Fink speaks on Lowell-Concord Line Commuter Rail

Concord can be quite congested on weekdays with the activity at the State House and related nearby buildings and the nearby US Federal Courthouse. Parking is at a premium with one and two hour limits on many streets. There are three parking garages that allow longer parking.

I was called for jury duty at the Federal Courthouse several years ago and was instructed to park at the Everett Arena and a shuttle bus was provided. Concord seems to have a set of traffic signals at nearly every intersection, which do seem to add to the congestion, although without them, you would be hard pressed to get out of the side streets.

The most likely location for a passenger rail station would be on Stickney Ave., in the area of the present Concord Trailways station. There is a free parking lot there. I do not know if the bus company owns all the land there, but there would certainly have to be some wheeling and dealing to locate a station there. Concord Trailways currently operates 11 express round trips daily between Concord and South Station. There are four other trips making local stops in Manchester, North Londonderry and Salem.

Even if the track rebuild and equipment was funded with Federal money, the state of NH would surely have to kick in for operating expenses. With Concord being the hot seat of political action, it would be a plus to have service there to win approval from the Legislative and Executive Branches of NH State government.

Dick

I've yet to see much made of trying to sell commuter rail as a development tool as a primary goal. What commuter rail DOES do is attract residents, increase property values and take at least SOME cars off the road. Lots of surveys were done noting how many NH license plates were in the Lowell MA parking garage. As far as other commerce goes, now I hear that Hingham is complaining that their station on the new Greenbush line isn't near the town center and so the merchants don't get 'walk up' traffic. This is after Hingham demanded that the station be AWAY from the town center and that a tunnel be dug to avoid surface running. I mean, they're complaining that they got what they wanted - but that's short sighted thinking for you.

djlong wrote:I've yet to see much made of trying to sell commuter rail as a development tool as a primary goal. What commuter rail DOES do is attract residents, increase property values and take at least SOME cars off the road. Lots of surveys were done noting how many NH license plates were in the Lowell MA parking garage. As far as other commerce goes, now I hear that Hingham is complaining that their station on the new Greenbush line isn't near the town center and so the merchants don't get 'walk up' traffic. This is after Hingham demanded that the station be AWAY from the town center and that a tunnel be dug to avoid surface running. I mean, they're complaining that they got what they wanted - but that's short sighted thinking for you.

Some of the Hinghamtonians will never get it.

Dick H wrote:Concord can be quite congested on weekdays with the activity at the State House and related nearby buildings and the nearby US Federal Courthouse. Parking is at a premium with one and two hour limits on many streets. There are three parking garages that allow longer parking.

I was called for jury duty at the Federal Courthouse several years ago and was instructed to park at the Everett Arena and a shuttle bus was provided. Concord seems to have a set of traffic signals at nearly every intersection, which do seem to add to the congestion, although without them, you would be hard pressed to get out of the side streets.

The most likely location for a passenger rail station would be on Stickney Ave., in the area of the present Concord Trailways station. There is a free parking lot there. I do not know if the bus company owns all the land there, but there would certainly have to be some wheeling and dealing to locate a station there. Concord Trailways currently operates 11 express round trips daily between Concord and South Station. There are four other trips making local stops in Manchester, North Londonderry and Salem.

Even if the track rebuild and equipment was funded with Federal money, the state of NH would surely have to kick in for operating expenses. With Concord being the hot seat of political action, it would be a plus to have service there to win approval from the Legislative and Executive Branches of NH State government.

Dick

That's a small parking lot and there are commercial buildings between the bus terminal and the tracks. Someone would surely have to give but with the DOT planning to widen 93 I know much of the area is going to change; according to Peter from NEGS much of the open space from the former rail yard is going to disappear. The two places I think would work best for a train station would be the old B&M Industrial Park or the farm field near Horseshoe Pond. The farm field would have access to the highway via Commercial Street and the old industrial park would have access to the highway via 3A.

The RoW from Lowell to Concord is wide enough for double track, with double track bridges everywhere but the rebuilt segment through downtown Manchester. In 1959 (long before the Manchester realignment), the speed limit was 70 MPH with significant restrictions in Tyngsboro, Nashua, Goff's Falls and Manchester. The 3:20 express arrived Concord at 4:45 (and Plymouth at 6:18). I don't know how much of the alignment would allow 79 MPH, but some would, possibly making up for loco-hauled trains not accelerating like Budd RDCs. And generally, it's pretty free of grade crossings.

As for who would use it, I had an employee who lived in Derry and routinely spent 90 min. driving to Malden in peak periods (post-Big Dig). The worst day the traffic had backed up to the outlet of her cul-de-sac, 5 miles from I-93. And a lot of them would wind up living in revitalized downtowns a' la' Haverhill, rather than the sprawled apartment blocks that part of NH is full of.

So with the stimulus bill out there, does New Hampshire stand to move forward on the project at all? I did a simulation of the territory, putting in New Hampshire's wish list for 11 trains each way, and added double track for all of the route except about 13 miles. At top speed of 60, it's about 58 minutes Concord to Lowell.

Every 'stimulus bill' article I've seen in the local papers seems to mention extending the rail line. The last several articles are now quoting a price tag of $220M (as opposed to the $300M bandied about earlier)

djlong wrote:Every 'stimulus bill' article I've seen in the local papers seems to mention extending the rail line. The last several articles are now quoting a price tag of $220M (as opposed to the $300M bandied about earlier)

The $300M includes money to repair/upgrade other rail lines in the state and do commuter rail. $220M is for the commuter rail only.

So, could Pan Am get their commuter train with this stimulus money or is it too early to tell?

The stimulus money would have to go to the state, and the state could then dole it out to Pan Am if they chose Pan Am to run the operation.

Concord to Boston, at 77 miles would by no means be the longest commuter rail route out there.

LIRR Montauk Line to Penn (with train change)-- 107 miles
LIRR Ronkonkoma Line to Penn (with train change) -- 96 miles
NJT/MNR Port Jervis Line Port Jervis, NY to Hoboken Terminal--95 Miles
NICTD to Chicago Millenium -- 96 miles
Metrolink OC Line to LAUS -- 87 miles
Altamont ACE Rail to San Jose -- 86 miles
MNR Harlem Line Wassaic, NY to GCT (with train change) --82 miles
MNR Waterbury Branch Waterbury, CT to GCT (with train change) -- 82 miles

And a bunch more in the 70s like the MARC Penn & Brunswick lines, NJT's Coast Line, TRI Rail, and Caltrain.

If the line is there, people will ride. Look how many commuters use the Downeaster already especially between Exeter and Wells