Inland Route Regional Service Question

[Shawn Ryu]

Any chance MBTA gets extended to Springfield? Kinda OT I know. Would be cool even if its just once or three times a day.

Potential: Boston to Springfield via MBTA, Springfield to New Haven via new Springfield-NH commuter train (iif that ever happens), NH to NYC via Metro North, Grand Central to Penn by subway, NY to Trenton via NJT, Trenton to Philly via SEPTA, Philly to Newark Delaware via SEPTA and if MARC extends to Wilmington or Newark, MARC to DC, DC to either VRE terminus.

Would be epic indeed.

 

[Eric S]

Also, there are a lot of grade crossings east of Framingham on the CSX tracks that Massachusetts just bought; I think it's going to be interesting to see how the local communities react to considerably more commuter trains in the coming years. I think MBTA wanted to double or triple the number of daily trains operating on that corridor. Unless the multiple crossings are grade separated (not easy/cheap/elegant in a lot of places) the public might get annoyed with the increased number of trains.

By my count, there are only 4 grade crossings the entire way between BOS & WOR, 2 in Framingham and 2 in Ashland.

 

[acelafan]

Also, there are a lot of grade crossings east of Framingham on the CSX tracks that Massachusetts just bought; I think it's going to be interesting to see how the local communities react to considerably more commuter trains in the coming years. I think MBTA wanted to double or triple the number of daily trains operating on that corridor. Unless the multiple crossings are grade separated (not easy/cheap/elegant in a lot of places) the public might get annoyed with the increased number of trains.

By my count, there are only 4 grade crossings the entire way between BOS & WOR, 2 in Framingham and 2 in Ashland.

You are probably correct; perhaps it seems like more because they are very congested and there isn't an easy or inexpensive engineering fix. Mass DOT has plans to address it in the future according to a quick web search.

 

[railiner]

How about reviving service on the New London-Norwich-Danielson-Webster-Worcester route? IIRC, the old New Haven ran three or more trains that way in the sixties. It could be an alternate to the Springfield 'Inland Route', although I don't know if it still exists, or is in decent shape for passenger service....

 

[afigg]

By my count, there are only 4 grade crossings the entire way between BOS & WOR, 2 in Framingham and 2 in Ashland.

You are probably correct; perhaps it seems like more because they are very congested and there isn't an easy or inexpensive engineering fix. Mass DOT has plans to address it in the future according to a quick web search.

My own search turned up any number of articles and links to studies on fixing or improving the grade crossings and traffic congestion in Framingham and Ashland. Looks to be an issue that has been discussed and studied for a very long time. Checking the two locations with Google Earth, can see that there is no easy solution as buildings, roads are right up against the tracks, especially in Framingham. With increasing MBTA traffic on the line, public pressure may grow to the point that Mass DOT and the towns find the money to grade separate the tracks.

The New Haven to Springfield line has its own grade crossing issues with 35 public and 13 private crossings. Which is a lot for only 62 miles. The EA reports has a table listing the grade crossings and the proposed action. Some of the private are listed as currently closed off and will remain so (probably removing any remaining signs of the crossing). A few of the public and many of the remaining private crossings are proposed to be closed. The rest get two or four quadrant gates. If my count is correct, 34 road and pedestrian crossings are to remain after the upgrades to the Springfield line. I would lay odds that service delays and interruptions because of car or pedestrian collisions on the Springfield line is not going to be a rare event.