Worcester Service to Boston "Heart to Hub"

Compare the "median income" and house prices for Waban, Newton Center, Newton Highland Zip Codes where there are Green Line stations offering 5 minute? headways, compared to Newtonville, West Newton and Auburndale which have ~1/2 hour headways and >2 hour headways? off peak, at three times the price. The wealthier zipcodes are getting much better service than the wealthy but not quite as wealthy zipcodes on the north side of Newton.

I'd guess that the frequent service is attracting wealthier residents more than the wealthier residents are attracting better service. The Riverside Line opened in 1959, before most people bought their houses (or were born), and was always going to have more frequent service than the commuter rail.

In a sense, the Riverside line is an upgrade, with fast and frequent rapid transit schedules (and a lower subway
fare) than rail.

Same applies to Quincy when the South Shore Line opened in 1971.

BandA wrote: ↑Wed Oct 04, 2023 1:50 pm I'm of the opinion that center platforms at the existing three Newton stations are not practical. Replacing Mass Pike bridges would cost more than the extra elevators required for side platforms. I'm sure full-high platforms would be required, with platform heaters to melt snow and full awning covers. Maybe they can use ramps for Track 1 with only one elevator? And there might be enough room in Auburndale for ramps for Track 2. Track 1 platform, they should be able to emergency evacuate by climbing onto the embankments, Track 2 evacuation zone should be easy in Auburndale. Auburndale is curvy making platform design hard.

Again, you wouldn't need to modify the bridges at all. Newtonville has a longer platform than it needs. Take a look at how long Boston Landing is on Google Maps (by the way, Boston Landing is long enough to platform the entire train), measure it with a ruler, and then scroll over to Newtonville and measure that platform. You'll see that Newtonville is way longer than it needs to be (almost double the length of the Boston Landing platform), and a center platform of the same legnth of Boston Landing would fit where track 2 can be moved to accomodate the platform, without having to move the bridge piers. West Newton has a wider ROW than Newtonville, so they may be able to do the same there without having to touch the bridge. Auburndale is exactly the same case as Newtonville; the platform is way longer than it needs to be, and a new reasonably sized center platform can be placed without having to touch the bridges.

Ridership Increase: Streetsblog

T Sees Increased Worcester Line Ridership After Sacrificing ‘Heart to Hub’ Express

A schedule change that sacrificed a daily Boston-to-Worcester express train for one that makes more stops in suburban MetroWest communities appears to have helped the MBTA attract hundreds of additional riders.

But Worcester leaders say that it's another example of how state policymakers prioritize Boston over other regions in the Commonwealth.

From 2016 until last fall, the MBTA ran a daily "Heart to Hub" express train, which ran express between Worcester and Framingham and again between Framingham and Lansdowne station in Boston.
...

Jeff Smith wrote: ↑Sat Apr 20, 2024 10:40 am Ridership Increase: Streetsblog

A schedule change that sacrificed a daily Boston-to-Worcester express train for one that makes more stops in suburban MetroWest communities appears to have helped the MBTA attract hundreds of additional riders.

But Worcester leaders say that it's another example of how state policymakers prioritize Boston over other regions in the Commonwealth.

Well leaders it was a chicken and egg try. The egg laid was tried with limited stops however the chickens did not show up to ride.

Oh they definitely favor Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, etc over Worcester! That's why Ma$$ Pike drivers have paid for their highway three times and are paying the mortgage on the Big Dig, while drivers going north & south have no tolls.

west point wrote: ↑Sat Apr 20, 2024 9:56 pm Well leaders it was a chicken and egg try. The egg laid was tried with limited stops however the chickens did not show up to ride.

The farmers are doing better overall, an additional 400 passengers each day, but they're getting less efficient at ridership.

Using the numbers from article, ridership was averaging between 120-200 per station when the train only stopped in Worcester and Framingham. The additional five stops added an average of 80 riders per station, less efficient on a per stop basis, and we don't know how much of that is net new or just swap from other trains.

I feel for the folks in Worcester, I did that commute every day for over five years, starting on the p508/p523 combo and took H2H/p523 almost exclusively from when it started until I relocated to Boston. A long commute isn't healthy physically or mentally for most people, and make no mistake H2H still represented a long commute. Having it suddenly lengthened by 20 minutes/30% travel time has a non-linear negative impact on the quality of most folk's lives.

I'm no fan of East-West Rail, but I'm hopeful that the funding for track/station improvements between Worcester and Boston that are part of that project reduces the runtime of zonal express and allows for the reinstatement of H2H.

Express service to return!

"We're adding back an express train that will shorten the trip for Worcester (riders), but also allow all the other stations along that corridor to not be impacted that have enjoyed improved service and frequency," Eng told board members Thursday morning.

Maybe the MBTA needs to lower their operating costs so that a train with 400 passengers breaks even. In addition to shaving off minutes due to switch congestion outside South Station and dwell time at low level platforms like BBY, Newtonville, West Newton, Auburndale, Wellesley Farms, Wellesley Hills and Wellesley Square. If those were converted to high platforms you could have electric trainline doors, reducing the workload on conductors giving them more time to supervise fare collection.

If all operating and maintenance crews were museum volunteers the service wouldn't break even. It's amazing you call for breaking even and in the same breath call for crazy capital expenses.