Foxboro Commuter Rail Extension

[Diverging Route]

Draft schedules have been published. See this presentation.

I find it interesting that Foxboro is designated Zone 4 ($8.75 o/w; $281/month) vs Zone 6 for Mansfield ($10.50 o/w; $340/month). Foxboro will presumably draw many from Mansfield (residents at Mansfield with a sticker get parking for $3 which is a good deal vs $7 for non-residents), so the net result could be less crowding of NEC trains to/from Mansfield.

[rethcir]

Awesome news for anyone attending an event at Gillette during the week as well.

[ohalloranchris]

Walpole commuters really get screwed. They are losing access to a few key peak service trains.

[Trinnau]

Cost is less but it's less flexibility and more time on the train. It's really up to the individual, where they are coming from to reach the station and how much their time is worth. The cost difference in a monthly pass works out to about $3 per working day, plus $3 cheaper parking per day or about a total of $120/month.

Looking at the morning service, Mansfield's slowest trip in is 46 minutes to South Station with express train 808 clocking in at only 31 minutes. There are 9 trains before 10am, all stopping at Back Bay and 4 at Ruggles. By comparison, the fastest ride in from Foxboro is 54 minutes. Of the 3 trains before 10am, 2 stop at Back Bay and only 1 at Ruggles.

808 Mansfield 7:45 to South Station 8:16 (31 minutes)
740 Foxboro 7:30 to South Station 8:24 (54 minutes)

The evening is similar between 3-7pm, with Mansfield having a max trip of 43 minutes and a few clocking in at 35. There are 7 trips and all stop at Back Bay and Ruggles. Foxboro's fastest is 55 minutes, with 3 trains and only 2 stop at Back Bay and Ruggles.

823 South Station 4:53 to Mansfield 5:32 (39 minutes)
745 South Station 5:03 to Foxboro 6:05 (62 minutes)

Assuming equal drive time to either Mansfield or Foxboro for a commuter making the competing trips above, the cost savings of $6/day is at the expense of 46 minutes of your time. To put it another way, you made $6 in 46 minutes. The equivalent of getting paid $8/hr.

Again, it's all up to the individual and there will certainly be people who make the shift. But if I currently afford the cost of riding from Mansfield, I'm likely not changing my commuting pattern unless I live considerably closer to Foxboro.

[Trinnau]

Walpole commuters really get screwed. They are losing access to a few key peak service trains.

Is it a reduction? Yes, but not sure about "really get screwed". In comparing the schedules, it looks like the two trains you are referring to are 740 and 745. 740 in the morning is only 10 minutes after 706 departing Walpole. 745 in the evening is also only 10 minutes before 719 arriving Walpole. So in both cases, Walpole has 2 stops in a 10 minute window and it looks like that's where the affected trains start and end their schedule. It appears those two trains are planned to go to Foxboro instead, and the trains that run to Franklin still make the stop at Walpole.

So they lose an inbound and an outbound stop, but there is still service at the station 10 minutes from those lost stops. Someone who has to shift trains adds 20 minutes to their day from their morning departure to evening return. Although they save 14 minutes in actual time on the train. Who knows, some of the people who take those trains today may actually prefer them going to Foxboro depending where they live.

[johnpbarlow]

54 MBTA daily train movements M-F over 5 miles of single track between Walpole and Norwood Central and at Readville seems like it might impact timekeeping. I'm guessing all CSX moves will be in the middle of the night. Is the line between Foxborough and Walpole signaled - I'm guessing yes as the preso says PTC has been installed?

[charding]

...are these Foxboro trains going to stop in Walpole at the Lewis Wye? Or will they just pass through...

[jamesinclair]

$1.68 million per year to add 210 riders to the system.

[ohalloranchris]

They will be passing through Walpole, no stop.

Another big concern: anyone who rides the system daily knows the commuter rail is constantly running short on equipment. Existing trains are too short and need more cars. Cancellations due to mechanical failure are common.

Adding more service just seems like these issues are bound to get worse.

[RenegadeMonster]

I was surprised to see them pushing the Foxboro Commuter Rail Service on air during the Patriots game.

[HenryAlan]

$1.68 million per year to add 210 riders to the system.

It's not about the riders who board at Foxboro. It's about doubling frequency on the inner core section of the Franklin and Fairmont lines.

[Trinnau]

Which it does not do. There is some increased service on the Franklin as a result but some of the trains going to Foxboro already existed, they are just re-routed. The Fairmount train count doesn't appear to change though new connections are offered. It's a far cry from doubling the service frequency.

[StephenB]

Wow, Walpole will now have over a 2 1/2 hour gap on inbound trains from 5:24 to 8:11PM plus the trains lost in the morning, never mind the outbound schedule losses.

That's huge considering that there are almost 300 apartments nearing completion in two major projects adjacent to Walpole Station. Are those people in for a surprise when they see the Walpole schedule shrink with instructions to *drive* to Foxborough (and pay for parking) to catch their train.

Any thinking the T has for building a new platform in Walpole south of the present station and parking lot to enable Foxborough trains to load/unload in Walpole best be pushed along.

I wonder if anybody on this Foxborough pilot project has even noticed all these new trackside apartments (along with another 100+ apartments and condos not half a mile away down East St.) going up and opening this fall right as the Foxborough service starts?

[Bill Reidy]

That's huge considering that there are almost 300 apartments nearing completion in two major projects adjacent to Walpole Station.

Sadly not surprising. Consider phase 1 for South Coast Rail. The existing Middleborough/Lakeville station, next to two large apartment complexes will be bypassed. Both Kensington Court and the Sterling Place Apartments highlight their proximity to rail on their websites.

With the actions planned here and in Walpole, it's hard not to see the state's stated commitment to transit oriented development as largely just lip service.

[daybeers]

Mannnnn I hate the planners at the MBTA!