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  • Boston Surface Railroad: Worcester-Providence Commuter Rail

  • Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New England
Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New England

Moderators: MEC407, NHN503

 #1600732  by BandA
 
I've been trying to understand their business model, which seems to be contracting out operations, buying or leasing everything for pennies on the dollar (lots of Iowa Pacific rolling stock is on the blocks, right?), signing cooperation or exclusivity deals with municipalities, and being more nimble than the MBTA. Being nimbler than the T is the only part that is easy.

Their chance of success was probably 1-10% of Brightline's and is less now since they have been radio silent.
 #1600738  by markhb
 
Jeff Smith wrote: Mon Jun 27, 2022 1:32 pm What does BSR stand for? Bullsh!t Railroad? LOL. If they want service, which makes sense, they should just contract it with P&W.
My impression, or at least the impression they gave, was that they were negotiating a plan with P&W when it was independent. When P&W was bought out by G&W, that apparently all fell apart and since then they've just become exceedingly strange.
 #1601358  by MaineCoonCat
 
Just wondering how long before Bono et al. finally call it quits..

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 #1601379  by BandA
 
NH secretary of state website shows them "not in good standing" as they haven't filed their 2022 annual report which was due on April 1. Again. At $100 + $50 late fee plus whatever he has to pay his registered agent, I guess he can keep doing this for a long time...
 #1601612  by MaineCoonCat
 
My question is: at this juncture, what is the point of continuing this, obviously ill advised exercise? Is there some hidden financial advantage?

Oh, their "Linked-in" page still shows them in the Woonsocket depot..

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 #1601648  by Douglasphil
 
Even their first proposal ,way back, was a head scratcher ,3 commuter trips a day between Providence and Worcester ,with just a stop in Woonsocket RI in between . No indication if the service was for a Providence or a Worcester commute, with only 3 trips a day you can't have both. And I've lived in Woonsocket a few times over the years , not many residents commute to downtown Providence or Worcester. And then they really got weird proposing service to every medium sized city south of the Canadian border.
 #1601661  by MaineCoonCat
 
Douglasphil wrote: Wed Jul 06, 2022 1:01 pm Even their first proposal ,way back, was a head scratcher ,.
Yes, and the interim bus idea befuddled me. I'd have thought if there was money to be made on that, Peter Pan would've jumped on that decades ago..

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 #1601757  by BandA
 
Honesty and good communication are critical. And staying on top of the details. If they had started out with "hey we've got a great idea, we know it is a longshot but if we can make it happen it will be great for everybody" it would have gone better. Going radio silent when the going gets tough doesn't help either.
 #1601758  by BandA
 
Of the segments proposed, WOR-PVD, Bedford NH-Lowell MA, Lowell MA to WOR the Bedford NH - Lowell fills a real need. There is a whole thread about it extending Commuter Rail to NH. NH wants it, too bad they can't subsidize it and the passengers don't want to pay MBTA's costs.

NNEPRA wants NYG-Portland?? Bar Harbor??. A group in CT wants Norwich-WOR service. MassDOT wants BOS-Albany, BOS-Adams, "knowledge corridor", etc. Not crazier than Southcoast Rail...
 #1606721  by MaineCoonCat
 
Hmmmm.. Site's down.. Server down? Or is this finally "it"?
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Fri 09/16/2022 11:10 EDT Still down.
Last edited by MaineCoonCat on Fri Sep 16, 2022 10:12 am, edited 3 times in total.
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