New Hampshire Commuter Rail Discussion

Also in the anti-rail mix is the "Associated General Contractors of NH", which
is dominated by the highway contractors. They contribute heavily to campaigns
of pro-highway legislators. "Rail" is a four letter word to them in any legislation.
or issue before the Governor's Council.

The Passenger / Commuter Rail topic is dead for now. The NH Senate Voted out the 4 million dollar federal grant to study the build out of the project to Manchester.

State abandons rail study funding
Donchess: ‘They are turning their backs on the future’

http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/loc ... y-funding/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Hurray!:

NASHUA – Mayor Jim Donchess said Friday the city will continue to go after a commuter rail service despite a vote in Concord against funding a train study.

Ugh...:

Nashua isn’t counting out getting a commuter rail line yet, however. The city has an agreement in place with Boston Surface Railroad, a private company the is exploring a commuter rail line that would connect Bedford, Nashua, and Lowell, Massachusetts. This could allow Nashua residents to travel to Lowell on the private line, and then take the MBTA service into Boston. This service would not be subsidized.

DOA ...

Boston Surface Railroad is all a pipe dream.

The current owner of the line from Nashua to North Chelmsford will neither sell nor allow a private entity operate trains on their line. See Milford & Bennington and New England Southern.

Are passenger rights (as distinct from freight rights) owned by the T? (What made the T or anyone else think they could run passenger/commuter trains to NH?)

Arlington wrote:Are passenger rights (as distinct from freight rights) owned by the T? (What made the T or anyone else think they could run passenger/commuter trains to NH?)

The T probably owns them between North Chelmsford and the state line, since they actually own the track there. That is the New Hampshire division, which the Lowell line currently operates on. MBTA owns past the station in Lowell all the way to the state line.

Pan Am owns the Stony Brook (CPF-WL to CPF-NC) and the Northern Mainline (former New Hampshire Division) between the state line and Concord.

I believe it has been said more than once that the T has the passenger rights in New Hampshire to a certain point.

I was very surprised to find this out.

It probably didn't cost them anything extra to get the passenger rights. I imagine the MBTA & Keolis would see BSRR as a competitor and probably make things difficult.

These people went public without talking to anyone first ... That should give you an idea on credibility ...

gokeefe wrote:I believe it has been said more than once that the T has the passenger rights in New Hampshire to a certain point.

Confirmed. In 2011, The MBTA/MassDOT acquired the rights to operate passenger service on the Lowell/NH line as far as Concord as part of the larger land-swap deal with PanAm (PanAm and its North Point real estate partners get rights to Old Lechmere in exchange for various parcels and rights for GLX and other things (like Worcester-Ayer))

Then the question would be if BSRR could be nominated by MassDOT as operator of a Lowell to NH service, even as it nominates Keolis to operate its other lines. As long as the service is passenger, I don't see why it couldn't be legally papered to everyone's satisfaction.

And I don't think MassDOT would consider BSRR "competition" (or call that a bad thing) any more than it calls the Downeaster competition--and it certainly considers the Downeaster officially a Good Thing. Everyone is fully aware of the "kinda" overlap with the Haverhill & Lowell lines, and everyone's happy with it as a mobility win, not a turf loss.

If the shareholders of BSRR are risk-seeking (dumb) enough to stake big $ on operating commuter service with MassDOT's blessing, I don't see why PAR would get to play spoiler.

https://www.mbta.com/news/2011-03-03/ma ... green-line" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

BSRR to Nashua & Manchester Airport (Bedford, NH) would make it hard for the T to build a layover facility near the state line.

[OT] BSRR claims that construction is underway between Worcester & Providence, with startup late 2020.

BandA wrote:BSRR to Nashua & Manchester Airport (Bedford, NH) would make it hard for the T to build a layover facility near the state line.

How so?

BandA wrote:BSRR to Nashua & Manchester Airport (Bedford, NH) would make it hard for the T to build a layover facility near the state line.

[OT] BSRR claims that construction is underway between Worcester & Providence, with startup late 2020.

Construction of what, please?

Rockingham Racer wrote:[BSRR claims] Construction of what, please?

OT Here. Maybe ask in the Boston Surface Railroad: Worcester-Providence Commuter Rail in the NE Railfan forum.