Increase Worcester service start-up date.

Has or does anyone know on a date announced on the increase Worcester service and if anyone has a draft schedule for the increase service, please post it.

Much like the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come, the expanded timetable itself too shall appear in it's own time

Expect 3 additional round trips in October, 2 more in the December-March era, and 2 more after the bilevels start arriving.

Since the T doesn't announce ahead too much - it's September 30 and the October opening of Talbot Avenue hasn't yet been announced - I would expect about 2 weeks' notification sometime in mid-October. (I am not an employee; this is merely a guess from past experience.)

From the July article announcing the changes:

A total of seven weekday roundtrips are set to be added to the current 13 trips made between Boston and Worcester, according to T spokesman Joe Pesaturo.

Three of the new trips are expected to launch soon after the final deed transfer from the deal with CSX is made, he said. The transfer, expected to happen in October, will grant ownership of the tracks to the state’s transportation department and control to the MBTA.

Within a few months after the transfer, at least two more trips will be added, including one that would run on an “express” scheduled to and from Worcester, Pesaturo said.

The remaining trips are expected to roll out sometime in 2013, after the T receives new bi-level coaches that are currently being manufactured, he said.

The plan to reach a total of 20 round trips...

http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/fra ... _rail.html

" Additional trips" just mean framingham trains extended to worcester right?

Or will there be 100% new runs?

I've heard that the new trips will only be extensions of the locals that currently start and end in Framingham. Once CSX is fully out of beacon park and the line is totally double tracked, they might add more east of Framingham expresses though(we can only hope).

It most likely wont happen till the Fall/Winter job picks go into effect in Nov. that's when the cond.'s and engr.'s new jobs change also on a side note, CP 29 and CP 30 are going to be put into service at the end of October, look for this to happen OCT 20-23 but remember, always subject to change

When will CSX be totaly out of Beacon Park and when will CSX turn control over to MBTA/MBCR?

Backshophoss wrote:When will CSX be totaly out of Beacon Park and when will CSX turn control over to MBTA/MBCR?

The Commonwealth takes ownership of the tracks Oct. 2nd....meaning that now our engineering dept. will maintain the tracks. However, the line is still going to be dispatched by the CSX NA dispatcher in Selkirk, NY and trains still goverened by CSX's operating rules....the time frame for a total NORAC/Dispatching take over is anywhere from 6 months-2 years away

Wish you guys luck,wont be easy with the DS still in CSX Selkirk.

MBTA F40PH-2C 1050 wrote:

Backshophoss wrote:When will CSX be totaly out of Beacon Park and when will CSX turn control over to MBTA/MBCR?

The Commonwealth takes ownership of the tracks Oct. 2nd....meaning that now our engineering dept. will maintain the tracks. However, the line is still going to be dispatched by the CSX NA dispatcher in Selkirk, NY and trains still goverened by CSX's operating rules....the time frame for a total NORAC/Dispatching take over is anywhere from 6 months-2 years away

As for the yard itself, MBCR will maintain only Lead 1, the route from the Grand Jct. to Lead 1, and everything east of that route to CP 3. CSX will continue to maintain the rest of the yard.

DAW

Wonder how long will it be before Harvard and BU get their hands on the property and start developing? No doubt the State of MA will help out also with the funding...considering the amount of contaminated land there.

Harvard already owns much of the yard land. It's in their 2030 development plans.

stb ruled that csxt had market dominance in 43 pairs. i think this affects several ne railroads. pet rates will no longer be what-the-traffic-will-bear but tied to 1.80 x variable costs. in addition the ruling did away with the illusionary ' truck' alternatives as proof that the rail rate was competitve. i guess csxt dug up the usual suspects to provide outrageous 'competitive' trucking rates. i see this as a potential breakthough for increasing freight rail in ne. rate disputes have a $350 filing fee so perhaps this will encourage other shippers to challenge the rates on other commodities. ken patrick

MBTA F40PH-2C 1050 wrote:It most likely wont happen till the Fall/Winter job picks go into effect in Nov. that's when the cond.'s and engr.'s new jobs change also on a side note, CP 29 and CP 30 are going to be put into service at the end of October, look for this to happen OCT 20-23 but remember, always subject to change

Could you tells us more about CP 29 & 30? I don't imagine they are both universal crossovers, being so close to each other.

MBTA F40PH-2C 1050 wrote:

Backshophoss wrote:When will CSX be totaly out of Beacon Park and when will CSX turn control over to MBTA/MBCR?

The Commonwealth takes ownership of the tracks Oct. 2nd....meaning that now our engineering dept. will maintain the tracks. However, the line is still going to be dispatched by the CSX NA dispatcher in Selkirk, NY and trains still goverened by CSX's operating rules....the time frame for a total NORAC/Dispatching take over is anywhere from 6 months-2 years away

That far off? I thought Amtrak's dispatch of everything east of Beacon Park was a prelude to the MBTA taking control of the rest of the line by the end of the year.