octr202 wrote: Of course, if the line was upgraded above 60 mph (where possible), maybe you could run close to an hour end-to-end and still make some intermediate stops.The tie replacement/destressing/reballasting blitz over the past couple of years has apparently brought Framingham-Worcester (which is half the line) up to 79 mph (since it's cab signalled, I believe that actually means 90, but since little or no MBTA equipment is rated for 90, that's not really relevant) standard, but it's been confirmed (by dbperry either earlier in this thread or in another thread) that no uprates are currently planned.
Hypothesis: filing the paperwork to uprate the line would imply a commitment to maintain that class and the MBTA/MassDOT isn't sure they want to do that, especially if only one roundtrip a day (the LSL) is really going to take advantage (this changes whenever Amtrak Inland Route service begins again).
Further hypothesis: if H2H is enough of a success either by itself or where adding Framingham would result in enough new ridership to make it worth continuing, then we may see the paperwork to get 79 (or 90, if Amtrak decides to equip 448/449 with a cab-signalled loco) filed, which takes several minutes off of H2H west of Framingham (and a few minutes off of the locals). At that point Framingham can definitely be added (it would only add a couple of minutes to the current schedule anyway, since track speed is 30 or lower through there), probably one of the Naticks (Natick Center is more promising, since I'm presuming that H2H will generally use Track 1 in both directions; this will also), and maybe even Wellesley Sq. while still maintaining a one-hour Worcester-Yawkey time.
Of course, upgrading at least Track 1 from Beacon Park to Weston would take minutes off the schedule for far more trains (and would be a really nice advertisement for the train to drivers seeing it beating traffic on the Pike nearly all of the time).
On another note, this week I've been riding 412 to Littleton and each day has seen more ridership than the last, with a lot of the passengers telling the conductors that they were glad to now be able to take the train.
The rise of these just-after-peak trains is interesting. I have a feeling that if the ridership on these isn't that terrible, and the complaints about peak overcrowding continue, we'll see the fare structure adjusted to entice people off of the peak trains and onto shoulder-of-peak trains (e.g. discounting off-peak trips to interzone fares, so $5.75 to ride Littleton to Porter/BON on 408 instead of $9.75 on 410).