MBTA
MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng said the SCR project, which will connect Fall River, New Bedford, and Taunton to Boston via passenger rail for the first time since the late 1950s, “remains on track to open in a few months, this spring,” according to a report by The Herald News.
According to the report, “all infrastructure construction is complete, including all six new platforms—Middleboro, East Taunton, Freetown, Fall River Depot, Church Street and New Bedford—and two layover stations in Fall River and New Bedford.”
The MBTA, according to the report, “has undertaken an extensive testing phase for the Positive Train Control (PTC) system,” and Eng said that’s all done, too.
“All 988 tests that were required for PTC have been successfully completed,” Eng said. “We’re in the final steps.”
According to MBTA Communications Director Maya Bingaman, “all maintenance and operations responsibility for SCR were turned over to Keolis on Jan. 6,” The Herald News reported.
The MBTA has also given all its required plans to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), which must approve them, according to the report.
Bradley Airport Rail Link
Casey Moran, a Hartford-based rail advocate, has pitched an idea to build a rail link that would connect Bradley International Airport to the region’s rail network, according to a Hartford Business Journal report.
According to the report, the Bradley Airport Rail Link would provide a one-seat train ride to Bradley from throughout much of Connecticut with stops in Hartford, Bloomfield and Windsor Locks.
The idea was picked up by Rep. Christopher Rosario (D-Bridgeport), who has introduced a bill, HB 5061, that would “amend a state statute to require the Department of Transportation to establish a new commuter rail line from Hartford’s Union Station to the airport,” according to the report, which adds that Bradley’s rail spur would run off the existing Hartford Line, which is served by CTrail and Amtrak trains, and runs between New Haven and Springfield.
The state already owns 13 miles of the 18.3-mile right-of-way along the route, according to Moran.
The Hartford Line connects to the New Haven Line, which offers service to Grand Central Terminal via Metro-North Railroad, and to CTrail’s Shore Line East between New Haven and New London.
Moran believes Bradley is “at a disadvantage compared to airports in New York City and Boston, which have rail access,” according to the Hartford Business Journal report.
“Adding frequent and efficient rail service would change people’s perceptions of Bradley and provide a long-term return on state investment,” he said.
According to Moran’s research, a theoretical rail trip from Hartford to Bradley would take about 16 minutes—compared to a two-hour drive to Boston’s Logan Airport.
A trip from New Haven to Bradley by rail would take just over one hour, compared with a nearly two-hour drive to the nearest major airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York, or a two-hour-and-15-minute train trip to JFK.
Moran also said travel to Bradley would be convenient for people in the Massachusetts cities of Worcester, Northampton and Springfield, with rail travel times ranging from one hour and 25 minutes (Worcester) to 25 minutes (Springfield), according to the report.
Also, Moran offers a “compelling reason for residents of Bridgeport and Stamford to use rail to access Bradley instead of JFK”—a faster transit time, without any seat changes. For example, a train ride from Bridgeport to JFK takes two hours and 15 minutes (with three seat changes). A one-seat train ride from Bridgeport to Bradley would take one hour and 29 minutes, according to the report.
According to Moran’s research, the Bradley Airport Rail Link could double the number of fliers departing and arriving at Bradley every day—currently about 18,000.
He also pointed out that thousands of airport employees could use the trains, along with employees of the adjacent Collins Aerospace plant.
According to Moran, the proposed Bradley rail line “should be incorporated into plans to rebuild Hartford’s Union Station,” which are currently under way.
HB 5061 has been “referred to the legislature’s Joint Committee on Transportation,” according to the Hartford Business Journal report.
Moran said his goal is to “get the bill passed and then begin a feasibility study to determine routing and cost.”
The project, according to the report, does not have a price tag, “but Moran thinks it will cost a few hundred million dollars.”
