South Coast Rail Clog (Effects on the whole Middleboro Main Line & Old Colony Service)

In 2023 when Phase 1 of the South Coast Rail opens up, how is that going to to affect the already single line Old Colony Line? Hasn't there already been congestion issues? Come 2030 there is going to be 5 different lines sharing a single track between South Station and Braintree.

The South Coast Rail trains will be rerouted Middleboro trains.

Also on the next Expressway rebuild the Red Line will be reduced to 2 tracks and the Commuter rail will be given a second track. It won't take care of all the single track but will remove some.

SCR will be online well before the expressway rebuild is done.

As 3247 said the future FR/NB trains are Middleboro trains extended. They'll be limited to the same slots the Middleboro trains use today. More mileage for issues to occur or to get off schedule, but theoretically it uses the same capacity. That's part of the reason they want to go via the NEC - although that will just be extending Stoughton trains. Even though there are more tracks on the NEC there are more trains.

Pre-covid, were the Middleborough trains crowded? How many cars (and how long are the existing middleborough line platforms?)

MBTA was in a pinch pre-COVID and they were out of coaches. Trains were "right sized" on pretty much every line to not really have any spare capacity - that's why the MBTA rushed to do a mini-overhaul on some of the mothballed 500s and did a "sole source" 80-coach order with Rotem without using federal funds. So yes Middleboro trains were crowded but the largest trainset assigned I think was 6-cars long - 4 doubles and 2 singles or about 1000 seats.

The South Coast Rail project is purchasing 16 new bi-level coaches as part of their project because ridership modeling showed added capacity was needed and the MBTA didn't have coaches to spare. They are part of the 80-coach Rotem order (FY22 CIP - SCR PROCURMENT 16 CR COACHES plus PROCUREMENT OF 64 HYUNDAI BI‐LEVEL CR COACHES). Pre-COVID this would have been needed no matter the route of SCR.

All the Middleboro Line platforms are modern MBTA full-length high-level platforms. They were all constructed as part of the Old Colony service restoration in the late 1990s. They can handle 9-car trains.

6-cars is the longest the "T" regularly runs on any lines IIRC.

I know this is a political non-starter because SCR must hit downtown Fall River and New Bedford. I have wondered if the aim is to get commuters and not imaginary tourists why not run a single route with more trains instead of the split to FR/NB? Run the New Bedford route with a stop at Kings Highway and then turn into with a stop at Faunce Corner and potentially terminate in Westport near Mid City annex which would be very close to Fall River. In the current routing, the large professional populations of Dartmouth and Westport are missed.

Later, if phase two happens, run the Stoughton route to FR and potentially RI if the bridge is ever replaced.

BandA wrote: ↑Sun Oct 10, 2021 10:08 pm 6-cars is the longest the "T" regularly runs on any lines IIRC.

That may be the case right now, but Pre-COVID there were about a half dozen trainsets over 6 cars and all bi-levels. I think there were three 8-car bi-level sets on the Providence Line, 1 on the Franklin and a 9-car set on the Worcester - I may be forgetting one somewhere. There were also some 6-car all bi-level sets.

theseaandalifesaver wrote: ↑Tue Oct 05, 2021 4:08 pm In 2023 when Phase 1 of the South Coast Rail opens up, how is that going to to affect the already single line Old Colony Line? Hasn't there already been congestion issues? Come 2030 there is going to be 5 different lines sharing a single track between South Station and Braintree.

It's going to be a disaster and I'm glad I no longer have to ride Middleboro regularly. One train running late between Quincy Adams and North Quincy, not to mention the single track in Dorchester, fouls up everything.

It’s nice to hear that a stretch of the single track along the Old Colony Line will be double tracked. Which source did that information come from. It’s much needed. It would be nice if that whole stretch between Boston and Braintree was double tracked.

It would be nice in the long term if the route by way of Stoughton gets built. It will not only be faster from BOS. It would be great for people who live in New Bedford and Fall River who work around the Rt. 128 station. The routing to New Bedford by way of the Old Colony Division will be great for those who live in and around New Bedford and Fall River and work in Quincy. Not everyone who will use the train to work from New Bedford and Fall River works in Boston.

The old colony bottleneck between north of Braintree station-north of jfk is a disaster as it is. Why don’t they bother adding a full segment of double track where there is space to add it? I know portions does like at north Quincy-Wollaston station areas does and before Quincy center. Maybe I’m talking about the same area idk. The stoughton route will be the better option as the nec can handle lots of train traffic. Old colony can’t and won’t have lots of trains to run as the middleboro line does not have a lot of trains that are scheduled to run. None of the old colony lines do and that’s sad.

njtmnrrbuff wrote: ↑Wed Oct 13, 2021 5:54 am It’s nice to hear that a stretch of the single track along the Old Colony Line will be double tracked. Which source did that information come from. It’s much needed. It would be nice if that whole stretch between Boston and Braintree was double tracked.

It would be nice in the long term if the route by way of Stoughton gets built. It will not only be faster from BOS. It would be great for people who live in New Bedford and Fall River who work around the Rt. 128 station. The routing to New Bedford by way of the Old Colony Division will be great for those who live in and around New Bedford and Fall River and work in Quincy. Not everyone who will use the train to work from New Bedford and Fall River works in Boston.

https://www2.bostonmpo.org/se_expr_concept

There is currently no forward momentum on any double-tracking Braintree to Boston. The areas that can be double-tracked around the existing infrastructure are, and the limited additional footage that can be is not sufficient to be worthwhile. There have been plans, such as the 2012 concept, to improve on this but nothing has been advanced by the MBTA.

The Stoughton/NEC routing is preferred as not only 128 but Ruggles (LMA) and Back Bay are much bigger destinations than Braintree or Quincy. But don't be fooled into thinking the NEC has excess capacity. It can certainly handle the same trains better and be more resilient that the Middleboro can, but it won't have the capacity for significant added service until they extend track 3 to Junction and convert the Needham branch to subway.

I'd expect 3 tracks to Junction to happen well before Phase 2 is complete.