RI South County/TF Green Airport Commuter Rail Service

I was wondering if anyone knew when construction is supposed to start on extending commuter rail to RI south county and TF Green Airport? Also was wondering what the estimated year of opening would be?

Thanks

there isn't a starting point to this project yet

It was mentioned on Airliners.net that all the funding is in place for the project. The only thing holding up the project is Amtrak, who is making it difficult to agree on certain parts of the project.

apodino wrote:It was mentioned on Airliners.net that all the funding is in place for the project. The only thing holding up the project is Amtrak, who is making it difficult to agree on certain parts of the project.

I don't see the reasoning why Amtrak should be quick to cooperate on a
project which is going to add congestion to their railroad and help their
competetion.
Noel Weaver

I don't see it being competitive. Amtrak currently doesn't run trains north in the morning in Rhode Island at commuter hours. In the evening, they may even gain ridership; at present, many MBTA riders use Amtrak to Providence, so if Kingstown were on the
Rhode Island commuter rail (which at present it isn't
although I think it will be eventually.) they would maybe even gain riders. I think one of the real issues is evening scheduling and track congestion; there are already a lot of MBTA and Amtrak trains in the PM hours. I think Amtrak would prefer that the Rhode
Island trains be electric so they can go as fast as the
Amtrak trains and not slow down the system, but the
T and RIDOT don't want to pay for them.

What is the difference in capital expenditure for an electric loco as opposed to a diesel electric?

trainhq wrote:I don't see it being competitive. Amtrak currently doesn't run trains north in the morning in Rhode Island at commuter hours. In the evening, they may even gain ridership; at present, many MBTA riders use Amtrak to Providence, so if Kingstown were on the
Rhode Island commuter rail (which at present it isn't
although I think it will be eventually.) they would maybe even gain riders. I think one of the real issues is evening scheduling and track congestion; there are already a lot of MBTA and Amtrak trains in the PM hours. I think Amtrak would prefer that the Rhode
Island trains be electric so they can go as fast as the
Amtrak trains and not slow down the system, but the
T and RIDOT don't want to pay for them.

Amtrak's competetion goes out of T. F. Green Airport and has wings.
Noel Weaver

Nobody flies from Providence to Boston. I doubt many fly from Providence to NYC. So I don't see where the competition is.

Amtrak service to TF Green would act as a feeder to and from the airport, for people flying to and from places that are outside the Northeast Corridor.

Ron Newman wrote:Nobody flies from Providence to Boston. I doubt many fly from Providence to NYC. So I don't see where the competition is.

Providence to Philly and Providence to BWI are the only real competition. However I doubt there is enough competition between the two to justify the "competition" claims- not when it's COMMUTER RAIL that is being discussed.

Amtrak service to TF Green would act as a feeder to and from the airport, for people flying to and from places that are outside the Northeast Corridor.

Commuter Rail service to and from TF Green yes...Amtrak not.

One advantage of a Green Airport station to Amtrak's business travelers from the south would be convenient access to a plethora of rental car agencies that are open extended hours.

That would be a major plus. I've used the rentals at
Newark airport from Newark airport train station many
times, and it's much better than having to take a cab
from downtown Newark. I think a lot of other people
do it that way too. That would be a big plus for T.F. Green.

TPR37777 wrote:What is the difference in capital expenditure for an electric loco as opposed to a diesel electric?

Quite a lot, considering they'd have to electrify the TG Green spur. Also, the MBTA doesn't want to convert to electric locos on the Providence line, as then they'd have an entirely different locomotive type to maintain, that they could only run on that one line.

There's going to be a spur? I thought TF Green was just going to be an added station stop on the main line.

Here's a link describing an outline of the project.

http://www.fta.dot.gov/documents/RI_Providence_2006.doc.

It looks like the T would run it. I would expect it will
be diesel; however, they could still run electrics and
sub out the maintenance to Amtrak. Don't think they'll
do that, however.

the link doesn't work