The lunch meeting at Eastern Connecticut State University was organized by Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, a Democrat, with Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo of Rhode Island and Republican Gov. Charlie Baker of Massachusetts also attending.
The Associated Press reports that Raimondo used the meeting to request that the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, the Boston-area transit agency, increase the number of express commuter trains between Boston and Providence, R.I. Baker noted that Amtrak has to be involved in any such expansion, as it would with any increase in service on CTrail Hartford Line between New Haven, Conn., and Springfield, Mass.
“The thing to remember about everything that involves Amtrak lines [is that] appropriately, Amtrak gets first dibs,” Baker said. “So if one of your objectives here is to create additional service or nonstop service, you’ve got to figure out a way to factor that into the rest of the Amtrak schedule.”
The governors also discussed seeking help from Amtrak in adding equipment that would be needed for additional service.
Sure they’ll run more trains–if someone else pays for them! Track capacity–bet they wish they had the old Boston & Providence/Old Colony embankment through Jamaica Plain back, the one that was removed and poured in the harbor so the current sunk fence–a ha ha such things are called–could be created. But Boston’s great unsung enemy is history and geography; we’re stuck with mistakes made years and years ago. But is Wickford Jct. and the Green Airport really doing that well for traffic or are we talking about the usual pipe dreams? Will Mass. pay for a service CT will use mostly? Will NH pay for work in Mass. and vice versa. NH is infamous for wanting other people to pay for them. Then everyone shook hands until next year.
Amtrak runs max 2 trains per hour and MBTA max 2 trains per hour. It’s a double track route. Yes, there is a limit, but it is unlikely it has been reached.
CHRISTOPHE – The Providence, Stoughton, Needham and Franklin trains all use the same tracks though Boston. That’s way more than two trains an hour per direction.
Then east of Back Bay into South Station, there are the Framingham/ Worcester trains. I don’t know how many tracks east of Back Bay but after the MassPike was built around 1961 it hasn’t been a whole big number.
Then there’s South Station itself, add in the Old Colony trains. At some point your going to be near capacity.
Express doesn’t mean “non-stop.” Amtrak stops once between Providence and Boston, an “Express” MBTA train would need to stop more than that, but not stop at every station. That’s not terribly complex, but the question is how many trains can be supported per hour. That’s a hard limit with the current infrastructure.
Curious – seems much ado about very little. There already are frequent trains, as between the two carriers, from Boston to Providence, with some MBTA trains continuing on to Theodore Francis Green State Airport and a handful beyond PVD Airport to Wickford Junction. If there were the demand, trains would be added by one carrier or the other. I wonder if this is about the fare? Simply stated, Amtrak charges more for the same trip Boston to Providence. So if MBTA ran express trains as opposed to local, people would get a cheaper ride for the same velocity.
The beginning of regional transit planning. Perhaps.