Foxboro Commuter Rail Extension

[F-line to Dudley via Park]

The full-build "Option C" proposal for 16 daily round-trips did require extension of the DT from Norwood Central to the foot of Windsor Gardens station, and installation of a set of universal crossovers through Franklin layover to eliminate conflicts. That also assumed that Foxboro would be making all local stops on the Fairmount Line as a baseline, since the study could make no assumptions about how distinct Fairmount/Indigo service would ultimately be from regular long-haul frequencies and thus didn't try to split hairs with any hedges on skip-stopping. The traffic modeling for that did have everything coexisting harmoniously up to and including making every single local stop...though the margins for error were still pretty thin re: those crossovers at Franklin layover.


As just a trial without the mainline track work in the real-deal proposal, this probably would entail some extremely delicate schedule-making. Perhaps relegating any potential conflicting F'boro runs to less-choice slots vs. the existing Franklin reverse-commutes, regardless of which has the better ridership and farebox recovery. And probably running express through Dorchester...though if Readville itself is still a must-have station stop for parity's sake they're obviously not going to care about the speed limit on the bridge.

[F-line to Dudley via Park]

FWIW...here's the link to the full Foxboro Feasibility Study if you want to compare forthcoming details on the trial with the build alternatives for the real thing:

http://www.mbta.com/uploadedfiles/About ... 20ONLY.pdf

[Rockingham Racer]

F-line said:
......As just a trial without the mainline track work in the real-deal proposal, this probably would entail some extremely delicate schedule-making.....

Hmm, according to recent discussions here, there seems to be a problem in Boston with that, lately.

[F-line to Dudley via Park]

Well...um...yeaaaaaaaahhhhh.

Maybe file this under "aspirational goal-setting".

[nomis]

Foxborough approves commuter rail service
http://whdh.com/news/foxborough-approve ... l-service/

Regular commuter rail service to and from Foxborough was approved Tuesday night.

The Foxborough Board of Selectmen voted four to one in favor of a pilot program for a commuter rail station in the town.

According to the Foxboro Patch, the MBTA wants to include four round trips from the Gillette Stadium platform to South Station.

Service is set to begin in late 2017 or early 2018.

Article quoted in its entirety due to limited size

[Ryanontherails]

Well, I just got back from the Walpole selectmen's meeting. Needless to say, the town is pissed! As it turns out, while Foxborough selectmen could reject the pilot project, Walpole's could not. I pointed out that back in April the fiscal control board discussed this project and the Buzzards Bay one and said neither made financial sense. I asked why it was chosen over Buzzards Bay, but forgot to ask how it went from "this makes no financial sense" to "let's do Foxboro anyway". I also asked why the platform on the Lewis Wye was not part of the project. They didn't answer though. But yeah, if they want to add service to Foxboro, Walpole should be a stop. I don't want to be here ten years from now with commuter trains going to Foxboro and passing by the station while Norwood, Dedham, and perhaps Westwood reap the benefits.

[craven]

"I don't want to be here ten years from now with commuter trains going to Foxboro and passing by the station while Norwood, Dedham, and perhaps Westwood reap the benefits"

Fear Not. The Pilot will prove that No-One wants to go to Foxboro and " this makes No Financial sense" will prevail.

[nomis]

Yet if there could be a layover facility at Foxboro built, especially if the T isn't paying for it, it may just stick around ...

[ohalloranchris]

I recently noticed bundles of new wooden ties along the tracks near Gillette Stadium. Are they upgrading the line for higher speeds?

[Backshophoss]

Did CSX transfer ownership of the trackage involved to MBTA?
Or is this still under CSX control for now?

[KB1KVD]

The Framingham secondary was transferred to the Mass Dot a few years back and Mass Coastal dispatches it.

[Red Wing]

"I don't want to be here ten years from now with commuter trains going to Foxboro and passing by the station while Norwood, Dedham, and perhaps Westwood reap the benefits"

Fear Not. The Pilot will prove that No-One wants to go to Foxboro and " this makes No Financial sense" will prevail.

Why not? It is between I95 and US1. Close to I495 and MA128. Seems pretty easy to get to. I assume it would provide access to the concerts, Revolution games, and continued access to Patriot games.

The problems I see are weekday pats game. I don't see how anyone would want to try to leave that area when people are getting ready to tailgate. I also think that it would poach quite a few people from the surrounding stations.

[ohalloranchris]

"I don't want to be here ten years from now with commuter trains going to Foxboro and passing by the station while Norwood, Dedham, and perhaps Westwood reap the benefits"

Fear Not. The Pilot will prove that No-One wants to go to Foxboro and " this makes No Financial sense" will prevail.

Why not? It is between I95 and US1. Close to I495 and MA128. Seems pretty easy to get to. I assume it would provide access to the concerts, Revolution games, and continued access to Patriot games.

The problems I see are weekday pats game. I don't see how anyone would want to try to leave that area when people are getting ready to tailgate. I also think that it would poach quite a few people from the surrounding stations.

Currently, most Foxboro residents commute to Boston via Mansfield, Canton Jct, or 128 (all with fast, frequent service). A slow meandering route via Wapole with a limited schedule will likely be far less attractive.

[Trinnau]

Currently, most Foxboro residents commute to Boston via Mansfield, Canton Jct, or 128 (all with fast, frequent service). A slow meandering route via Wapole with a limited schedule will likely be far less attractive.

Very easy to see this if you look at a map showing the city borders in relation to the rail lines. The longest of these trips from Mansfield is 45 minutes with access to both Ruggles and Back Bay. The express trains in the rush hour shave that down to as little as 30 minutes. Service is very frequent. Even Franklin Line options out of Walpole or Norwood top out at 50 minutes from Walpole, down to 40 on the express trains.

The Fairmount Line schedule is 30 minutes from Readville to Boston. Even without any stops on the Franklin Line you're probably looking at 50 minutes minimum total trip because as an extension of existing service they would have to maintain those stops, right? And that's without Ruggles or Back Bay as destination options.

[ferroequinologist]

Another note regarding Foxborough and its residents using other stations is that the Foxboro station is located at Gilette, a decent ways from where most people in Foxborough live. So it's not like the station will be very much more convenient to access for most Foxborough residents than Mansfield and Sharon are.