Fitchburg Line Upgrade Discussion

The B&M (and its predecessors) was fond of grade crossing eliminations when lines went through town centers; Winchester got one in the 1950s, as did Waverly; Belmont was raised as early as the 1880s. Malden was done in the 1890s, and Lynn around 1911. Lynn and Winchester both involved branch lines, so it's somewhat surprising that Waltham wasn't grade-separated as well.

Given the Watertown Branch coming in at the tower and the one-time yard just west of Moody Street, there were probably more than sufficient complications to prevent an elevated separation. With the Charles just south of the ROW, especially with the water impounded west of the Moody Street Dam, depressing the ROW would have been problematic.

CT just completed a bridge replacement (actually two) over the course of a weekend using a the method to that planned for the Concord bridge . A search for "exit 30 bridge replacement I-84" will reveal several articles. Hopefully the Concord bridge will have live cameras too.

The EGE wrote:The B&M (and its predecessors) was fond of grade crossing eliminations when lines went through town centers; Winchester got one in the 1950s, as did Waverly; Belmont was raised as early as the 1880s. Malden was done in the 1890s, and Lynn around 1911. Lynn and Winchester both involved branch lines, so it's somewhat surprising that Waltham wasn't grade-separated as well.

The ex-junction with the H2O/Bemis Branch was no-go for a separation. And it would've had to be a rail overpass, since any Charles River floods into downtown would've rendered a cut a really bad idea. Overpass would've required construction of a space-invasive elevated station, and required Jackson St. and very likely Newton St. to get cut at the ROW because the requisite trackbed rise to 16 ft. over Elm and Moody would've knocked out both of those bridges. Which would've messed up the downtown street grid real good, especially at Newton St.

All told there's just too many compromises and too many impacts with that plan. So elimination ends up being a bottom priority and the only feasible solutions are to finesse traffic patterns, signalization, and whatnot the best they can.

Frankly, the traffic there would improve a whole lot just with more train service to get more people going bus-to-train instead of driving. Plus it's ridiculous that the commuter rail signage on Route 128 says to get off at the Route 20 exit for Waltham Ctr., where the traffic is horrible, the parking nonexistent, and the navigation from the highway convoluted. Until they actually build a Fitchburg Line station at 128 proper they shouldn't have a sign there at all and be directing all park-and-riders to Riverside a scant 3 miles away

Suspension of Weekend Service on ENTIRE FITCHBURG LINE Begins this Weekend thru November 23rd. Following is from MBTA Service Alerts


Fitchburg Line: Service suspended btwn North Sta & Fitchburg on Sat & Sun thru Nov 23, 2014, (with the exception of Labor Day weekend, Aug 30-31) due to track improvements. No substitute buses provided


Start of day Sat 7/12/14 until end of day Sat 7/12/14
Start of day Sun 7/13/14 until end of day Sun 7/13/14
Ongoing

Affected stops:
North Station
Porter Square Station
Belmont
Waverley
Waltham
Brandeis/ Roberts
Kendal Green
Hastings
Silver Hill
Lincoln
Concord
West Concord
South Acton
Littleton / Rte 495
Ayer
Shirley
North Leominster
Fitchburg

Last Updated: 7/8/2014 12:20:41 PM

As a casual observer, this seems.....well......unacceptable. Or perhaps inconvenient. Or maybe thoughtless, without regard to the clientele. A four-month interruption in service is unheard of. I'd like to hear reactions from any Fitchburg Line folks on here who ride regularly. Am I overreacting?

Rockingham Racer wrote:As a casual observer, this seems.....well......unacceptable. Or perhaps inconvenient. Or maybe thoughtless, without regard to the clientele. A four-month interruption in service is unheard of. I'd like to hear reactions from any Fitchburg Line folks on here who ride regularly. Am I overreacting?

It's the innermost segment, signals will be offline, several switches and crossovers are being relocated meaning sections of both tracks have to be physically disconnected for hours at a time while they do the transplants, and there's no place close enough to 128 to turn trains and stage a shuttle bus transfer for keeping the outer line operable. For how light the weekend ridership is this is a case where they're better off ripping the band-aid off fast rather than finessing an agonizingly slow construction project for 2 years longer.

