Seaport District to Back Bay DMU Plan

SM89 wrote:

Rbts Stn wrote:

highgreen215 wrote:I have suggested activation of the track to the Black Falcon Terminal several times in previous posts elsewhere on the Forum. It's satisfying to hear that it is now under serious consideration. IMHO a great opportunity for cruise ship passengers to transfer to trains almost almost dockside has been wasted for many years. If things are done right, they will be able to go directly to Back Bay hotels on DMUs or perhaps continue their journeys on "land cruise" trains out of Boston to elsewhere. The prospects are suddenly quite exciting.

Most Black Falcon cruisers are day visitors only, making a stop in Boston on a longer cruise. Even those folks would appreciate a one seat ride to be able to get to Back Bay and the Fenway area.

Aren't most of them those who sail on Norwegian's 7-day Bermuda cruise which is based in Boston? When I went on it back in '05 and '06 (when it was the tiny boat) a lot of people from out of the area also did a combo Boston vacation.

Funny you should mention that, I'm going on the Dawn to Bermuda next month. On Cruisecritic forums turns out most of my ship mates are not from New England, a large majority from the Mid-West.

I have not seen any evidence that the MBTA or MassDOThave estimated, let alone determined, what the demand might be for this service. There do not appear to be any traffic generators other than at the endpoints and the Convention Center station is some distance from other potential traffic generators in the Seaport District.

In today's Boston Globe there was a major article on a proposal to substantially expand the size of the Convention Center and the need to build more hotel rooms in the immediate area. Oddly there was no mention of the proposed DMU shuttle between there and Back Bay. An accompanying map showed the the existing track #61 in proximity to the Center, but again, no mention of the proposed rail connection to Back Bay. Is it that the author of the article was unaware of the shuttle proposal, or is it merely a fantasy that is going nowhere?

highgreen215 wrote:In today's Boston Globe there was a major article on a proposal to substantially expand the size of the Convention Center and the need to build more hotel rooms in the immediate area. Oddly there was no mention of the proposed DMU shuttle between there and Back Bay. An accompanying map showed the the existing track #61 in proximity to the Center, but again, no mention of the proposed rail connection to Back Bay. Is it that the author of the article was unaware of the shuttle proposal, or is it merely a fantasy that is going nowhere?

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Slowing down. They are finding out that the planning for this--including the moribund DMU purchase market--is a lot more complicated than the initial euphoria suggested. Hence, the radio silence. And no news isn't good news.

I don't know if this means Amtrak has given its two cents about what's possible or not, but a 2-year launch window was clearly WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIILDLY optimistic given all the logistics involved in the vehicle purchase and service plan. So even if it's still on they've got a lot more hurdles to solve, a much longer timetable for getting it done, and jumped the gun way too early and way too overoptimistically with the initial announcement.


The whole way it was surprise-announced was strange to begin with, so grain of salt was well-advised with how glossy-thin that press release was and the lack of subsequent follow-up. It was pretty much all self-contained inside that one Globe exclusive. Which is never how these things work; it's usually a full-court press to every outlet with lots more chatter on the run-up to the unveiling.

You're probably right, F-line, but in a discussion of the proposed enlargement of the Convention Center (which also will take years to accomplish) and the need for more hotel rooms to support it, I would expect that the track 61 shuttle "idea" would at least be given a passing mention.

Maybe these people can pitch in :

Seaport wave unstoppable
Latest plan for district is big biotech R&D facility

A massive research and design, and manufacturing facility proposed for a vacant parcel on the South Boston waterfront could fill a growing need for space for life sciences companies, according to an industry watcher.
Kavanagh Advisory group has filed plans with the Boston Redevelopment Authority for Innovation Square at Northern Avenue in the Boston Marine Industrial Park. The 355,000-square-foot facility, which would include dedicated space for pharmaceutical manufacturing, would “complement the growth of research and development and technology companies in the new Boston Innovation District” if approved, according to the documents Kavanagh filed. ..............

Located at 316-318 Northern Avenue, Innovation Square would house 1,000 jobs, documents said, and development will include a redesign of the Silver Line stop on the site. A spokesman for Kavanagh could not be reached for comment. - See more at: http://bostonherald.com/business/busine ... S2Vd7.dpuf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I think what actually might make some sense for this area would a revival of the eastern portion of
Urban Ring, which I helped study a while ago. This called for BRT from Chelsea down to this area,
and another BRT link as far as Ruggles down the haul road and on a separated busway down Melnea
Cass. It wouldn't directly serve the Back Bay Hotels, but in terms of providing access to jobs in that
area it might make more sense.

Combined with the announcement of the convention center expansion, it's clear this is all about the convention hall. Conventioneers generally are flush with $$$$ (hello, expense accounts), and why have those folk wasting time/money in gridlock when they could be spending it on restaurants and other goodies? Providing access to jobs down there is secondary.

The MCCA chief (wasn't Rooney GM at the T? Or maybe that was one of his brothers) was conspicuous in his advocacy for the Track 61 DMU plan. If you notice in Shirley Leung's column when this was first floated, NO ONE from the T is quoted.

A post at Archboston.org says there's signal work on Track 61's crossing at Cypher Street. Can folks confirm its purpose? (I'm guessing it has nothing to do with the Back Bay - BCEC shuttle, but the extent of its significance seems like it'd fit this thread).

I don't think track 61 has freight service....I don't know what else it would be for...

jscola30 wrote:I don't think track 61 has freight service....I don't know what else it would be for...

There's also the 1st St layover yard. Although I think that plan is dead.

And the fact that MassPORT and the BRA want to dangle freight rail to developers. If a small upgrade nets them some gain, they'll do it.

If this was anywhere but Boston one might suggest a light rail line, say South Station - Seaport Blvd then down through South Boston terminating at Andrew. But anything using the dreaded term light rail seems to be anathema to the T planners, outside of GLX.

Jon

Better yet, throw tracks down in the silver line tunnels for the first leg of a South Station -> Andrew/City point light rail service, and replace the Logan portion of the Silver Line with a shuttle bus service that runs from South Station down Summer street to the Ted/Logan with a stop at the BCEC. It would provide faster, better service for both airport passengers AND the growing seaport district.

Bramdeisroberts wrote:Better yet, throw tracks down in the silver line tunnels for the first leg of a South Station -> Andrew/City point light rail service, and replace the Logan portion of the Silver Line with a shuttle bus service that runs from South Station down Summer street to the Ted/Logan with a stop at the BCEC. It would provide faster, better service for both airport passengers AND the growing seaport district.

I like the idea of "street running" trolleys in the silver line! But this doesn't solve the single-seat ride problem for the conventioneers between Back Bay and the waterfront, if we want to solve that in addition to all the subsidies the Convention Center Authority gets.

Does the Boston Harbor dredging approval change anything? Boston is going to be playing in the big league now!

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