quad50cal wrote:BandA wrote:What's it take to delete the electric requirement, do double tracking, and terminate in Taunton until demand is proven.
The idea of building a half baked line until "demand is proven" is a complete red herring.
The "sparks effect" is real. It's going to be how Denver of all places is going to overtake MBTA commuter rail's place as the 6th most ridden US commuter rail system in a decade. Their first commuter line (a small single tracked line) has been in service for barely a year now, and they've exceeded the ridership of VRE and Miami's commuter rail system. Denver has done this in spite of teething issues as well.
BandA wrote:I don't know anything about Denver, which is probably OT anyway
BandA wrote:People have gone on and on in this thread about how expensive and bloated this project is. How is building a line to Taunton "half-baked"?
BandA wrote:I'm calling baloney on "sparks effect" whatever that is, placing my bets on pent-up demand needing to be satisfied.
quad50cal wrote:...growth potential of electrification.
quad50cal wrote:Even if SCR goes overbudget, when has electrification ever been regretted?
quad50cal wrote:The "sparks effect" is just a tongue in cheek reference to the well established correlation of dramatic ridership gains with electrifying passenger rail lines.
Every time they do a project I regret it. Because every project goes way over budget. Because they just add to the debt. Remember, the MBTA is insolvent and should be in bankruptcy receivership.quad50cal wrote:
Even if SCR goes overbudget, when has electrification ever been regretted?
BandA wrote:Remember, the MBTA is insolvent and should be in bankruptcy receivership.
CRail wrote:BandA wrote:Remember, the MBTA is insolvent and should be in bankruptcy receivership.
Every time you say that you should regret it, because it further drives home the reality that you've got no idea how government authorities work.
The Pioneer Institute, a conservative think tank, backs a debt relief strategy that could relieve the MBTA of debt associated with Big Dig mitigation projects.
MBTA3247 wrote:When it's the odd thing out that requires expensive servicing facilities to handle a small portion of the overall fleet. MARC, IIRC, is abandoning its electric operations in favor of going all-diesel.
MBTA3247 wrote:Did ridership increase because of electrification, or was the line electrified because it already had high ridership and/or was projected to have a significant increase in ridership? I seriously doubt that there's any number of people who decide to switch from driving to taking the train because of a change in motive power, unless it was coupled with a massive increase in service.
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