Boston Surface Railroad: Worcester-Providence Commuter Rail

If they've signed a lease on commercial space for a headquarters it's not completely foam. Somebody's put up actual cash, and the leasing entity is legit enough to pass a landlord credit check.

We shall see.

The article says they are leasing the station from the state (of RI), so who knows how much due-diligence they do or if it is market rate.

According to Ms. Nicole Dunn the Community Relations director at BSRC who returned my call to 401-216-8800 :

o It's a matter of public record that BSRC is leasing the station for $1,000 a month plus all maintenance, utilities and repairs under $10,000 per item. She says that RIDOT spent $63,000 in 2015 on those items that we not reimbursed from the Park Service or Non-Profit BlackStone Valley that were tenants for free there paying utilities only. She would not e-mail me a copy of the lease.

o According to her since there are sensitive negotiations with the "Host Railroads" that involve Unions and the SEC they have been very quiet press-wise and only are releasing information when the Press approaches them.

o They are exploring a Woonsocket - Providence initial start

o They are looking at a major announcement in July

o She has never heard of the railroad.net forum (LOL)

lakest101 wrote:
o She has never heard of the railroad.net forum (LOL)

WHAT!?

Appeared today in FedNotices:

http://www.stb.dot.gov/home.nsf/case?op ... FD_36043_0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD
FINANCE DOCKET NO. 36043
BOSTON SURFACE RAILROAD COMPANY, INC.
PETITION FOR PARTIAL EXEMPTION FROM 49 U.S.C. SUBTITLE IV

I haven't been paying attention to this because when I first heard it I thought it sounded silly and extremely unrealistic. Anyone care to give a quick summery of where this project currently stands?

I've been following along as best I can but the company is pretty closed mouthed about progress. The filing to be a Common Carrier with the STB is a pretty big deal - the filing fees are close to ten grand.

See my earlier posts about them making an announcement in July.

I have friends at the P&W who are convinced that this is moving forward - one is a senior trainmaster there.

Also I have colleagues at Jacobs Engineering who state that BSRC is spending real money both with them and with Amtrak on engineering work - designs too not just "studies".

I don't know if it will really happen but I have to be honest I think these guys are just as far along in the 2-3 years that they have been around as some RI-DOT or MASS-DOT projects which have been in the works - ostensibly - for decades.

Their Communications director is friendly and reachable if a little stiff.

What's frustrating is that since they don't seem to be using government money or asking for government assistance - so far - the process is incredibly closed.

Personally I want to be able to get on a train in Worcester and go to our RI office tomorrow not in 2025.

At 4 trains a day, 2 in the morning heading towards Providence, and 2 in the evening heading away, it'll be a commuter rail operation for Providence.
I wonder what rolling stock they plan to use? There's plenty of old ex-GO F59PH locomotives available they could use, but which coaches are available? Or are they planning to use brand new equipment?

electricron wrote:Or are they planning to use brand new equipment?

Will the line be all high-platform? Maybe MARC IIs if they want to own their own, but it makes sense to borrow from MBTA.

mtuandrew wrote:
Will the line be all high-platform? Maybe MARC IIs if they want to own their own, but it makes sense to borrow from MBTA.

Does MBTA have that many spare coach cars to share?

Boston Surface Railroad Co (BS RR) has submitted a filing with the STB that reveals their proposed Worcester-Woonsocket-Providence schedule (2 RTs/day departing Worcester in AM and returning in the evening at 1:20 duration) and pricing ($10 to $16 per trip). BS RR has MOU with Amtrak (won't be operating on NEC but on Amtrak track 7 into/out of PVD station), is negotiating with P&WRR who is proposed operator, and is seeking to acquire interstate capable and Amtrak compliant locomotives and cars.

http://www.stb.dot.gov/filings/all.nsf/ ... 240954.pdf

Interesting (and erroneous) statement wrt competition in the Worcester-PVD lane:

At present there are no direct flights between the two cities, and round trip fares range from $546 to $1,021. Because such
flights are not direct, they require travel time of from 7 hours to 19.5 hours. Bus travel between the two cities is inexpensive, but the estimated time for a one-way trip by bus
is three hours and forty-five minutes [BSRR cites Greyhound web site but in fact Peter Pan bus currently offers one daily morning rush trip at 1 hour 25 minute duration between Worcester and PVD priced at $23 and one late afternoon PVD to Worcester trip at $20 for almost 2 hour duration.]. Intercity rail service between the two cities is currently available, but the service is not direct; a first leg from Worcester to Boston takes an hour and a half, and the second leg from Boston takes an additional hour and twenty minutes.

Given there is only limited semi-rush hour Worcester-PVD bus service at roughly the same price that BS RR is proposing for its service, I wonder if there really is a market for this offering. It doesn't appear to me that BS RR has done its homework thoroughly enough. We will see ...

More info in this thread:

viewtopic.php?f=137&t=160242&start=75&h ... on+surface

Also looking here :

http://www.stb.dot.gov/filings/all.nsf/ ... 240954.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

In the Exhibit B - cut and paste was unreadable but its an expanded schedule - as much as I personally want WORCESTER - PROVIDENCE, WOONSOCKET - PROVIDENCE looks like the real revenue maker.

https://goo.gl/photos/yoscauWxRtPcMiqMA" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

No, the T has a coach shortage right now.

deathtopumpkins wrote:No, the T has a coach shortage right now.

Makes sense. I was going off BandA's post upthread for a suggested "deadhead" revenue run using T equipment:

BandA wrote:I read somewhere that the "T" CR deadheads (a doubleset?) from Worcester to Boston to Providence at the end of the day. I assume that even today a direct Worcester-Providence routing of a deadhead would be faster, although they would have to pay P&W rather than running on their own tracks. Are the labor & fuel costs for a longer run smaller than trackage fees & inefficiency handing off the train?

But, if MBTA doesn't have enough equipment anyway and would prefer revenue runs WOR-BOS and BOS-PVD (or BOS-TF Green), that isn't going to help BSRY.

It'd be fun to see something oddball like the SNC (LIRR) C1s or the SLE Constitution Liners (SPVs), but something like MARC IIs or some sort of Comet makes more sense. Are there height restrictions that would preclude galleries or Bomb bilevels (sausage links?)

The "T" has reorganized their schedule to segregate the trainsets...not sure if the deadhead was eliminated
The Ozark Trail site has slim pickens'; Only 11 passenger coaches listed.
MERR might have some of their Maine Eastern equipment available.