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MBTA Commuter Rail

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MBTA Commuter Rail
MBTA Commuter Rail provides commuter service from Boston as far north as Newburyport, as far south as Providence, and as far west as Worcester.
Overview
HeadquartersBoston, MA
Reporting markMBTA
LocaleEastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island
Dates of operation1973–present
Technical
Track gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)

The MBTA Commuter Railroad serves as the regional rail arm of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, in the United States. It is operated under contract by the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Company (MBCR) a joint partnership of Veolia Transportation, Bombardier Transportation and Alternate Concepts, Inc.[1]. The current operating contract expires in July 2013.[2]

The commuter rail system is the fifth-busiest commuter rail in the country, after only New York and Chicago area systems. The line's characteristic purple-trimmed coaches run as far south as Providence, Rhode Island, and as far north as Newburyport and as far west as Worcester, both in Massachusetts. The trains have two terminal stops in Boston—South Station and North Station—both transportation hubs offering connections to Amtrak, local bus and subway lines. As of FY2007, daily weekday ridership was 143,700.[3]

Current lines

See also: List of MBTA Commuter Rail stations
Map of the MBTA Commuter Rail system

The lines of the Commuter Rail leaving from South Station, from southeast to west:

Extra trains run to Foxboro for events at Gillette Stadium, via a spur between the Providence/Stoughton Line and Franklin Line.

The lines of the Commuter Rail leaving from North Station, from west to northeast:

Fare policy

Commuter Rail tickets in the form of paper tickets purchased on-board and CharlieTickets purchased at fare vending machines and ticket booths.

The MBTA Commuter Rail uses a fare zone policy[4] whereby origin and destination stations are not individually priced, but assigned a zone based on distance from Boston. There are a total of nine zones (including Zone 1A, the rapid transit territory, and Zones 1 through 8), each with an increasing fare to Boston. Travel between suburban zones without going via Boston are charged based on the number of zones traveled. Travelling between different branches via Boston or one of the intermediate transfer points between branches will incur two fares, one from the origin zone to the transfer point, and another from the transfer point to the destination zone.

Reduced fares (children and students) travel at 50% discounted rates. Fare evasion is explicitly illegal, but not criminal.[5].

Several types of tickets are available: one-way, round trip, twelve ride (no discount), monthly pass (substantial discount over daily round-trip purchase), and family fare (for groups of up to four persons travelling together).

Tickets may be purchased at automatic machines located in principal stations. Tickets may also be purchased at suburban stations from nearby vendors. Stations without ticketing machines or vendors can purchase tickets on board, however, on-board ticket purchases at stations with machines or vendors are subject to a $2.00 surcharge during peak hours, and $1.00 surcharge during off-peak hours.

Equipment

Double-decker Commuter Rail train at Wellesley Hills

All MBTA Commuter Rail service from both stations is provided by push-pull trains powered by diesel locomotives.

MBTA Commuter Rail operates three classes of coaches, with a fourth on order. Cars are designated as either a blind trailer coach (BTC) or a control trailer coach (CTC) [6]

  • BTC-1/CTC-1 Single-level cars of several different generations. Feature fixed two-and-three seating. Similar to NJ Transit's Comet-class cars. 57 cars built by Pullman Standard in 1978, 146 cars built by Bombardier from 1987–1990.
  • BTC-3/CTC-3 Single-level cars built by MBB. That firm's only railroad product in its history. Feature fixed two-and-two seating. MBB built 67 units in 1987.
  • BTC-4/CTC-4 Kawasaki BiLevel cars. Used on high ridership South Side lines. These cars are equipped with trainlined doors. First 75 from 1991. 65 from 2004.
  • BTC-5/CTC-5 75 new bi-levels on order from Hyundai Rotem for delivery in 2010.[7]

MBTA Commuter Rail operates two types of diesel locomotives:

  • EMD F40PH: Cowl-unit locomotives. Class consists of 18 F40PHs from 1978–1980, 26 F40PH-2Cs from 1987–1988, and nine F40PHM-2Cs from 1991 and 1993.
  • EMD GP40MC: Hood-unit locomotives, based on the ubiquitous freight locomotive.
  • MotivePower MP36: Newer cowl locomotives. An order of up to nine from the Utah Transit Authority was approved on 2 June 2010; if confirmed, the locomotives will be delivered by fall 2010.[8] An additional 20 locomotives were ordered new from MotivePower in July 2010, with deliveries planned to begin in late 2012. As part of the agreement, MotivePower plans to locate a new support facility for the locomotives in Worcester, Massachusetts.[9]

