trainsinmaine wrote:The establishment of commuter service on the Eastern between Portsmouth and Boston would be a dream come true for a lot of coastal folk who work in Boston. I look at those weed-covered rails lying there, as well as the similarly dormant rails of the Central Mass. between Waltham and Hudson, and think, "Why isn't anything happening?"
I don't know how long it's been since anyone did a study of the cost to rebuild the route from Newburyport eastward, or what the most recent estimate was, but I'll bet it was at least eight figures. One big expense would be the replacement of the Merrimack River bridge between Newburyport and Salisbury. Since the adjacent U.S. Rt. 1 bridge is a drawbridge, I'm assuming any new railroad bridge would also require a movable span. A new design with the trusses above the water might allow it to be opened less often, but the approaches might still have to be raised somewhat. I just discovered with Street View that the Newburyport end of it was removed completely. I wouldn't even want to guess what it would cost to replace other missing bridges along the route, most of which I think are on the MA side of the state line.
Add in possible resistance to any "rail trails" losing their exclusive use of the line (i.e., becoming "rail-
with-trail"), and I'd be greatly surprised if it happened. Yes, I'd be pleasantly surprised, but I'm not expecting to see it during my lifetime.
Maybe if they actually built something instead of throwing away money on a study every 10-12 years, there'd be some sense to it. But like the man said above, "idiot Seacoast legislators." That, and as Robert Heinlein wrote, "The answer to any question starting, 'Why don't they-' is almost always, 'Money'."
Then again, while we always
hoped that someday the Eastern Route would get past Ipswich again, maybe we didn't quite think
that would happen, either. "Never say never," I guess.