Imagine a train station in the middle of a thriving neighborhood.
State and city officials stood in a the door of a new commuter-rail coach parked in the old Allston freight yard to announce a $25-million train station.
West Station will be built near the present turnpike toll plaza and should open when the turnpike there is straightened, in 2020, state Transportation Secretary Richard Davey said.
The station will be servced by DMUs, single-car diesel units that could bring subway-like schedules.
Davey said he hopes the new trains could eventually go to North Station via the Grand Junction bridge over the Charles, but acknowledged that will take considerable work, both to fix the tracks and convince skeptical Cambridge officials.
Gov. Patrick said if the Grand Junction could be put into service, that could one day lead to service from Allston to Assembly Row in Somerville.
Davey said Harvard, which owns the freight yard, agreed to kick in a third of the station's cost. The state will pay another third, with the source of the remainder to be determined.
Patrick and Mayor Walsh said Harvard has also agreed to make the streets in the new neighborhood that will spring up over the next two decades "multi-modal" - to safely carry pedestrians, bicyclists and motor vehicles.
Patrick, Davey and Walsh in the vestibule of the new commuter-rail car they used for the announcement:
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Comments
Storm Water Re-Usage Has Nothing To Do With It
By Elmer
Wed, 10/01/2014 - 2:57pm
Yes, it's nice that MIT recycles storm water runoff to flush toilets in the Stata Center, but that really has nothing to do with proper underground construction. Indeed, Building 36 (right next door to Stata) has a sub-basement that's nearly as deep, but it was built more than forty years ago. MIT hides no secrets to successful engineering; anyone can build properly if they take the time to "read the instructions" and avoid making stupid mistakes.
It saddens me that you expect so little from any public works project. Not that I don't understand your feelings; time and time again, we've been disappointed by projects that cost too much, delivered too little, never worked properly, caused more problems than they solved, or never were built at all. Nonetheless, I haven't lost all hope that it's possible to at least sometimes do things right.
Fifty years ago, at the New York World's Fair, my 8-year old head was filled with dreams of the future. Riding on the subways of Boston and New York was exciting, but when I was fifteen, my summer camp turned us loose in downtown Montreal for the day! I spent most of my time exploring the Underground City and riding on the fabulous new Metro subway. Naturally, I thought it wouldn't be long before all cities in the U.S. did such wonderful things with urban construction and rapid transit. Different times, different places, but I still love to dream!
Ever bury a rail line before?
By Kaz
Wed, 10/01/2014 - 2:32pm
These aren't subway cars. The MBTA's commuter rail grade standards ( https://www.mbta.com/uploadedfiles/Business_Center... ) are 0.7% preferred maximum grading and 1.5% absolute maximum grading. That absolute is assuming no freight will run on the same line (which isn't true, freight runs on Grand Junction from time to time).
So, let's say 1 foot of rise every 100 feet of track. The standards also say a bare minimum of 16'-4" and a preferred 22'-6" is required for overhead clearance, so let's say 20' for simplicity (again, freight carriers can request more of the project too).
So, you need 2000 feet of track on either side of the tunnel just to put a piece of plywood over the track.
And you want to bury it under the Red Line? You'd probably need to start lowering the track around Worcester so you can go under the Charles too, because you're not going to go through it.
Simply Leave The Little-Used Freight Rails Alone
By Elmer
Wed, 10/01/2014 - 3:15pm
The idea is for frequently running rapid transit service through the corridor. It should not share the rails with freight or intercity passenger trains; they run so infrequently that the current on-grade system works just fine. A new rapid-transit-only tunnel and station connecting to the Red Line would not entail that much drama.
Or we could upgrade the crossings
By roadman
Wed, 10/01/2014 - 11:19am
at minimal cost and run trains. People and trains have co-existed for decades, they co-exist today on both the commuter rail system and in most other parts of the country.
"OMG, we can't have level crossings" is just another excuse being fronted by the NIMBY contingent to block a necessary transportation improvement.
Exactly
By Kaz
Wed, 10/01/2014 - 2:34pm
The commuter rail goes right through the heart of Needham every day. It can go right through the heart of MIT/Kendall too.
It's done in other cities, too
By Waquiot
Wed, 10/01/2014 - 2:55pm
Sure, they're mostly light rail, but I've noticed that in cities that have built new lines, they deal with higher land and construction costs by putting the lines on street level downtown, with crossing gates to give the trains priority.
Oddly enough, that is what happens on the Grand Junction line now, just much less frequently.
If LA can do it, if Denver can do it, if Minneapolis can do it, if a city that loves itself too much and is also the former hometown to a frequent commenter here can do it, then why can't we run these things grade level here. The cars and pedestrians can wait the 30 seconds for the trains to go by 3 to 6 times an hour!
There is a HUGE difference
By DTP
Wed, 10/01/2014 - 6:19pm
There is a HUGE difference between light rail and heavy rail. Apples to oranges.
Yes and no
By Waquiot
Wed, 10/01/2014 - 11:25pm
If they are running DMUs (or EMUs) you are talking shorter trains and similar speeds. But regulatory wise, they are different.
Homeland Security Issue?
By SwirlyGrrl
Wed, 10/01/2014 - 3:11pm
I wonder if some of this is cloaking for what that rail line passes by in Cambridge, and not drawing attention to it.