MBTA also operates several work engines, including an EMD GP40 purchased from CSX in the late 2000s and two National Railway Equipment NRE 3GS21B gen-set locomotives.[10]

Ridership

Ridership levels on the Commuter Rail have grown since the MBTA's involvement began in the late 1960s, with overall average weekday ridership growing from 29,500 in 1969 to 76,000 in 1990 and 143,700 in 2008. This was accomplished by a series of rationalizations, such as closing lightly used lines, concentrating service on heavily utilized lines, and re-opening formerly abandoned branches with high traffic potential, such as the Old Colony Lines. A general growth of transit usage in the Northeastern United States also contributed. Growing ridership in this way required substantial capital investment, which was provided by a mixture of Federal mass transit funds and Commonwealth transportation bond issues.[citation needed]

Train operations

An MBTA train at Campello station inbound to South Station.

Like most commuter railroads in the Northeastern United States, MBTA is a NORAC Railroad and uses the Rulebook promulgated by that organization. Much of MBTA Commuter Rail is Rule 251 territory as the tracks are signalled for movement in one direction of travel only. During the 1990s, parts of the system were re-signalled to allow a more advanced mode of operations known as NORAC Rule 261, which allows trains to operate in either direction on both tracks where double track is available. During the morning rush hour, both tracks can be simutaneously used for inbound traffic, allowing one train to make local stops while an express train overtakes the local train.

On each train, the cab car is attached at the end closest to the downtown Boston terminal station for the particular line (either North or South Station), and the locomotive is attached at the end farthest from the terminal station. On each train serving the North Station lines, the "ADA" coach used to carry mobility-limited persons is attached right behind the locomotive, allowing level boarding at all suburban stations featuring mini-high platforms. On the other hand, on each train serving the South Station lines, the cab car also serves as the "ADA" coach. (The "ADA" coaches support compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.)

Trainlined doors that open automatically via central control are available on some equipment, but at low level platforms the conductor in each car must manually open a trap to allow passengers to descend via stairs onto the platform.

Operational history

File:Massachusetts Bay Commuter Rail logo.png
The logo of current operator Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Company (MBCR), which appears on train schedules and personnel uniforms

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts's involvement with the operating facets of commuter rail began in 1967 when Boston & Maine petitioned the Interstate Commerce Commission to discontinue all passenger services. All service north of the state line was discontinued, but service in Massachusetts was preserved through a contract between the Commonwealth and the B&M, at this time still an independent railroad company.

The Boston & Maine Railroad (B&M), operator of the North Station commuter lines since the first half of the 20th Century, filed for bankruptcy protection in 1970. All B&M railroad assets inside Massachusetts Route 128 with the exception of yard tracks and freight-only branches were sold to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1976. B&M was contracted to operate the service using its existing fleet of diesel railcars.

The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad (NYNH&H, or simply "New Haven"), the long time owner-operator of most South Station commuter trains, filed for bankruptcy for the last time in 1961. Just two years earlier in 1959, the New Haven had discontinued passenger service on the Old Colony division in southeastern Massachusetts. The New Haven was included in the Penn Central Transportation Company merger in 1968, which itself filed bankruptcy in 1970. During 1973-76, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts bought almost all track assets in Southeastern Massachusetts from the Penn Central's bankruptcy trustees.

The Worcester Line, historically part of the Boston & Albany Railroad (B&A), was merged into the New York Central System and its ownership subsequently passed to Penn Central in 1968. As part of the Massachusetts Turnpike Boston Extension's construction in the 1960s, the Worcester Line's right of way between Route 128 and Boston was sold to the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, with the proviso that the control of the railroad remains with New York Central. Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail), Penn Central's successor, inherited the rail line which forms a vital freight artery between Boston's Beacon Yard and Conrail's Selkirk Yard. In September 2009, CSX Transportation and the commonwealth finalized a $100 million agreement to purchase CSX's Framingham to Worcester tracks, as well as some other track, to improve service on the Framingham/ Worcester Line.[11] A liability issue that had held up the agreement was resolved.[12][13]

The Northeast Rail Service Act of 1981 compelled Conrail to transfer operations of all passenger and commuter services to local transit authorities, resulting in Conrail ceasing all subsidized passenger rail services. The B&M won the contract for the South Side Lines also. After bankruptcy, the B&M continued to run and fulfill its contract under the protection of the federal bankruptcy court, in the hopes that a reorganization could make it profitable again. It emerged from the court's protection when the newly formed Guilford Transportation Industries (GTI) bought it, in 1983. GTI let the contract expire in 1986.

