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In the interests of some lighthearted fun, some questions: Novice level: My friends and I grew up asking "Why didn't Charlie's wife just hand him a nickel?" Answers to this question are welcome. Advanced level Why didn't Charlie's wife just walk over to a surface stop near Lechemere Sq so ...

Likely route for the RDCs from VT to ME? Would they be likely to be delivered in freight trains (can they be set up to run safely as towed cars?) or under their own power? If under their own power, I assume they would require an engineer qualified on the equipment and a pilot qualified on each stret...

It says "or" after 1(ii) and after 2(i), which should mean that only one of those conditions apply.

My guesses, depending on who turns out to want to ride: Service attracts mostly tourists on scenic rides or day trips: maybe same # cars every day, maybe a little more on weekends. Service attracts a lot of riders connecting with the DE to/from rental cottages etc: more cars on weekends, esp midday ...

That's a point, charlesriverbranch. But does it matter, as long as people ride the thing?

I bet they are going to call the train (ie the service) the Coastliner, not call the RDC (ie the equipment) the Coastliner. As in, now departing on track 1, the 9:30 am Coastliner for Rockland, making stations stops at.... At least, that would make more sense. Most potential riders won't be concerne...

Westfield is only 10 miles from Springfield. 10 fast, well connected by interstate highway miles. Ten fast miles for someone in a car? To be parked in downtown Springfield? Ten fast miles by bus? On the scale of a 90-mile trip to Boston, or a shorter trip to Worcester, or wherever, ten miles is sig...

I could easily believe that an agency that's been contracting for commuter rail (or whatever) should keep contracting for it unless there's substantial evidence of substantial gains. Change is expensive and stressful. On the other hand, any large organization--any organization that acts like a large...

Indeed. I've never understood why hiring a for-profit company to do an ongoing, everyday service is any better than using the government's own people. It can only be cheaper if the contractor skimps on maintenance or pays the workers less so as to save enough to more than cover profit for its invest...

Mr. Norman, I have seethed a few times waiting in a long line at Champaign-Urbana while conductors checked all tickets at the door--when the train was already late. I've been a little disappointed by it in a short line at Effingham--when the train was also already late--but at least one of those tim...

The RTAs are required to contract out all service under Mass General Laws 161B. I spent a summer as an intern for the person in the EOTC who was oversaw the RTAs back in the 1990s, and that was one of the first things I learned. Back then there was one exception, the Greenfield Montague Transportati...

Governments answer to the voters--in theory, to almost everyone. Corporations answer to their investors--many of whom don't even live in the area the corporations operate in. In government projects, corruption is sometimes a problem; in private projects, some things that would be illegal corruption ...

I saw half a dozen Wolverines in Kalamazoo and Albion last week (March 31-April 2) and all of them had at least one Siemens car. I saw at least three different consists, a couple of which were mixed Amfleet-Horizon-Siemens and one of which was three or four Siemens and an Amfleet cafe.

It does seem silly not to stop in Westfield. With a route as winding and slow as this one, another stop is not going to make the trip substantially longer and would make the travel time for anyone going to or from Westfield a lot quicker. I just looked at Google Maps and noticed (a) space for a plat...

Would an east-west rail line to Springfield and/or beyond work better or worse if it expressed past most of of the stations between Framingham and Back Bay (and also between the Mass. state line and Albany)? That depends on who wants to go where. Maybe there's a suburbs-to-Springfield market. Coord...