Another caveat in the whole aspect of the N-S tunnel (and this has been talked about for many, many, many years) is that you'd need to replace the diesels with electric trains in the "tunnel" (apologies if that was mentioned already). And having stops in the tunnel would mean more fumes. It's like old steam engines blowing smoke into the cab so the engineer can't see, so SP and others developed the cab forward locomotive. It might make more sense to have an underground N-S shuttle train. And since only one line is electrified south and none north, you can't really have an electric train run as a regular commuter service between north and south. The costs would be really high to electrify the whole north side. I am sure the top dogs don't care as long as the cut lines their pockets and those that contribute to them, where the working stiffs and people in the "salt mines" who see this as not being feasible given the current infrastructure and told "if you don't stop talking, we'll stop paying you..." and they go quiet.
Just 2 cents worth, I've thought a lot about the tunnel idea for a long time. From a rail fan standpoint, I love to see growth and expansion (and use) of train services. From a taxpayers standpoint, I just can't see the overall justification given what we have in place now.
Make the current services (Covid aside) more accessible (double track the WRML, increase the frequency of trains in more remote areas to make taking the train from say Gloucester, Lowell or even Southern NH to Boston for those daily commuters, it adds revenue once people realize that it adds a lot of fuel to updating infrastructure versus building a tunnel (and most all of us know the term 'Big Dig' and what a "bargain" that was supposed to be...)
Just 2 cents worth, I've thought a lot about the tunnel idea for a long time. From a rail fan standpoint, I love to see growth and expansion (and use) of train services. From a taxpayers standpoint, I just can't see the overall justification given what we have in place now.
Make the current services (Covid aside) more accessible (double track the WRML, increase the frequency of trains in more remote areas to make taking the train from say Gloucester, Lowell or even Southern NH to Boston for those daily commuters, it adds revenue once people realize that it adds a lot of fuel to updating infrastructure versus building a tunnel (and most all of us know the term 'Big Dig' and what a "bargain" that was supposed to be...)