From 1986 to 2003, Amtrak managed all of Boston's commuter rail.[14] MBTA observers saw Amtrak as having been a reliable manager and operator, but Amtrak sometimes experienced strained relations with the MBTA. Quibbles centered on equipment failures, crewing issues about the number of conductors per train, and responsibility for late trains. Because of these issues, and Amtrak's repeated statements that the MBTA contract was unreasonable, few were surprised at Amtrak's decision not to bid again for the MBTA Commuter Rail contract at its 2003 renewal.[2]

When the MBTA asked for tenders on the commuter rail operation contract, Amtrak did not bid.[14] Two tenders were submitted, from Guilford Rail System and from the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Company (MBCR), the latter of which won, taking over the MBTA Commuter Rail operation from Amtrak in July 2003.[15] The MBCR contract originally expired in July 2008 but had an additional five-year option; it was extended three years to July 2011[2] and then another two to July 2013.[16] After concerns about on-time performance, the 2011 extension increased the fine for late trains from $100 to $300.[17]

MBCR partners Bombardier Transportation and Alternate Concepts have other ties to the MBTA. Bombardier is the manufacturer of much of the rolling stock operated by the railroad, while Alternate Concepts is majority owner of Paul Revere Transportation, which operates some bus lines under contract from the MBTA.[18]

Service changes since MBTA takeover

Expansions

Many improvements have been made to the Boston Commuter Rail system during MBTA's period of stewardship which started circa 1973. However, it should be noted that the Commonwealth's support for rail operations began long before it owned the infrastructure, in the 1950s with contracted operations and subsidies to railroads providing commuter service.

  • The Commonwealth of Massachusetts pioneered the concept of "Park and Ride" by providing funds to construct the Route 128 Station station on the New Haven Railroad's Providence Line, at a location where the radial line intersected with the Massachusetts Route 128, locally thought of as the Boston Beltway. Route 128 Station was established 1953 by New Haven President 'Buck' Dumaine. The initial station was simple in design, built as a parking lot located next to the tracks.[19]
  • During the 1980s reconstruction of the Southwest Corridor along MBTA's Providence/Attleboro Line, Amtrak trains between Boston and New York were diverted over the New Haven's Fairmount Branch. As part of this project, MBTA allowed Centralized Traffic Control to be installed on this branch, greatly increasing its signal capacity. Today, MBTA is in the process of constructing in-fill stations to better serve the urban neighborhood through which it passes.
  • B&M's Newburyport Branch formerly operated across the bridge at Merrimack River and as far north as Portsmouth, New Hampshire on the former Eastern Railroad of Massachusetts alignment. At the time of the MBTA takeover, the daily service had been curtailed back to Ipswich, Massachusetts, and track north of that point downgraded if not abandoned entirely. In the 1990s, MBTA restored the service north to a point about 3 miles from Newburyport, Massachusetts.
  • As part of the Northeast Corridor Improvement Program II (NECIP II) of the 1990s, MBTA's Providence Line was electrified using Federal funds provided to Amtrak for its Acela Express project. However, the MBTA does not operate electric equipment on the Providence Line, as such equipment would be unusable on other lines.
  • At one time, MBTA's service reached only as far as Framingham, a suburb just beyond Route 128 about 12 miles from Boston. However, services on other lines reached exurbs more distant from Boston than Framingham. During the 1990s, an agreement was reached to extend MBTA's service out to Worcester, Massachusetts, making the line today's MBTA Worcester Line. During the early 2000s, trains only served Amtrak's Worcester Union Station beyond Framingham. Over time, several more in-fill stations were added in the MetroWest region. The service was successful, resulting in relative de-emphasis of Amtrak and commuter bus services operating in the same corridor.
  • During the 1990s, MBTA invested heavily in the Commuter Rail system by restoring New Haven's Old Colony division abandoned in 1959. The two main Old Colony Lines were re-opened in 1997, and the Greenbush Line opened in 2007.
  • Agreement with the State of Rhode Island allowed MBTA's Attleboro Line to extend to Providence, Rhode Island during the late 1990s. At first, only weekday service was provided. In the mid-2000s, a new agreement with RIDOT provided funding to allow the service to operate on weekends also.

