just need the Indigo Line to get DMU's and include South Station to Auburndale (or even Riverside).
Yeah, infill stops are a
Yeah, infill stops are a great idea...but not with the current style of equipment, which takes several miles to get up to speed.
my fantasy
would be electrification of the entire commuter rail system a la SEPTA. (Widespread electrification was one of the nice benefits of the Pennsylvania and Reading legacy systems they inherited.) The SEPTA Silverliner EMUs are quiet and accelerate quickly.
That would be nice. But much
That would be nice.
But much of the benefit could be gained with DMUs. And the cost would be much lower, which means it's more likely to happen.
All they have to do is make the decision to buy them, instead of replacing the existing locos and coaches when the time comes.
Not really
Power-to-weight ratios of DMUs are much punier than EMUs. DMUs need to carry their own fuel and generators. Don't underestimate the advantage of not needing to lug around that stuff. EMUs get more power and with almost none of the added weight. Here's some examples from speculation about Caltrain, a service which currently uses rather similar equipment to MBTA.
Also, there's basically no DMU manufacturing in the USA, and basically none made since the 1950s that satisfy the FRA's insane weight requirements. The few that tried have failed. We'd have to import European models such as the Stadler GTW (which is used in Austin, TX) but that doesn't conform to FRA's ridiculously bad regulations and wouldn't be allowed to mix with freight and the existing, massively overweight commuter rail behemoths.
In contrast, at least, there are plenty of examples of successful American EMU operation on mainline railroads.
So basically there's way more that has to change besides just "buying them".
Refreshing to see this sort
Refreshing to see this sort of public-private partnership. Perhaps "Allston Village" would be a more fitting name. "Boston Landing" for me conjures up images of a ferry slip on the waterfront.
cue broken record on RER, West Station and HSR...
Please, please, please let this be another small step toward a bonafide RER-type system for the inner ring.
At all events, one thing is for damn sure - the properties at the bottom of Market St. and in the wedge between Western Ave. and the Lincoln St./the pike just got a hell of a lot more valuable. I used to live down there and it took me 45 mins to an hour on the T to get to my job at Gov't center. This could cut that in half.
Now if we could only get Harvard to agree to work in a West Station to their plans for the old Beacon Yards and get real HSR along the Inland Route from West Stationto NYC and Sprinfield/Pittsfield/Albany then we'd really be cooking with gas!
Inland Route
The Inland Route doesn't factor in Pittsfield, Albany, etc from the Lake Shore Limited. [Maybe] Springfield [on a short term temporary basis, at the least] and certainly Worcester and Hartford are on the docket, though.
I'm wondering if Harvard's West Station is still in the works, given the proximity of Brighton Landing. Something which could serve the Agganis as well, perhaps a partnership between Harvard and BU, would be awesome though.
The state is going to spend
The state is going to spend $113.8 million to upgrade the tracks in the Berkshires that head south towards NYC.
The only problem is they're not even *planning* to run any passenger trains on the upgraded tracks.
http://transportation.blog.state.ma.us/blog/2013/0...
Inland Route
The Inland Route doesn't factor in Pittsfield, Albany, etc from the Lake Shore Limited. [Maybe] Springfield [on a short term temporary basis, at the least] and certainly Worcester and Hartford are on the docket, though.
I'm wondering if Harvard's West Station is still in the works, given the proximity of Brighton Landing. Something which could serve the Agganis as well, perhaps a partnership between Harvard and BU, would be awesome though.