State Reps Michael Moran, Kevin Honan, and Councilor Mark Ciommo stopped by a BRA community meeting today to announce that the New Brighton Landing commuter rail station will be going ahead with the support of New Balance. It will be at the Everett Street overpass and extend west. This adds a long desired
urban infill station about halfway between the old locations of the Allston and Brighton
B&A stations of yore. Arthur Street will be extended to the station to provide pedestrian access and a kiss-n-ride turnaround. This will come along with the
agreement by CSX to move their Beacon Park yard operations to Worcester and clear the way for upgraded signals and double-track commuter rail operation on the Framingham/Worcester line.
Ever since what was briefly known as the "A" line trolley was discontinued in 1968, this part of Boston has lacked access to rapid or commuter transit rail, while having to contend with the extension of the Mass Pike splitting the neighborhood in half. The project will be part of New Balance's $500 million
development project taking place in parcels abutting the commuter rail and Mass Pike. They are planning on rebuilding their corporate headquarters, adding a hotel, retail, and several office towers in addition to fixing the street grid and walkability of an area that has been light industrial for over a century.
The frequency of the Worcester Line is 9 trains a day on weekends, and a train per hour and a half on weekday afternoons. What's the point of all these urban infill stops if there's not going to be the frequency for them?
ReplyDeleteHoping that changes in the future when CSX moves out and the MBTA finally fixes the line. Currently it's single tracked through Brighton and the Newton stations are all one sided, non-ADA compliant too. Then there's NB, who is paying for the station, and they probably can put some pressure to ensure that it gets enough service to justify the cost.
DeleteOn the one hand, they can construct siding meets now and run train at reasonable frequency.
DeleteOn the other hand, if they don't run trains frequently on the double-tracked Providence Line, and have no intention of running trains frequently on the double-tracked, soon-to-have-frequent-stops Fairmount Line, there's no hope for the Worcester Line. Just double-track the thing and then come up with decent equipment and scheduling.