Contractions

During the period of MBTA stewardship, services were also curtailed:

  • All former B&M service that extended north of the Massachusetts border were curtailed by 1967. Restoration and extension of the Lowell Line to Nashua, Manchester, and Concord, New Hampshire and the Haverhill Line to Portland, Maine had been repeatedly discussed. It was not until 2001 when Amtrak commenced operation of the Downeaster between Boston's North Station and Portland under the auspices of the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority. The Nashua service discussion is continuing in the context of New Hampshire I-93 widening.
  • Passenger service on the Arlington-Lexington-Bedford Line ended on January 10, 1977. The Alewife Extension of the MBTA Red Line replaced the service as far as Alewife in West Cambridge. No commuter rail service reaches the towns of Arlington, Lexington, and Bedford, Massachusetts. Today, the rail-banked line forms the Minuteman Bikeway and is a linear park in the vicinity of Davis Square, Somerville.
  • The Lowell-Lawrence-Haverhill-Newburyport line had an Budd RDC-1 running on it well into the 1970s, but was discontinued when MBTA replaced the aging Budd equipment with more modern locomotive hauled trains. The route also saw one round-trip per day from Newburyport via Bradford, Andover, Reading to Boston in 1970.
  • The Fitchburg Line under B&M operations terminated at Ayer, Massachusetts, but was subsequently extended as far as Gardner, Massachusetts. However, the service between Gardner and Fitchburg was ended when the parallel Massachusetts Route 2 was upgraded to expressway standards, dramatically reducing travel time between these cities.
  • The southern half of the Woburn Loop still operated in 1970, joining the Lowell Line at Winchester. Half the Lowell Line services terminated at Woburn Heights (10.0 miles from Boston), while the others stopped at North Woburn (today's Anderson RTC) and continued to Lowell.
  • As of 1970, B&M operated one daily round trip to South Sudbury (19.7 miles from Boston) over the former Central Massachusetts Branch, at this point curtailed to Berlin, Massachusetts. This service has since been abandoned.

Retired Equipment

EMD GP9 work train locomotive at South Station. This now-retired locomotive (No. 902) was transferred from the Southeastern Michigan Transportation Authority when the commuter rail operations were abandoned in Detroit.

As the Commonwealth assumed the control of the Commuter Rail during the 1970s, it inherited various non-standard equipment from predecessor railroads. These included:

  • Numerous Budd Rail Diesel Cars, including a total of 86 from the B&M and several from the New Haven Railroad.
The RDC fleet was de-powered in the 1970s and turned into locomotive-hauled coaches by Morrison Knudsen. These became known as "Boise Budds", after the location of the MK shop where the work was done. Remaining examples of these units now serve on the Grand Canyon Railway and Hobo Railroad.
  • In 1978-80, MBTA acquired 19 rebuilt EMD F-units. EMD GP-9s were also operated in Boston suburban service. One of the EMD GP9's is still retained as a work engine (MBTA #904),one of the six GP-9s received from SEMTA in 1988.
  • Ex-GO Transit stainless steel coaches were operated as an interim solution pending delivery of the CTC-1/BTC-1 order.

Amenities

  • Free wifi is provided on all trains. The program started with a $262,000 pilot on the Worcester Line in January 2008.[20]

Proposed expansions

Several extensions of and improvements to the MBTA Commuter Rail network are in debate or under way.

South Station Lines

Littleton/Route 495 station in Littleton

An extension of the Stoughton Line known as the South Coast Rail Link is set to break ground to bring service to Taunton, Fall River, and New Bedford, Massachusetts.[21][22] Critics argue that building the extension does not make economic sense.[23]

A Providence Line extension to T. F. Green Airport, in Warwick, Rhode Island, is under construction.

North Station lines

There is a plan to extend and upgrade the Fitchburg Line. The extension would create a West Wachusett stop beyond Fitchburg Station. Upgraded high level platforms at both South Acton and Littleton are planned as well as enhanced drop-off and parking. No longer included is cab signaling but a second main track is planned between South Acton and Ayer Junction, which is shared with freight traffic, so that the Fitchburg to Boston trip would take only about an hour.[24]

There is a proposal to build a South Salem Commuter Rail station in Salem, Massachusetts, to improve access to Salem State College, as well as to extend Commuter Rail to Peabody, Massachusetts and Danvers, Massachusetts.[25]

The state Secretary of Transportation James Aloisi has also indicated support for commuter service from Worcester to North Station via Clinton and Ayer, presumably along the Worcester, Nashua and Rochester Railroad right of way, owned by Pan Am Railways as of 2009.[26]

The state of New Hampshire has created the New Hampshire Rail Transit Authority and allocated money to build platforms at Nashua and Manchester.[27]

An article in the Eagle Tribune claims that Massachusetts is negotiating to buy property which has the potential to extend the Haverhill Line to Plaistow, New Hampshire. Funding is available, and Plaistow is potentially interested, but wants to better understand the potential drawbacks of being the location of the layover station.[28][29]

No direct connection exists between the two downtown terminals; to travel from one station to the other, passengers must use the MBTA subway or the street. While passengers using the Providence/Stoughton, Framingham/Worcester, Franklin, and Needham lines can transfer to and from North Station at Back Bay via the Orange Line subway, all other passengers have to change subway trains at either Park Street or Downtown Crossing stations. A North-South Rail Link has been proposed to unite the two halves of the Commuter Rail system; but, because of the high cost, Massachusetts has, as of May 2006, withdrawn its sponsorship of the proposal.