SHHHH Swirls dont ask , dont
By kvn
Wed, 10/01/2014 - 3:59pm
SHHHH Swirls dont ask , dont tell dont talk about it!
Interesting map of some of
By kvn
Wed, 10/01/2014 - 8:13am
Interesting map of some of the crossings:
http://www.massdot.state.ma.us/portals/17/docs/gra...
Interesting map of some of
By kvn
Wed, 10/01/2014 - 8:13am
Interesting map of some of the crossings:
http://www.massdot.state.ma.us/portals/17/docs/gra...
Video of press conference
By HarryMattison
Tue, 09/30/2014 - 6:52pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrlVNxhynTs
Harry, what's your take on
By Seth
Tue, 09/30/2014 - 8:35pm
Harry, what's your take on the announcement?
Must be well-connected
By HarryMattison
Wed, 10/01/2014 - 8:57am
For this to be a great transit hub, it must be well-connected in two ways:
1) Frequency of service (to both Kendall / North Station and Yawkey/ South Station)
2) Accessibility from the north and south by foot, bus, bike, and car? If you are coming from Comm Ave / Babcock Street, what happens when you get to Linden Street? If you are coming from Cambridge Street, how do you cross over the 8 lane Turnpike, several lanes of frontage roads, and a large railyard.
how about a Newton Corner station?
By Ron Newman
Tue, 09/30/2014 - 10:01pm
I've never understood why the train passes through there without stopping, only to stop at three much less busy Newton stations further west.
There once was
By Matthew
Wed, 10/01/2014 - 12:39am
Until it was demolished by Callahan, conspiring with the negligent stewards of the B&A railroad, in order to create the Mass Pike extension, and the total mess of a rotary at Newton Corner. The station was replaced by express buses.
Come to think of it, Callahan also royally screwed up Comm Ave/BU Bridge. And Cambridge Street in Allston.
Callahan wasn't very good at that whole street design gig... what an asshole.
The Pike express buses run
By anon
Wed, 10/01/2014 - 3:11pm
The Pike express buses run far more frequently, and serve many more destinations within walking distance, than the commuter rail would if it existed in Newton Corner.
Traffic can be a problem. They could solve it by making a bus lane on the Pike, and then running buses even more frequently to make it worthwhile. That's what Seattle did -- you can zip from outer city neighborhoods to downtown on an I-5 bus. And it's even covered by local fares.
Express fares only kick in for even longer trips. And they max out at $3.50 for a 30-mile trip, unlike the T's express buses which can cost $5.25 on a CharlieCard or $6.80 cash for a 10-mile trip from West Newton to Boston.
I didn't denigrate express
By Matthew
Wed, 10/01/2014 - 10:13pm
I didn't denigrate express buses. I just said that's what replaced the Newton Corner station. I did criticize the horrendous intersection design left behind by Callahan on his various overpasses of I-90. I'm just one of many tens of thousands of people who have to deal with these terrible intersections every day.
Anyway, I'm a fan of express buses, and I hope they're expanded in scope, span and frequency. The current schedules are really lame.
I'd support this. But I can guarantee you that it will be a long time before MassDOT and many people in power would ever, ever consent to converting a travel lane on the Pike into a bus-only lane. That's just realism. I hope that someday it might be possible to consider. But for now, we have to make best use of the existing dedicated public transit lanes in the Mass Pike corridor: the Framingham/Worcester MBTA commuter rail line. Remember: the railroad was almost completely gutted when the Mass Pike extension was built, leaving behind almost nothing close to the true potential of such a corridor.
Someday I hope that the mistakes/compromises of the Mass Pike extension are cleaned up, then the service levels on the commuter rail line can be more than adequate for just about anything you might dream.
Newton Station - Newton Corner Square
By arr!
Fri, 10/31/2014 - 7:31pm
Didn't need Newton Station back in 1962; Just take the "A" Watertown trolley. Too bad that went away in 1968. Back then the railroad offered only a handfull of trips a day, and had just sold the Highland Branch (Riverside "D") to the MTA, so no more Newton loop service. Plus traffic wasn't so bad and you had a brand new highway! And the trolley was what, ten cents?
While the press conference
By anon
Wed, 10/01/2014 - 7:44am
While the press conference went on: passengers were stuck on a disabled train because the newest, and desperately needed, equipment was put to use as a demonstration piece.
Don't forget to get a few
By kvn
Wed, 10/01/2014 - 8:18am
Don't forget to get a few more props for Southcoast rail , one for New Beige , one for Fall Rive, stage them there ,like the coming attractions segment at the movies.
During the Romney years they
By anon
Wed, 10/01/2014 - 9:42am
During the Romney years they built a tunnel through Hingham center so that locals wouldn't be bothered by the unsightly trains when they shopped. I am sure they can figure out something similar for the smaller DMUs for some of the grade crossings along Grand Junction in Cambridge.
Some of those buildings were
By kvn
Wed, 10/01/2014 - 1:44pm
Some of those buildings were held together by years upon years white paint applications. If I were King back then , I'd run a D8 back and forth a few times......l
Once the people see the DMUs in action , everybody will want them., that's even if they are made unconvoluted like the old NHRR had , which I doubt. Probably need some major$$$$$ modifications to run through Cambridge.
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