CRail wrote: ↑Fri Feb 11, 2022 1:50 am
CCRTA is MassDOT, MBTA is MassDOT. Passenger service over the route exists, it's just being adjusted. I think it's harder to make the case that it's a new service than it is to argue it isn't.
Again, there is a difference between "service of any kind" and "intercity or commuter rail service". It quite clearly would be new "commuter rail" service in the eyes of the FRA. Regardless, the MTEA requirement and FRA approval still applies even if you consider it expanding existing service. These are exactly the type of loopholes the FRA is closing with regards to PTC.
CRail wrote: ↑Fri Feb 11, 2022 1:50 am
We got onto this subject by my stating that SCR was holding up other projects, Cape being an example, by being mandated as next.
I don't think anyone has argued that. You also said, in the very sentence before that...
CRail wrote: ↑Tue Feb 01, 2022 4:41 pm
I'm hearing service to Buzzards Bay will begin as soon as SCR opens.
I'm trying to point out that in the current environment this is practically impossible. The resources are all tied up and regulatory conditions do not exist for service to start that fast.
CRail wrote: ↑Fri Feb 11, 2022 1:50 am
As I understand it anyhow, plans exist for rule 562 operation at least to Buzzards Bay, plus other improvements north of Middleboro. Sometimes things happen quietly, and it's not until it's time to flip the switch that anything is published about it. You don't have to trust my sources, but I do, and if we can't talk about things that aren't mentioned in published studies and news articles then why even come here to discuss it?
I'm pointing out that in order for MassDOT/MBTA to do this kind of work and spend this kind of money something publicly has to be said about it. Whether it is a board approval or a competitive bid package. Or it'll be in the upcoming CIP they update every spring. They can't suddenly "flip the switch" after spending $50-70M in the dark. "Plans" for 562 operation and PTC are included and mentioned in the Cape study. What's the reality they will be ready for SCR start of service? Upgrades to the Middleboro Main are not. I've heard some rumors of the Middleboro upgrades and the why, but I don't see any of them even starting until SCR is completed. The resources just aren't there to perform the work, just as they aren't there to install 562 and PTC from Bay to the canal.
Lastly, I'll also add that a lot of "plans" from the quiet back room never materialize, or take forever to come to fruition, more often than they actually happen. It took 30 years to get Ash interlocking installed at Reading.