FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Ridership on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s new service from its Gillette Stadium station is well under the target figure to retain the pilot program, the Attleboro, Mass., Sun-Chronicle reports.
Through seven weeks, an average of 70 people per day are using the station, state Department of Transportation spokeswoman Lisa Battison, who said the program needs more time: “Given that the Foxborough pilot service is less than two months old, it’s too early to determine if or when the pilot would be made permanent, though staff continues to closely monitor the pilot’s progress.”
The 11-month trial program began Oct. 21, with 210 passengers per day as the average needed to consider the pilot program a success [see “MBTA to begin Foxborough service in October,” Trains News Wire, Sept. 19, 2019].
Boundary “dispute” settled 1862 and some land did go from RI to Mass. The original Boston & Providence RR was entirely in Massachusetts. Plymouth Colony was a separate colony until 1684 hence the Old Colony for the area. There are counts being done RIGHT NOW on the ridership on several routes (NY&NE and B&P) affected by the Foxboro’ project. All “–boros” in Mass, are spelled “ough” officially in their charters EXCEPT Northboro; I used to abbreviate them as “boro'” with the apostrophe in RR newsletters I ran. Two IMPORTANT things: MILEAGE COLLECTOR ALERT: the leg of the wye from the Mansfield to Framingham line (BCF&NB) to the inbound Franklin Branch (NY&NE) is RARE–I will be doing it in January for the first new trackage of 2020; I will then have ALL the combos at Walpole. And so far I have seen little to no promotion of using the Foxboro’ service which runs throughout the day right now to go from the Boston area to Patriots Place to shop,dine, or go to a game or two. Yes, it’s a walk of 1000 feet from the train but people could use the exercise. Also there are some medical employers and hotels at Patriot Place and already there may be a bit of reverse commuting. OK, so the roads in Norfolk County leave much to be desired in the growing area; anyways this service needs promoting.
Charles. I never knew about the boundary dispute between MA and RI.Its wicked awesome to learn new facts about our local history. On the internet it describes how different towns left or were added to MA or RI over 100 year period. I tried to find more info on The Old Colony Railroad and how it was named for the original pilgrim old colony, but found limited info on the pilgrim old colony.If anyone has info please post it. POP QUIZ What 2 states celebrate Patrots Day,which is the day of the Boston Marathon.I gotta go ,I have a coffee frappe waiting.
11 months is too short for any pilot program. It takes three years for new public transit routes to establish themselves.
My loving God! There’s actually a web site for White Fire Apparatus! What we learn! Have never seen such here in Wisconsin. We railfans are collectors of all sorts of useless trivia (such as the signage at Massachusetts Interstate Rte 95 Exit 8), but White Fire Engines ?????
So have we talked Foxboro(ugh) to death? Not yet. I need to know why Foxboro(ugh) has two spellings whereas nearby Attleboro (city) and North Attleborough (town) each have only one spelling. I guess it’s because the closer one comes to the Rhode Island state line the weirder it gets.
Here’s the trivia question, Paul, for your Greater Attleboro area: Prior to Taunton becoming the county seat, what was the county seat of Bristol County, Massachusetts?
Answer. Bristol. Which was annexed into Rhode Island. Massachusetts ceded three towns to Rhode Island, forming Rhode Island’s Bristol County, America’s smallest county until Hawaii became a state. This is the only place in America where two counties of the same name meet at a state line.
THE Foxboro station is about midway between the Walpole and Mansfield stations on the Framingham Secondary ex old colony, new haven,conrail,csx now state owned.The train from Foxboro heads west to Walpole for about 4 miles than north on the Franklin line.At WALPOLE station it slows to 5mph but, there is no platform to get on the train.The Franklin line is a much slower line than the Amtrak main line in Mansfield, and between Norwood and readville it really does not get above 40 mph.The Kraft group which owns the patriots and Gillette Stadium, where the Foxboro station is,supposedly paid for the upgrade of the line.The commuter rail put in welded rail, ties,elaborate signalsystem,controlled passing siding at Foxboro station and put chain link fence on both sides of track in residential areas,on overtime on weekends.They also cut down a lot of overhanging trees.This would have to have cost at least 20 million dollars.The Kraft group was hoping to expand its patriot plaza which currently has a hotel, movie complex, stores bars ,7 restaurants, medical outpatient facility etc.If this rail line worked they could have built a large condo and apartment complex and had a mini city, and their property would have gone way up in value.The route is very slow so can not compete with the two nearby stations.If any one knows how much this cost and how much the Kraft group paid I would love to know.I do not understand why the state bought the framingham secondary, and now has to maintain the line into eternity.If any one is interested ,I own some great land in Florida ,that is waterfront ,in the middle of the everglades!
JOHN – Here’s everything to know about Foxboro(ugh).(Not much.) Aside from the white fire engines, only place I’ve ever seen white fire engines.
Foxboro(ugh) is or was the home of Foxboro Company, a maker of something or other, instruments, dials, whatever.
The same overpass over Rte 95 is labeled two different ways, NB drivers see a sign SOUTH MAIN STREET SHARON. SB drivers see a sign MECHANIC STREET FOXBORO. This is the exact midpoint between Boston and Providence.
In Sharon just above the Foxboro(ugh) town line is the furthest inland cranberry bog, visible from both South Main Street and the Rte 95 expressway. This is Norfolk County; all other cranberry bogs are much further to the southeast in Plymouth County.
And of course the New England Patriots, a minor league football team, play in Foxboro(ugh) at the stadium alongside Rte 1 Providence Highway.
