Greater City Providence
Tracks approaching Providence Station
The federal government is considering improvements and changes to train service along the Northeast Corridor rail line that could end up bypassing Providence in favor of Worcester. Here’s how:
NEC FUTURE – a plan for rail investment for the Northeast Corridor,” sponsored by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), and as their title indicates, is a program to determine a long-term vision and investment program for the Northeast Corridor (NEC), and to provide a Tier 1 Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Service Development Plan (SDP) in 2016 in support of that vision. The FRA launched NEC FUTURE in February 2012.
February 16, 2016 will be the last day to make comments on the Tier 1 Draft EIS (DEIS) before NEC FUTURE prepares the final document.
Visit RIFuture.org to continue reading Peter Brassard’s in-depth analysis.
Guest Post
Jef Nickerson
That possibility is highly unlikely…Providence is the 14th busiest Amtrac station in the nation and Its metro is three times larger than Worcester
Don’t bet a penny on that.
I don’t think this would ever happen, either. I do think that Fall River and New Bedford should fall into the Providence sphere of influence, instead of Boston, though.
One should very easily be able to hop aboard a train in Providence and travel to New Bedford via Fall River. From there, ferry service to the islands and train service to the Cape would be options. Encompassing a “south shore line”. There are already tracks laid on a majority of the Fall River to New Bedford route. The Providence to Fall River line would need roughly 16 miles of track, and there would need to be a New Bedford to Wareham right of way developed, which is also roughly 16 miles.
On a map right now, you’d have to take a train from Providence to Canton to board the train to New Bedford or Fall River? Maybe a transfer from Attleboro to Taunton?
http://www.massdot.state.ma.us/southcoastrail/RouteandService/SCRStationMap.aspx
The South Coast Rail Project is 52 miles… and it only serves people north of the area. I’d be willing to bet that most people travel west/east than north/south. Why not encourage ridership TO Providence from the north on the MBTA, then encourage West/East travel along a new south coast corridor that runs from Providence/East Providence/Swansea/Fall River/New Bedford/Wareham/Cape Cod. This makes like no sense financially or on a drawing board to me. There is already Cape service from Boston, this option would add it from communities closer to the Cape.
This is another example of how the Fall River/New Bedford communities are unfairly dumped into MA, when they are very much within the Providence sphere of influence.