SLE Westbrook Station (was: What happened to the new?)

F-line to Dudley via Park wrote:That's still kind of chintzy building at 300 feet knowing in advance that they were going to be running 4-car sets of M8's. I hope they left room on the ground to cheaply expand these platforms later.

In case I was not clear, I'm fairly certain they're building these platforms exactly long enough for four-car M8 sets.

I just think if you're going to build a station, make it long enough for longer trains to stop there which allows for future growth. CDOT has a habit of being cheap with SLE stations, but the two new stations on the New Haven Line (Fairfield Metro & West Haven) are 12 car lengths long, yet they run no 12 car trains east of Stamford. Go figure.

This is why the state of MA's longstanding "800 feet or none at all" policy for unconstrained new construction is such a good one. There's only 2 lines on the whole MBTA system that ever run rush hour sets that long--and definitely nothing running on the new Vermonter route that'll ever reach that long--but they will never again have to modify the footprint anywhere or take out a single permit for a platform extension ever again for having done that. Total future-proofing.

Penny-wise, pound-foolish. I bet it's less than 10 years before SLE has to run enough 6-car consists on the peak-hour schedule for the extra dwell time to start irking Amtrak and put pressure on CDOT to to mod these stations all over again. I hope they don't make this same mistake on NHHS.

Westbrook, Branford, Guilford and Clinton platform lengths will all be 204ft long, not 300ft when construction is complete.
Platforms along New Haven-Hartford-Springfield line will receive 500ft long platforms.

Short platforms and long trains suck!! I can't tell you how much whining I'd heard hear from the passengers when I would be running an 8 car train and stopping at either a 4 or 6 car platform. "Why don't all the doors open?" I'd usually reply, "Because Connecticut is too cheap to build longer platforms!!!" Another curious fact: All platforms on the New Haven Line In NY are 10 car lengths long, except for track 3 at New Rochelle (9 cars) and track 4/2 at New Rochelle (8* cars).

* Track 4 at New Rochelle holds 8 MU cars, but only 7 cars with end doors (Amfleet/Bombardier coaches).

sixthflick wrote:Westbrook, Branford, Guilford and Clinton platform lengths will all be 204ft long, not 300ft when construction is complete.
Platforms along New Haven-Hartford-Springfield line will receive 500ft long platforms.

Nope, Westbrook is definitely 300-310 feet long. (East end of this measurement based on my personal photographs - it extends a few feet past the base of the towers.)
The Amtrak stations on the NHHS line will get 500-foot platforms I believe by 2016, but commuter-only North Haven/Hamden, Newington, and Enfield (not currently funded) will get 180-foot platforms. The second State Street platform will also be 180 feet. See design plans.

The EGE wrote: Nope, Westbrook is definitely 300-310 feet long. (East end of this measurement based on my personal photographs - it extends a few feet past the base of the towers.)

Trust me, I have THE construction documents in front of me for Westbrook, Branford, Guilford, Clinton, Madison, Berlin, Wallingford, Meriden, and New Haven.
As previously mentioned, SLE platforms will be 204'-0".
Platforms lengths while typically (and should be) based on the consist length, are quite frequently determined by the available funding.

Yeah, you're right - I was mistaking the one stone base in that image for the base of the elevator tower. The non-Amtrak stops along NHHS do still seem to be planned for 180 feet, with the Amtrak stops (as you said) at 500. Makes me wonder a) why any of these numbers - 180, 204, and 500 feet - were chosen as standards, and b) why CDOT doesn't standardized on one platform length like MNRR, MBTA, and Amtrak all do.

Considering the state is broke it sounds like an "either we build something less for all the stations or we build nothing at all" situation. But regardless the platform lengths as they are will suffice for the time being until, as pointed out, train lengths increase. Walking up one or 2 cars to get off may not be ideal, but it's hardly a royal pain either. I did it countless numbers of times when de-training at Madison when the old wooden platform was in use and never had a problem with it (other than the fact that after over 10 years there wasn't a "proper" station in place )

For some reason, passing between cars on the diesel-hauled trains isn't as difficult as passing between MUs.
Ever try to go from 1 MU to another to use the bathroom while the train is moving?

Lee Carlson.