Charles – yes!
The two main advantages of the Foxboro commuter station is that 1) there is plenty of parking available no matter the time of day (Mansfield, Walpole, and Sharon lots are all full after the first few trains), and 2) it’s also cheaper being that it is Zone 4 (Foxboro: $281 per month) and not Zone 6 (Mansfield: $340 per month).
As for taking longer, there isn’t *that* much difference between Mansfield and Foxboro. Sure, there are some Mansfield express runs of 31-36 min., but most are 40 min. or more. Mansfield to South Station times: 46, 46, 36, 43, 44, 31, 38, 37, 45, 40, 44, 41, 36, 42, 42, 34, 32, 40, 40, 41, and 40 min. Foxboro times to South Station are: 65, 55, 55, 61, 61, 51, 62, 46, and 61 min.
John Barlow,
Part of the problem for Foxboro residents is that Mansfield, Sharon, and other towns have taken their town-owned parking lots and made them for their residents only. Foxboro residents can only park at other town’s stations where the state owns the lots. These MBTA-owned lots are coincidently right next to the stations, which are, of course, the first lots to fill up every morning.
Charles Landey,
White fire engines are not uncommon. Just Google “White Fire Apparatus” and you’ll see plenty of them.
Foxboro is still the home of The Foxboro Company (founded 1908), which was bought by Siebe, Invensys, and now by Schnieder Electric. My great-grandfather, grandfather, mother and I all worked there. The original name was the “Industrial Instrument Co.”, but as it was told to me, customers started calling it “That Foxboro company” and the name stuck. The Company (as we locals call it) started with measuring instruments that would record and track things like flow rates through pipes. It expanded vertically to include everything from the meters themselves to the control rooms that managed them. They used to have an office in every free country in the world. They are still very important in the oil industry, to the point where even though they’ve been merged now 3 times, they are still called “Foxboro” brand meters and controls. The Foxboro Company is still the largest single employer in the greater Attleboro area (our nearest city).
Yes, Exit 8 on I-95 is labled Foxboro heading south and Sharon heading north. That’s because the exit is literally on the town line and the exit is not a full cloverleaf (it goes to a pair of T-intersections). There are, however, signs preceeding the exit signs stating the other town being present.
The cranberry bog in Sharon is no longer being harvested. They are building all kinds of residences along the back of the bogs. The Sharon bogs used to be harvested by helicopter and I would watch them from my parent’s bookstore in the Shaw’s Plaza across the street.
And yes, we are home to the 6 x Super Bowl winners (and current champion), the New England Patriots. We don’t really believe in minor league football around these parts; that sort of thing is for lessor communities that can’t attract the NFL.
Remember why the NFL is in Foxboro: there are more people in a 25 mile radius around Foxboro than there is anywhere else in all of New England, and yet we have less than 17,000 people living in town.
And BTW, you missed Foxboro’s 19th Century glory of being “The Straw Hat Capital of the World”. Yes, straw hats were a big industry in the 1800’s. Foxboro had several large hat factorties including the Union Straw Works, the largest straw hat company in the world.
Steven Derrick,
Massachusetts has been in the habit of buying rail lines for decades. We own the NEC in Massachusetts, for example, as well has a multitude of commuter lines. It’s turned out pretty well for us. Just compare the commuter rail map & schedules of 1968 vs. today’s.
The Framingham Secondary purchase is another wise investment by the state because CSX certainly wasn’t maintaining it. It was Class I (10mph) track, and only kept to even that low standard by CSX because of the football trains to Foxboro (can’t run passengers on Excepted track). Conrail at least kept it at 30mph. Now the line is actually decent again (and faster from Gillete to Walpole).
And FWIW, remember that every single freight customer in eastern Mass. must travel over the secondary. The Quincy shipyard tank cars, Champion Recycling gons from Brockton, and all the local boxcar businesses (plus lumberyards, etc.), all rely on the Framingham Secondary. Without it, it’d all be trucks.
Steven – Good tour of railroading in the Walpole – Mansfield area. For those a bit lost (like driving in Boston) the Framingham secondary is the only freight route into SE Massachusetts – i.e. everything from the south suburbs of Boston down to the South Coast and Cape Cod. Freight east from Selkirk, New York (old NYC Boston and Albany) turns right at Framingham (ex New Haven) to Mansfield At Mansfield, trains go south on the Amtrak NEC main (EB freight going WB on the NEC) a few miles to Attleboro, then turn east again to Taunton. At Taunton service splits various directions.
Carload freight has enough problems in post-industrial New England without needing this difficult indirect routing. The recent bankruptcy of Iowa Pacific’s local shortline won’t help..
John. Does Foxbor(ough)still have white fire engines ???
Plus the Foxborough T station is located in a largely non-residential area along highly commercially developed Rte 1. The T station is 3-4 miles from the center of Foxborough where presumably most of the town’s 17,000 residents live. The Mansfield T station is similarly about 3-4 miles from the center of Foxborough. AM rush hour travel time from Mansfield to South Station is about 45 minutes while AM rush travel time from Foxborough T station to South Station is 55 minutes. And there are 8 morning rush hour trains from Mansfield (but possibly crowded with passengers from points south) v. 3 from Foxborough. And there’s no weekend service to/from Foxborough (except for Pats games) v. 9 weekend trains between Mansfield and Boston. So it’s not clear why the Foxborough T service should ever be popular with T riders in that area.
Because runs slower than nearby Amtrak main with stops at Mansfield and Sharon . The advantage of Gillette stadium is much easier parking than Mansfield