F-line to Dudley via Park wrote:

Rockingham Racer wrote:As a casual observer, this seems.....well......unacceptable. Or perhaps inconvenient. Or maybe thoughtless, without regard to the clientele. A four-month interruption in service is unheard of. I'd like to hear reactions from any Fitchburg Line folks on here who ride regularly. Am I overreacting?

It's the innermost segment, signals will be offline, several switches and crossovers are being relocated meaning sections of both tracks have to be physically disconnected for hours at a time while they do the transplants, and there's no place close enough to 128 to turn trains and stage a shuttle bus transfer for keeping the outer line operable. For how light the weekend ridership is this is a case where they're better off ripping the band-aid off fast rather than finessing an agonizingly slow construction project for 2 years longer.

bingo! The Old Colony weekend tie replacement project was the same way....shut everything down and let the work crews be uninterrupted and work away!

Okay, I'm a bit mollified seeing that it's only on weekends. But it seems that these projects, along with the Haverhill Line double track, are taking way too long.
Something doesn't seem right here.

Rockingham Racer wrote:Okay, I'm a bit mollified seeing that it's only on weekends. But it seems that these projects, along with the Haverhill Line double track, are taking way too long.
Something doesn't seem right here.

As a daily weekday Fitchburg rider (and occasional weekend) from Shirley I can tell you a majority of us are fine with this. The weekend schedule is inconvient at best (every 2 hours when you are lucky). It's at least 40 minutes faster to drive down rt 2 to alewife and take the red line.

Now, would it be smart for the T to run a 4 times a day small half sized shuttle (inbound and outbound runs for morning and night), yes it would as long as they cut it at Weston and let the busses handle further in. Busses could drop at alewife to make the transit time easier.

However, they are a losing $$ proposition. The ridership will be very low, but to appease the rides, maybe give a discount, say half price, and then allow a free transfer to red.

Pie in the sky I know, but it would be a decent alternative to those who couldn't afford to drive.

Rockingham Racer wrote:Okay, I'm a bit mollified seeing that it's only on weekends. But it seems that these projects, along with the Haverhill Line double track, are taking way too long.
Something doesn't seem right here.

Its a lot of work which can only be done from end of service on Friday to end of Service on Sunday. Not a lot of time to get the work finished. Everything from new track, signals, signal wiring, full grade crossing replacements, new crossing gates, bridge repairs and culvert replacement.

Also the Fitchburg has never been a full project contract it has been phased into multiple contracts meaning it takes longer. The actual track and signal upgrades was not awarded until Last Summer while double track was awarded in 2010.

matredsoxfan wrote:Also the Fitchburg has never been a full project contract it has been phased into multiple contracts meaning it takes longer. The actual track and signal upgrades was not awarded until Last Summer while double track was awarded in 2010.

I'm going to compare apples and oranges here. BNSF just put 26 miles of doubled track into service in North Dakota, and it took only 2 months for them to do so.
This operation, and the Haverhill Line double-track project, are mickey-mouse in comparison. Apples and oranges, for sure.

Rockingham Racer wrote:

matredsoxfan wrote:Also the Fitchburg has never been a full project contract it has been phased into multiple contracts meaning it takes longer. The actual track and signal upgrades was not awarded until Last Summer while double track was awarded in 2010.

I'm going to compare apples and oranges here. BNSF just put 26 miles of doubled track into service in North Dakota, and it took only 2 months for them to do so.
This operation, and the Haverhill Line double-track project, are mickey-mouse in comparison. Apples and oranges, for sure.

This was never just about double track this was a full line upgrade to get trains to 80 MPH. The double track only moves so slow when you have grade crossings that now need full replacement and stations that now need upgrading before you bring double track online. Example every grade crossing on the double track section needed to be replaced and also Littleton 495 needed a full high platform and a brand new station at South Acton. New bridges are being built in Concord/Acton and service is being extended 4 Miles to Watchusett.

7-9-2014 J.F White Contracting pickup (Project contractor for Track/Signal Upgrades) was spotted in downtown Waltham today. New white dig safe markings with "JFW" painted on both sides of the Moody Street Railroad crossing. This is probably for the proposed crossing replacement/upgrade and for signal wiring. Don't know if other grade crosssings (South St, Elm St and Beaver St) have been marked yet.