Boston Surface Railroad: Worcester-Providence Commuter Rail

[GP40MC1118]

MDOT has or will get the Worcester main with, as stated, CSX haulage to Ayer and PAR getting all the Everett business.
The latter two has already happened.

Don't think the MDOT acquisition is final. No formal announcement as yet. Probably not until next year and I suspect
track work will commence in the Spring.

D

[SpiderHill]

What additional work on the line would be done? After all the work that was done this summer, the Worcester main hasn't look this good in years....at least from Lancaster to Worcester. Can't speak for the Harvard/Devens end. The new ties, new stone (spread from MassDOT hoppers), tamping, and track alignment looks good. Of course the rail is mostly beat, but with no impending passenger plans I doubt any serious rail replacement would be done. The contractor was packed up and gone before the end of the maintenance season. PAR even came through and picked up the old ties that were replaced. The mountain of old ties that was in Clinton is mostly gone. I saw a work train with old MEC/BM/DH cars picking them up over the course of a couple weeks this past fall. Has the speed been raised from 10? When PAR was swapping power at Worcester they often would often take off three CSX units and put on two of the PAR GEs. The train would still crawl to Hill Yard. Since the return of CSX power I have only caught a train once and it is was stopped on the main at Clinton West on its way to Barbers.

[neman2]

Why are we talking about Pan Am and CSX operation on the Worcester - Ayer line in the Boston Surface Railroad Worcester Providence Commuter Rail thread?

[GP40MC1118]

That work was mostly to stabilize the line from deteriorating even more than it was. I don't think that
the speed has gone up at all, but I am no longer privy to a PAR TSRB. Remember the MBTA/Keolis was
detouring over this line - a move that required two crews to run on the 71 mile detour.

As far as this being in the BSR thread, they would run on this if their pipe dream anywhere north of
Worcester got off the ground. Don't wait up.

D

[PBMcGinnis]

Maybe they will shift their focus at BSR and look at restoring passenger service to one of these:

1). Providence to Newport
2). Boston to North Conway
3). Greenbush to Plymouth via Marshfield
4). Pittsfield to North Adams
5). Replace Amtrak on the Corridor

See plenty of stuff to throw at the wall and see what sticks.

[Bolo42]

Unless Rhode Island suddenly decides to be creative and reactivate part of the rail-trail to Bristol and make it a rail with trail, and build a new bridge with accommodation for rail, Providence to Newport would be difficult, as they have never been directly connected by train. Newport to Fall River and New Bedford is far more likely, as they only recently got rid of the old rail bridge. MassDOT already has plans to reactivate the freight tracks up to the RI border.

[benboston]

Being a local from the Ayer area I hope that some operator, Boston Surface Railroad if it works, or MBTA should run service between Worcester - Clinton - Ayer. There are a decent amount of people who commute along this route. Also, Worcester is a rapidly growing city and it would be a huge boost to Clinton which currently has a minimal amount of transportation infrastructure, railroads, highways, ect. and as a community, it would greatly benefit from such service.

[CRail]

Remember the MBTA/Keolis was
detouring over this line - a move that required two crews to run on the 71 mile detour.

...and will be again for at least 3 years during the Mass Pike realignment at Beacon Park.

[theseaandalifesaver]

They probably won't shut down the Grand Junction for 3 years.

[Ridgefielder]

Unless Rhode Island suddenly decides to be creative and reactivate part of the rail-trail to Bristol and make it a rail with trail, and build a new bridge with accommodation for rail, Providence to Newport would be difficult, as they have never been directly connected by train. Newport to Fall River and New Bedford is far more likely, as they only recently got rid of the old rail bridge. MassDOT already has plans to reactivate the freight tracks up to the RI border.

Actually, they were. The New Haven's Providence, Warren & Bristol crossed the Taunton River on the Slade's Ferry Bridge (now removed) to access downtown Fall River and, from there, Newport. Providence-Fall River was busy enough that it was electrified w 700v DC overhead catenary. Service was abandoned at some time in the 1930's, though. IIRC the bridge's swing span was hit by a ship, and the electrification was destroyed by the Great Hurricane of '38.

[Jeff Smith]

UnionLeader.com: New rail report unveiled in Nashua

...
In the fall of 2017, city leaders entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Boston Surface Railroad Company to create a plan to bring privately-funded passenger rail service to Nashua.

And, last April, the city hired a rail consultant, AECOM of Los Angeles, Calif., to provide support related to the restoration of commuter rail service, including a conceptual study and design of rail infrastructure upgrades and consultation on possible sources of capital fund support from state and federal resources.
...
It also stresses the importance of “building projected scenarios and implications for city participation with public-private partnership or state-run option to operate passenger rail through Nashua, and identify the scope and scale of building and managing a passenger rail station in Nashua.”

City officials said earlier that the 25 Crown St. location — within the East Hollis Street Gateway — is ideal for a future train station because it is the only downtown area where there is 800 feet of straight train track that already exists. However, it could take several years for a train station to be operating from the site, as the city will have to overcome several obstacles.
...

[Rockingham Racer]

Well, it seems like that plan will have to wait some more.

[jmar896]

Supposedly the FL9 they purchased is headed towards Seaview according to this article:
http://www.valleybreeze.com/2018-10-10/ ... EYltFxKiM8
But still no news on it's movement?

[NHV 669]

The quoted rep, who was posting in this thread, less than a year ago. Makes one think.....

[GP40MC1118]

Still in New Haven as far as I know.

D