Passenger Trains > MA: MBTA to electrify its regional rail network?

A report that the board of the MBTA has decided to electrify its regional rail network. And, build a north to south connection between the major stations


https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/mbta-moves-to-blur-line-between-commuter-rail-and-rapid-transit

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
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> A report that the board of the MBTA has decided to
> electrify its regional rail network. And, build a
> north to south connection between the major
> stations

20 years too late to get a good price for all this.  Better late than never though.

Be a long time before the connection is built between South and North stations.  
Will probably see some of the network with electrification in the next decade.

Wurli1938 Wrote:
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> Be a long time before the connection is built
> between South and North stations.  
> Will probably see some of the network with
> electrification in the next decade.

Will that have to be underground, or is there a roundabout way to do it?

I do not see any alternatives to digging.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/08/19 19:11 by ts1457.

I believe MBTA electrification and the North/South Rail Link construction are far from a done deal as $30B +/- funding source has to be found. Remember that the term "Big Dig" for the most expensive highway project in the US was coined in Boston: original project cost was to be $2.8B but ended up costing at least $22B and won't be paid off until 2038. We will see...

I've been hearing about a Boston N-S Station connector my entire life. In contrast, in 2018, Moscow Metro had numerous line extentions and opened 15 new stations. See all of them in this short video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMTh2cR4Eac

The stations are beautiful, clean, and safe and most importantly will be so in the future.

The system continues to expand. The city is booming, the positive energy is conspicuous, unmistakable. Most big US cities feel like they are dying.

The Board can vote in favor of electrification; actually doing it is another matter entirely.  Assuming the state legislature was even willing to hand $30B to the MBTA, they would likely be met with a huge backlash.  The only thinkg I could see happening anytime soon is stringing wire on the Fairmount Line, but even that carries a high enough price tag as to make it doubtful.

And yes, any practical North-South Rail Link would almost certainly have to be underground.  The Grand Junction Running Track connects both sides of the commuter rail network, but its 2.5 miles of 10mph running, so it will simply never be competetive with taking the Orange Line between Back Bay and North Station.  The connection at the south end does not lend itself to an easy move east to South Station, either - Amtrak and MBTA equipment moves have to change ends, and there is certainly no room to build an eastbound connector.

The Big Dig was affected by "unexpected" water table issues. A rail tunnel in the same general area might reasonably face similar problems.

Posted from Android

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
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> The Big Dig was affected by "unexpected" water
> table issues. A rail tunnel in the same general
> area might reasonably face similar problems.
>
> Posted from Android



Hard to believe this is the same country that once sent people to the moon.

Seems like I remember that the Big Dig Project dropped some construction which would facilitate the rail connection.

ts1457 Wrote:
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> Seems like I remember that the Big Dig Project
> dropped some construction which would facilitate
> the rail connection.

That’s correct.  The slurry walls on either side of the highway tunnel were extended downward to allow a rail tunnel below at a future date.

Dave

DavidP Wrote:
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> That’s correct.  The slurry walls on either
> side of the highway tunnel were extended downward
> to allow a rail tunnel below at a future date.

Thanks Dave. 

I'm confused. Was that done or not?

Duna Wrote:
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> I've been hearing about a Boston N-S Station
> connector my entire life. In contrast, in 2018,
> Moscow Metro had numerous line extentions and
> opened 15 new stations. See all of them in this
> short video:
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMTh2cR4Eac

Thank you for sharing.

> The stations are beautiful, clean, and safe and
> most importantly will be so in the future.

American's have never built a single beautiful subway station anywhere.

> The system continues to expand. The city is
> booming, the positive energy is conspicuous,
> unmistakable. Most big US cities feel like they
> are dying.

Feel like?  They ARE dying.  Your eyes aren't lying.

Duna Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Lackawanna484 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > The Big Dig was affected by "unexpected" water
> > table issues. A rail tunnel in the same general
> > area might reasonably face similar problems.
> >
> > Posted from Android
>
>
>
> Hard to believe this is the same country that once
> sent people to the moon.

It's not. That country got a terminal disease around 1974, went into shock in 1990, died in 2009.

abyler Wrote:
> American's have never built a single beautiful
> subway station anywhere.
 

---

abyler Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Duna Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I've been hearing about a Boston N-S Station
> > connector my entire life. In contrast, in 2018,
> > Moscow Metro had numerous line extentions and
> > opened 15 new stations. See all of them in this
> > short video:
> > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMTh2cR4Eac
>
> Thank you for sharing.
>
> > The stations are beautiful, clean, and safe and
> > most importantly will be so in the future.
>
> American's have never built a single beautiful
> subway station anywhere.

Go down to Atlanta. MARTA has some really nice looking subway stations, perhaps not beautiful but definetly good looking.
https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?4,4900963
>
> > The system continues to expand. The city is
> > booming, the positive energy is conspicuous,
> > unmistakable. Most big US cities feel like they
> > are dying.
>
> Feel like?  They ARE dying.  Your eyes aren't
> lying.