beautifulplanet
Lead Service Attendant
- Joined
- Jan 29, 2014
- Messages
- 337
As there was a recent thread about it, this poll is about a commuter rail project in Massachusetts, where Boston MBTA commuter rail's current Stoughton line is to be extended to Fall River and New Bedford. Though this project called "South Coast Rail" has already been intensely studied and some preliminary works already have been done, and though there are commitments to get the passenger service in place, by both the current outgoing administration and by the two main candidates for governor, there still is a significant amount of funding needed, and to some, it does not seem sure yet that the line definitely will be built.
In the following there is a map of the proposed route and station locations:
After several routes were evaluated, the Stoughton Alternative has been chosen. New Bedford (population 95,072) and Fall River (population 88,857) will be connected to Boston within 77 and 75 minutes respectively. Also several new intermediate stops, among them Taunton (population 55,874) will be served, see map.
The proposed service is supposed to be delivered by electric traction, which would be a first for MBTA commuter rail. So far, all commuter rail services in the Boston metro area are diesel-powered, even though the current Providence line is a diesel operation under a wire, so possibly the start of South Coast Rail service could also help other MBTA lines to switch to electric traction and see improvements regarding speed, passenger comfort as well as health and the environment. Up to now, MBTA possibly would go for an electric push-pull configuration, while it would be possible to use designs similar to Bombardier Twindexx EMUs that can be coupled/uncoupled within minutes, so theoretically f.e. one 4-car EMU coming from New Bedford and one 4-car EMU coming from Fall River could be coupled in Taunton, then continue as one 8-car consist towards Boston. Still even without the use of quick-accelerating EMUs like Twindexx or Stadler KISS EMUs, traditional electric push-pull consists already offer substantial time savings when compared to diesel operations.
Among the measures that have already been taken towards passenger rail service is installation of approximately 42,000 rail ties and spikes along 33 miles of right-of-way leading to Fall River and New Bedford, the purchase of 30 miles of track, Taunton to Fall River and New Bedford from CSX Transportation by the state of Massachusetts, and rebuilding of three New Bedford rail bridges.
Besides bringing rail service to a part of the state without passenger rail for decades, starting the service, construction the rail line and the stations is estimated to create 8,000 jobs, with 3,500 permanent jobs to follow after construction is finished. The cities along the route have plans to seize the economic development the rail line would bring, and made plans for transit oriented development.
More information can be found on South Coast Rail's official website:
http://www.southcoastrail.com
In the following there is a map of the proposed route and station locations:
After several routes were evaluated, the Stoughton Alternative has been chosen. New Bedford (population 95,072) and Fall River (population 88,857) will be connected to Boston within 77 and 75 minutes respectively. Also several new intermediate stops, among them Taunton (population 55,874) will be served, see map.
The proposed service is supposed to be delivered by electric traction, which would be a first for MBTA commuter rail. So far, all commuter rail services in the Boston metro area are diesel-powered, even though the current Providence line is a diesel operation under a wire, so possibly the start of South Coast Rail service could also help other MBTA lines to switch to electric traction and see improvements regarding speed, passenger comfort as well as health and the environment. Up to now, MBTA possibly would go for an electric push-pull configuration, while it would be possible to use designs similar to Bombardier Twindexx EMUs that can be coupled/uncoupled within minutes, so theoretically f.e. one 4-car EMU coming from New Bedford and one 4-car EMU coming from Fall River could be coupled in Taunton, then continue as one 8-car consist towards Boston. Still even without the use of quick-accelerating EMUs like Twindexx or Stadler KISS EMUs, traditional electric push-pull consists already offer substantial time savings when compared to diesel operations.
Among the measures that have already been taken towards passenger rail service is installation of approximately 42,000 rail ties and spikes along 33 miles of right-of-way leading to Fall River and New Bedford, the purchase of 30 miles of track, Taunton to Fall River and New Bedford from CSX Transportation by the state of Massachusetts, and rebuilding of three New Bedford rail bridges.
Besides bringing rail service to a part of the state without passenger rail for decades, starting the service, construction the rail line and the stations is estimated to create 8,000 jobs, with 3,500 permanent jobs to follow after construction is finished. The cities along the route have plans to seize the economic development the rail line would bring, and made plans for transit oriented development.
More information can be found on South Coast Rail's official website:
http://www.southcoastrail.com