NH2060 wrote:Considering the state is broke it sounds like an "either we build something less for all the stations or we build nothing at all" situation.

Bingo! It's better to receive a small raise, then no raise at all!

Westbrook should be about wrapped up by now, though I'm not in the area. Branford is now starting construction on the second platform, pedestrian bridge, and kiss-and-ride lot: http://www.branfordseven.com/business/a ... f6878.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That leaves just State Street (funded), Clinton (supposed to go to bidding in October, but no longer on the state bidding list), and Madison (supposed to have gone out to bid this year; haven't heard anything) on the to-do list. The same list gives 7/16/2014 as the bid date for the Guilford and Old Saybrook siding electrifications (i.e, major line item before them can use M8s).

The EGE wrote:Westbrook should be about wrapped up by now, though I'm not in the area. Branford is now starting construction on the second platform, pedestrian bridge, and kiss-and-ride lot: http://www.branfordseven.com/business/a ... f6878.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That leaves just State Street (funded), Clinton (supposed to go to bidding in October, but no longer on the state bidding list), and Madison (supposed to have gone out to bid this year; haven't heard anything) on the to-do list. The same list gives 7/16/2014 as the bid date for the Guilford and Old Saybrook siding electrifications (i.e, major line item before them can use M8s).

It will be quite a while (if ever) before you see M8's making SLE stops!!!

Clean Cab wrote:

The EGE wrote:Westbrook should be about wrapped up by now, though I'm not in the area. Branford is now starting construction on the second platform, pedestrian bridge, and kiss-and-ride lot: http://www.branfordseven.com/business/a ... f6878.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That leaves just State Street (funded), Clinton (supposed to go to bidding in October, but no longer on the state bidding list), and Madison (supposed to have gone out to bid this year; haven't heard anything) on the to-do list. The same list gives 7/16/2014 as the bid date for the Guilford and Old Saybrook siding electrifications (i.e, major line item before them can use M8s).

It will be quite a while (if ever) before you see M8's making SLE stops!!!

At the rate the deliveries are going vs. the original schedule the last ceremonial run of an M4/M6 set on the NHL, first ceremonial revenue run of the 8's on SLE, and first ceremonial revenue run of NHHS may all happen in the same calendar year. If the baseline for even getting them decent burn-in testing east of New Haven in prep for SLE revenue service is full and unequivocal replacement of the MNRR fleet, we're still 2 years away. And then NHHS is...at latest estimate...only 1 year beyond that when all the diesel equipment has to be reassigned. It's depressingly sluggish progress on the stations, but it's not that big a calendar gap given that most of the car delivery delays were racked up early along in the process.

F-line to Dudley via Park wrote:

Clean Cab wrote:

The EGE wrote:Westbrook should be about wrapped up by now, though I'm not in the area. Branford is now starting construction on the second platform, pedestrian bridge, and kiss-and-ride lot: http://www.branfordseven.com/business/a ... f6878.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That leaves just State Street (funded), Clinton (supposed to go to bidding in October, but no longer on the state bidding list), and Madison (supposed to have gone out to bid this year; haven't heard anything) on the to-do list. The same list gives 7/16/2014 as the bid date for the Guilford and Old Saybrook siding electrifications (i.e, major line item before them can use M8s).

It will be quite a while (if ever) before you see M8's making SLE stops!!!

At the rate the deliveries are going vs. the original schedule the last ceremonial run of an M4/M6 set on the NHL, first ceremonial revenue run of the 8's on SLE, and first ceremonial revenue run of NHHS may all happen in the same calendar year. If the baseline for even getting them decent burn-in testing east of New Haven in prep for SLE revenue service is full and unequivocal replacement of the MNRR fleet, we're still 2 years away. And then NHHS is...at latest estimate...only 1 year beyond that when all the diesel equipment has to be reassigned. It's depressingly sluggish progress on the stations, but it's not that big a calendar gap given that most of the car delivery delays were racked up early along in the process.

Exactly. One way or another something HAS to cover SLE operations before the NHHS startup in 2016-17 when the current SLE fleet will be needed. And even if all SLE stops don't have double platforms by then that only hampers the rollout of full bi-directional service. The existing sched at least to OSB can be covered by the M-8s once Westbrook is open.