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  • Foxboro Commuter Rail Extension

  • Discussion relating to commuter rail, light rail, and subway operations of the MBTA.
Discussion relating to commuter rail, light rail, and subway operations of the MBTA.

Moderators: sery2831, CRail

 #1517938  by RenegadeMonster
 
Is there much opposition for the Foxboro Commuter Rail Extension?

I took the train to Gillette Stadium last night for the game. And noticed for the most part the branch is in the middle of nowhere in the woods.

But before we got deep into the woods we did pass a couple homes who's back yards abut the row. One of the homes had signs plastered on trees and the fence facing the tracks that read "No Kraft Trains".


Since much of the branch is in the middle of nowhere I would imagine it probably is pretty much just that guy alone making a fuss. But is there any kind of wider opposition from that community?
 #1518033  by Trinnau
 
HenryAlan wrote: Fri Aug 23, 2019 9:56 am Thanks, Trinnau. So based on the information on slide 9, there will be 4 fewer inbound and 2 fewer outbound Franklin trains, but 10 Foxboro trains in each direction. So a net gain of 14 total trains for stations north or Walpole through Readville. I guess that's not a doubling, but it's still a big increase.

So for example, Norwood Central has 27 inbound trains under the new schedule, whereas today it has 21.
Slide 9 refers to Walpole only and it actually has an error. I just counted and the inbound stops drop from 20 to 17, so only a loss of 3. So your math is slightly off but yes, there is a net gain. Total Franklin Line train count today is 21 inbound and 19 outbound. Total train count in the draft pilot schedule of any train operating on the Franklin line is 27 inbound and 26 outound. So 13 new trains operating on the line.

The curiosity will be how much of an impact on ridership that additional service is. The 2018 commuter rail counts show that the overwhelming majority of the passengers ride the Franklin line in the rush hour. There really isn't a lot of added service at those times. Out of the 13 new trains only 1 is in the evening rush hour, the rest are all outside rush hour times.

On the Fairmount Line it looks like the amount of service stays the same at 20 trains each way.
 #1518340  by HenryAlan
 
Trinnau wrote: Sat Aug 24, 2019 10:40 am On the Fairmount Line it looks like the amount of service stays the same at 20 trains each way.
Yes, I think they are essentially extending some Fairmounts to become Foxboros. That's where the extra service comes from for a section of Franklin line stations. This is the part that interests me the most. I think there could be a lot more ridership on inner commuter rail lines if trains were more frequently and predictably scheduled. Maybe this pilot will help provide data on that question.
 #1518342  by ohalloranchris
 
The biggest issue is equipment, or lack thereof to continually expand service. (Even extending existing trains means longer runs, higher utilization of existing equipment).

Anyone who rides the system daily knows the commuter rail is at its breaking point every day. This morning, train 902 from Stoughton (a very popular train) utilized the Cape Flyer consist! Yes, the train included 5 cars, 4 of which were flats, and 2 of the flats consisted of the cafe car with reduced seating, and the bike rack car with no seating!
 #1521313  by Commuterrail1050
 
Most Fairmount(Readville) line trains are being extended to Foxboro along with the Norwood Central and Walpole runs. Anyone that boards in Norwood and Dedham areas will enjoy seeing additional capacity and service added. However with that said, half of the trains will not stop at Norwood Depot and stops with not a lot of passengers boarding. You will see the schedule when it's released tomorrow and it will be interesting to see what the new equipment rotations will be. Most of the Foxboro trains will board in the track 10 area with a couple far to the right that utilize the existing Norwood Central and Walpole runs.
 #1521393  by ssresident
 
ohalloranchris wrote: Tue Aug 27, 2019 11:24 am This morning, train 902 from Stoughton (a very popular train) utilized the Cape Flyer consist! Yes, the train included 5 cars, 4 of which were flats, and 2 of the flats consisted of the cafe car with reduced seating, and the bike rack car with no seating!
We get this set every now and then on the Middleboro line--lots of fun listening to people talk about the bike racks and concessions stand...

Back on topic--with Foxboro not being located past I-495, I think they'll be able to manage the service at acceptable levels. South Coast has me worried, especially since I'm on that branch regularly.
 #1521405  by mirage
 
Commuterrail1050 wrote: Mon Sep 30, 2019 12:18 pm Most Fairmount(Readville) line trains are being extended to Foxboro along with the Norwood Central and Walpole runs. Anyone that boards in Norwood and Dedham areas will enjoy seeing additional capacity and service added. However with that said, half of the trains will not stop at Norwood Depot and stops with not a lot of passengers boarding. You will see the schedule when it's released tomorrow and it will be interesting to see what the new equipment rotations will be. Most of the Foxboro trains will board in the track 10 area with a couple far to the right that utilize the existing Norwood Central and Walpole runs.

