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Remember when there was a train line to Worcester?
By adamg on Tue, 02/10/2015 - 9:04am
Gamma Ray Digital shows us where the Worcester Line used to be in Allston.
OK, if you look closely, at the snow to the left of the roof at the bottom of the image, you can see a thin black line. That's all that's left of the train tracks this morning.
Neighborhoods:
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Comments
I'm at a lost of words. At
I'm at a lost of words. At first I was upset that they couldn't operate service during the blizzard and last night even though running trains is used to clear the snow. I'm actually staring to feel bad for the T. They're just a ******* mess. Any realistic solutions folks?
As far as I know, Amtrak will still run on this line today
Amtrak's Lake Shore Limited uses this line, and as far as I know it will run today. It will serve Framingham, Worcester, and points west.
According to Amtrak's Web site only the Downeaster service (on the Lowell and Haverhill lines) has been cancelled.
Ideas
Try to rework the contract with the Chinese firm slated to build the new Red/Orange line cars such they don't need to do final assembly in MA in exchange for delivering them 1-2+ years sooner.
Sue the manufacture of the new commuter rail locomotives that were delivered late and defective and thus couldn't be used during these storms.
Assembly
Isn't the issue that they're made and forged somewhere else, and then assembled here by semi-"skilled" US hands?
Wasn't the problem with the new commuter rail coaches that wires and such were drilled through in assembly and electronics needed to be replaced? Sounds like the new engines had an issue with improper shipping and handling here in the states.
Honestly, I'm starting to think the same as the poster above. We either need to hire someone on these shores that is responsible from start to finish, or just let it go. There's huge problems with quality control when they basically just set up a shop to assemble them here.
Welfare
The "you must build it here" is a form of welfare. The state knows it will rise the cost of the bid but they hope that once the company has a plant in the Commonwealth they'll stick around. It's also a nice way for some reps from central mass to say MBTA funding is helping their constituents.
The problem is that the company is never going to have as good quality control compared to a workforce accustomed to building these and tools on-hand for solving manufacturing problems when they occur.
These sorts of policies are good politics and poor policy. If they want to lower taxes, fine, but don't try to indirectly support the economy by adding build-here requirements.
I know less about this than many here
but it seems to me that the red line cars that were made by Bombardier in Quebec seem to be functioning reasonably well, Bombardier is still in that business, and their manufacturing plant is just a couple of hundred miles away. That seems like it should have been worth a couple of million in the bidding process.
I might have any number of things in this comment wrong, but I have faith that those who know in the Uhubbertariat will dutifully correct me.
Bids
I can't find the chart but it was a lot more then a few million. And it was for less cars too. The Chinese deal blew the others out of the water price wise.
EDIT: Here is the UHub story with the chart. The Bombardier bid was about $500 million more: http://www.universalhub.com/2014/state-likely-go-cheapest-bidder-replace...
We'll see if it was a good deal of not. My gut feeling is that if final assembly was in China the quality would be fine. But since they have to build them in MA expect delays and problems.
See, I knew someone would know.
Thanks, BostonDog.
I have to say that in my personal business, I almost never take the absolute lowest bidder because there is almost always a problem. People are always saying that they want government to work more like regular people (a sentiment that I think is ridiculous), but I hope that the T doesn't get burned.
Suing
Lol. Hyundai-Rotem are suing us right now so they can somehow force us to give them the Red/Orange line order.
I think the Buy America Act
I think the Buy America Act will get in the way of that idea. If the MBTA is using any of their Federal funding to pay for these trains, they have to comply with that law.
Cancel the $2+ billion south
Cancel the $2+ billion south coast commuter rail expansion and the $1 billion bond for the convention center expansion. Use the $3 billion instead to eliminate the MBTA's maintenance backlog.
This is honestly the best
This is honestly the best card we have.The maintenance backlog is treated as an operation budget item than a capital project. But the backlog is so huge now that we pretty much need to treat it as a capital project. So let's canned the commuter rail that has terrible bang for the buck and use that catch up on the backlog (and I recall the backlog is to the tune of a billion, so let's use the remainder that for towards the other major factors to the breakdowns - which I believe is the signal infrastructure).
