Framingham/Worcester Line Questions

[harshaw]

It was confirmed that Keolis / MBTA has increased the speed limit on several sections of the Worcester line to 70 mph. This was enabled by the improvements to the track and is part of their effort to increase on time performance (duh?). In any case, it sounds like they are continuing to tweak things a bit.

[Backshophoss]

It has taken time to remove/rebuild/replace CSX's Track maintenance standards to MBTA's standards,figure on one more season of trackwork,
to finally get to "state of good repair" on this route.

[Backshophoss]

Since CSX is in a "selling" mood of various sections of ROW,would MassDOT thru the MBTA be willing to take over the Worcester-Sprngfield
section and have MBTA dispatch it,or have Amtrak Dispatch Worcester-Springfield section?

[BandA]

I would think you would want the MBTA to dispatch, not Amtrak. When/if BOS expansion happens, MBTA should take over terminal dispatch, and possibly NEC too.

[Backshophoss]

Not sure if CSX is just retreating to W. Springfield,or selling off the entire B&A main to Selkirk,Who would be the best freight operator to
work with the MBTA? A "toss up" between IP's Mass Central,or the Grafton-Upton RY?

[Rockingham Racer]

This could be MassDot's chance to acquire the ROW west to CP 98. I wonder if Amtrak would be interested in getting CP 98 east to Worcester as an extention of the Springfield Line [an onward to Boston on MBTA]?

[Balerion]

If MassDOT bought the B&A, what would be the prospects for improving the suboptimal layover yard situation in Worcester?

[nomis]

If MassDOT bought the B&A: A layover yard in Charlton comes to mind.

Also, bringing in signals in at CP-45 can speed up trains heading into the CS at Worcester. The plans for both a turn-back yard west of CP-45, and a second platform at Worcester Union have one less hurdle.

[Komarovsky]

IIRC CSX once considered the former Jamesville yard off of Genesee St for additional yard space. It could be a candidate for additional layover space if they can figure out how to relocate the transmission lines that are currently on property.

[diburning]

The parcel that former yard once was is now owned by National Grid.

[harshaw]

There seems to be a decent up tick in ridership on the Worcester line. Parking lots are at capacity. Ashland is almost completely full where it used to have 100+ empty spaces. Yet sadly the MBTA rates have gone up 350% since the 90's while we only have had a small increase in the gas tax. The uptick in the summer is a bit odd, usually you see less people going to work in the summer. I should mention that the biggest crunch is usually monday - wednesday.

[Komarovsky]

There seems to be a decent up tick in ridership on the Worcester line. Parking lots are at capacity. Ashland is almost completely full where it used to have 100+ empty spaces. Yet sadly the MBTA rates have gone up 350% since the 90's while we only have had a small increase in the gas tax. The uptick in the summer is a bit odd, usually you see less people going to work in the summer. I should mention that the biggest crunch is usually monday - wednesday.

Garage parking prices in Boston have been steadily increasing in Boston. When I started working in Back Bay in 2011 the price for all day parking, if you parked before 8am, was between $10-$16. Now it starts at $18 and goes up to $26. Combined with higher gas prices and tolls inside of 128 on the Pike, driving has become a much more expensive proposition. Real estate inside 128 and to a lesser extent 495 is hot now too, and if you're a first time buyer or want to upgrade, it's very difficult to buy somewhere with a short commute unless you have very deep pockets.

[RenegadeMonster]

Also, it hasn't been brought up here yet, but the MBTA is raising rates at most of their garages according to the press release last week. Many to $10 a day M-F.

Alewife changed from $7 to $10 on Weekdays, but has a cheaper weekend rate. Most subway stations garages and commuter rail garages / lots that are generally always full have gone up.

Salem thankfully is staying at $5 for me, but they did lower the weekend rates to $2.

[harshaw]

The problem with raising rates is that they are aiming to steer people to where there are more spaces. There are no more spaces on the Worcester line, and all of the newer stations are in the middle of nowhere so it's not convienient to walk to them.

[BandA]

Maybe they need to build more parking spaces / garages. CDOT supposedly throttles the number of monthly spaces available in lots they control on the New Haven Line to maintain a certain number of available daily spaces. Even though CT is bankrupt & stuff they understand public transportation (esp. to NYC) is critical to their economy.

Parking rates should increase until demand is reduced or the price is high enough to finance new parking spaces. They can use the feddybucks grants to cover the cost of extra unused capacity that will be needed in 10 years.

I used to hate the idea of the T charging for parking; About 1988, they would take, for example, the dirt parking lot at the West Concord train station & pave it then charge. That was a bad deal because it was a money grab with no capacity increase. Same type of thing in Auburndale; I bet that small station lot barely covers it's collection cost, and no capacity increase.