Freight service

On the North Side lines, as part of the original sale agreement, B&M and its successor Pan Am Railways (formerly Guilford Transportation Industries) retains 'perpetual and exclusive' trackage rights for freight service. Pan Am provides freight service on those lines.[30]

The shortline carrier New Hampshire Northcoast Railroad has an agreement with Pan Am to operate trains from Conway, New Hampshire to Boston's North Station to supply aggregates to the Boston Sand and Gravel plant on the Boston/Somerville border. An occasional move occurs with run-through power from Norfolk Southern Railway to supply coal to a power plant in Bow, New Hampshire, over the Fitchburg Line.

On the South Side lines, CSXT retains trackage rights over much of the former New Haven territory. Limited service is also provided by the Providence & Worcester, a regional railroad, on the Providence Line.

CSXT provides intermodal, autorack, and general merchandise over the Worcester Line, a part of CSXT's Boston Line. This part of the Commuter Rail network can host over 12 mainline freight trains per day, including descendents of Conrail's expedited intermodal Trail Van trains.

On its former Old Colony division, the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad (NYNH&H) essentially vacated its right of freight operations by abandoning the tracks in 1959. As MBTA rebuilt the tracks, it gained freight service rights, and those rights were franchised to Conrail (predecessor to CSX), which provided freight service on the former Old Colony division.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Our partnerships". Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Company (MBCR) Co. 2009-02-02. The MBTA Board of Directors officially approved a new three-year contract with the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Co. to run the commuter rail.
  2. ^ a b c "MBTA Exercises Option With MBCR For Commuter Rail Service, Launches New Customer-Focused Improvements". MBTA. 2010-1-6. MBTA extends MBCR contract another 2 years.. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ American Public Transportation Association, Commuter Rail Ridership Report, Fourth Quarter 2007.
  4. ^ http://www.mbta.com/fares_and_passes/rail/
  5. ^ http://www.mass.gov/legis/laws/mgl/159-101.htm
  6. ^ MBTA roster
  7. ^ www.koreatimes.co.kr.
  8. ^ "MBTA to acquire new locomotives". Trains Magazine. 3 June 2010. Retrieved 4 June 2010.
  9. ^ "MassDOT OKs MotivePower contract for MBTA locomotives". Progressive Railroading. 15 July 2010. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  10. ^ http://www.trainweb.org/gensets/nre.html
  11. ^ Deal expected to boost commuter rail service, Boston Globe September 24, 2009
  12. ^ [1]
  13. ^ www.boston.com
  14. ^ a b "AMTRAK RIVAL GETS CONTRACT FOR T RAIL PRIVATE GROUP SET TO TAKE OVER JULY 1". Boston Globe - Mac Daniel. 2002-12-13. Under the $1.07 billion, five-year contract, the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad will take over running the nation's fifth-largest commuter rail system on July 1. The MBTA's contract with Massachusetts Bay marks the end of the T's stormy relationship with Amtrak, which had run the service since 1986. Amtrak dropped out of the bidding process for the contract in July, saying the terms of the contract were too costly. {{cite web}}: line feed character in |quote= at position 167 (help)
  15. ^ Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Company.
  16. ^ Commuter Rail Firm Gets Contract Extension Boston.com, accessed 16 February 2010.
  17. ^ Boston Metro, 6 June 2008, p. 2.
  18. ^ Paul Revere Transportation.
  19. ^ [2]
  20. ^ Boston Metro, 28 Jan 2008, p. 2; BostonNOW, 28 Jan 2008, p. 3.
  21. ^ boston.com.
  22. ^ www.eot.state.ma.us.
  23. ^ www.thesunchronicle.com.
  24. ^ telegram.com.
  25. ^ mbta.com.
  26. ^ MBTA warns of cuts / Transportation future hot topic by Priyanka Dayal. Worcester Telegram, 28 April 2009.
  27. ^ www.nh.gov.
  28. ^ eagletribune.com.
  29. ^ eagletribune.com.
  30. ^ Transportation System Performance-Commuter Rail.
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