I curious to see the final schedule and what if any changes there are from the schedule released in Sept. This was originally billed as extended the fairmont line to Foxboro, but all the peak rush trains are franklin line trains.

The problem with th foxboro trains that run via the fairmont line is that they don't serve Ruggles or backbay (which is 40% of riders) and the travel time is not competitive (certainly not with the providence line). The franklin line is saddle with too many stations that have relatively small utilization from Norwood central into Boston. If they can make the foxboro line into local trains and the franklin line trains into express (forge park, franklin, norfolk, walpole, Norwood Central, Dedham Corp) only that would make big difference.
 #1521410  by atlantis
 
For the person who had the sign "No Kraft trains" they need to be reminded that the railroad line was there long before they made the conscious decision to buy a house next to the rail line. Sorry not sorry no sympathy.
 #1521479  by Commuterrail1050
 
mirage wrote: Tue Oct 01, 2019 1:35 pm
Commuterrail1050 wrote: Mon Sep 30, 2019 12:18 pm Most Fairmount(Readville) line trains are being extended to Foxboro along with the Norwood Central and Walpole runs. Anyone that boards in Norwood and Dedham areas will enjoy seeing additional capacity and service added. However with that said, half of the trains will not stop at Norwood Depot and stops with not a lot of passengers boarding. You will see the schedule when it's released tomorrow and it will be interesting to see what the new equipment rotations will be. Most of the Foxboro trains will board in the track 10 area with a couple far to the right that utilize the existing Norwood Central and Walpole runs.

I curious to see the final schedule and what if any changes there are from the schedule released in Sept. This was originally billed as extended the fairmont line to Foxboro, but all the peak rush trains are franklin line trains.

The problem with th foxboro trains that run via the fairmont line is that they don't serve Ruggles or backbay (which is 40% of riders) and the travel time is not competitive (certainly not with the providence line). The franklin line is saddle with too many stations that have relatively small utilization from Norwood central into Boston. If they can make the foxboro line into local trains and the franklin line trains into express (forge park, franklin, norfolk, walpole, Norwood Central, Dedham Corp) only that would make big difference.
According to the shorter version of the Foxboro shuttle schedule, 2 of the 3 Foxboro runs during each rushour will stop at back bay and ruggles. Only 1 of each will be the extended fairmount line heading to Boston in the morning and heading on the NEC during the evening. However, for the reverse commute, it 2 of them heading via fairmount line to Foxboro in the morning and boston in the evening. There really isn't much of additional trains in the rushour. Most of them in the peak are extensions of current Norwood Central and Walpole runs. The only major impacts during the morning rushour is the large gap at Walpole between trains 706 and 708 and the evening commute between trains 717 and 719 for Walpole only. For those who need to board and exit at Walpole will only be taking trains 700, 702, 704, 706, 708 and for the evening 715, 717, 719, 721, and 723. For those along the Norwood and Dedham stops will enjoy seeing 1-2 additional trains during the rushours to pick up those riders. The gain is that the trains from franklin will have relieved congestion after Walpole. The bad news is that more Walpole riders will be boarding these trains instead of the locals too. Keep in mind these current Franklin runs will have tweaked time departures and changes may happen depending on how successful this trial pilot program is.
 #1522752  by GP40MC1118
 
FYI - 1201AM Saturday night, the portion of the Framingham Secondary between Walpole and MP4.36 is being transferred
to Keolis's Branchline Train Dispatcher. Mass Coastal retains MP4.36 to Mansfield and Walpole to Framingham.
 #1522786  by MBTA3247
 
I thought the Framingham Secondary was owned by CSX?
 #1522940  by craven
 
So who is going to watch the 1st departure from Foxboro tomorrow AM ??


Hope they sent a Hyrail down from Walpole to clear the faller trees from last weeks storm !
 #1522952  by twropr
 
Is the Foxboro station the same one that had been used a few years ago when football specials were run?
Why is Walpole skipped as a station stop on the Foxboro trains? Is the station west of the connection between the Franklin Branch and Foxboro line?
Andy
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