fredmcain wrote: ↑Mon Nov 06, 2023 8:01 amYes, but that’s only an opinion and an opinion that I respect as far as that goes. However, “robelybasis” stated that the restoration of track #3 is already in the works although that’s not gonna happen right away.
Color me very skeptical, as those 90 parking spots are pretty valuable. I suppose they can make that industrial running track in Milford a real track that can be used by passengers during the day and then freight at night with the right crossovers, so that's less of an issue.
A westbound Amtrak express arrives in New Haven a few minutes late. So, the dispatcher goes ahead and lets the Metro-North local go ahead of Amtrak. Meanwhile, an eastbound Amtrack train is approaching Devon on track #2 overtaking and eastbound M-N train on track #4.
This seems like a really specific issue. They could use another crossover 1-2 WB just east of the 3-1 WB crossover where the 3 track turns into an industrial running lead, which would allow a WB Amtrak to be lined 1-2 WB while an MN local that stopped at West Haven (and eventually Orange) is lined 3-1 at the same time. In theory they could put 2mi of the 3 track back in between Milford and Devon, but I don't see much value in it. The big value for capacity is Devon Transfer and Barnum Station, with Amtrak getting out of Bridgeport, and some locals terminating at Devon Transfer or heading to NHV.
That's really just crappy dispatching. Let the MN go ahead on 3, throw it in the hole when you get to the 3-track section. Orange will be just east of the 3-track section, so they can hold the MN at Orange for the Amtrak to blow by, and then put it right behind.
In spite of the fact that all tracks now have bidirectional signaling restoring track three would increase flexibility.
So, the bottom line is, is it really worth the money to restore track #3 in order to achieve that little bit of flexibility? I guess it is but then again it might not be. It just all depends on your point of view AND on how much rail traffic grows in the coming years.
For one, the real bottleneck is Devon/Bridgeport much more so than the Milford 3-track section. Going down the line, STM is a bit of a bottleneck, and SHELL Interlocking is going to see a HUGE increase in traffic with PSA.
SHELL Interlocking is getting upgraded, so for capacity, I'd invest in some minor tweaks to STM, Barnum Station in Bridgeport, Devon Transfer, Orange Station, and I'd standardize platform length at 12 cars all the way from GCT to NHV.
Then, the other issue at hand is the parking. Milford is already out of parking. Subtracting 90 spots for a track that might eliminate a couple of minutes of delay once in a while is not a good trade-off. Adding the Orange station and a kiss-and-ride/bike/pedestrian/bus accessible Devon Transfer would take pressure off of Milford and increase overall capacity of the line, while adding the 3 track in Milford would not.
Certainly, if there were a renaissance of freight traffic on the Shore Line, restoring track #3 would be absolutely necessary but, then again, that might never happen. It would be nice if it could happen, though, there are far too many trucks on the road.
Even if the majority of the rail-accessible businesses along this stretch came back as rail-served customers, a few crossovers to run passenger traffic on 2 tracks and jump onto 3 to get to the West Haven and Orange Stations between 2200 and 0500 or thereabouts would be all that's needed to give CSX more time and drill track to serve their local customers. Realistically, there aren't going to be very many beyond the ones that are already there.
If you're talking about through freight from a Cross-Harbor rail tunnel between Oak Island, and Cedar Hill, the studies show two daily trains, one in each direction, which would have virtually zero effect on capacity or need for an additional track, as they would run overnight or midday when passenger traffic is low, and probably have a slightly better ability to get out of their own way than CHFP when it's loaded with 12,000 tons of stone. Even if you added COFC Intermodal to the mix, you're talking a few trains each day in each direction that would run during off-peak hours.