I can't believe you're
I can't believe you're honestly suggesting canning the commuter rail as a serious option. Even if it doesn't have the greatest "bang for the buck", it's still an essential transportation service that 130,000 people a day use, and it's most useful at times like right now when many of the side roads away from the city aren't going to see bare pavement again for some time, so it acts as an easy, safe alternative to driving in to the city, both for commuting and other trips.
I bet you live in the city and have never even ridden it, have you?
Calm down
The above poster is suggesting we cancel this commuter rail extension, not the entire commuter rail itself.
I'm all for pulling the plug
I'm all for pulling the plug on SCR, but the comment I was replying to said "the commuter rail", without specifying that project, so it sounds to me like they were talking about the CR in general.
You can see the indentation..
You can see the indentation... as well as being directly below MATH and everything...
Either yes, kill SCR. We can't afford it. Not when there's millions of people affect by maintenance issues who needs roughly that amount of money versus helping a few thousands.
I will also want to mention that Markk seem to be looking at a different project that has billions theoretically set up. My response written ahead is GLX will serve far more people than SCR. Much more justified.
Commuter Rail
I believe they're talking about canning the commuter rail expansion, not the whole commuter rail.
I'm sorry to say it - but South Coast is toast.
I just cannot see a situation in which the Governor does not use this crisis as a reason why the Commonwealth cannot afford to do that expansion. I feel very, very sorry for the people in New Bedford and Fall River, in particular, who have been patiently waiting for this for decades, but barring a massive dump of federal money, that project will not proceed anytime soon.
I couldn't agree more with
I couldn't agree more with cancelling South Coast Rail. But as I recall, the convention center expansion is funded mostly through higher hotel taxes, car rental fees, and similar revenues from exactly the businesses that stand to benefit from larger conventions. It's less of a taxpayer subsidy and more of a mechanism for the hospitality industry to collectively pool its money to build public infrastructure.
That said, I do have concerns about some parts of the BCEC expansion, such as embiggening a giant blank wall along the street instead of retail to enliven the area. And if I were given $1 billion to spend on public infrastructure, I'd certainly spend it on T maintenance. But most of that $1 billion is only available because the hospitality industry volunteered for higher taxes on itself for the specific purpose of BCEC expansion.
I agree that if the money for
I agree that if the money for South Coast can be diverted to upkeep on more vital things like the Red Line(which places like Kendall Square depend on), then by all means do it. I'm sorry, but corporate growth in this state is centered around Boston and Cambridge. We need the Red Line to work now. Heck, take a portion of that $2 billion and run MBTA buses(limos) up Route 24.
Framingham/Worcester Line
I think that the Commonwealth's acquisition of this line was generally a very good thing, BUT...
does anyone really think that those tracks would look like that today if CSX still owned the right of way and had operations at the Beacon Yard? If you haven't already guessed, my answer is NFW.
Blower
I just want to see the jet engine leafblower-on-a-railcar blasting exhaust and clearing and melting this white stuff.
blowing it right onto the Turnpike!
now that would just about capture the last two weeks in a nutshell, wouldn't it?
Question about the state of
Question about the state of emergency:
The announcement talked about facilitating emergency expenditures and mutual aid and snow-clearing equipment and the like.
Could it also be applied to - I don't know... - maybe renting and/or borrowing as many commuter/charter buses from out-of-state agencies and private operators, contracting for drivers to come with them, reserve some blocks of hotel rooms for when the drivers need sleep shifts; and execute a snow emergency replacement service plan sufficient to get suburban commuters in and out of the city?
...and I know there was a conversation here on UHub yesterday about how all the yards/storage are in the open air at the ends of the lines and there's not any room in the subway tunnels for storage. What if - in emergency conditions they simply ran as much back-and-forth traffic within the tunnels as the loops and switches will permit?
Talk about a pefect picture..
for illustrating overwhelming preference given to cars/roads (turnpike looks like it was just paved and parking lot cleared with cars ready to go) over trains (what trains? what rail?)....the only thing more that would have driven the point home would be the unplowed sidewalks or plowed in sidewalks throughout the city. 2c.