The Salem News: Our view, Moving Beyond your Father's Commuter Rail
They’ll explain the reasons for the shutdown – scheduled to run from July 8 to Sept. 30 – and presumably will hear questions and comments from patrons and their representatives on Beacon Hill.
The reason for the suspension of service is not only wise – installation of a “Positive Train Control” system designed to prevent train-to-train collisions, derailments and unexpected movement of trains through open switches – but also mandated by federal regulations. And give the transit agency credit for using this time to replace the trouble-plagued swing bridge that carries the tracks over the Danvers River, separating the Beverly and Salem stations.
While supportive of the safety upgrades, legislators are urging the T to provide bus service between Beverly Depot, where the two branches come together, and Salem from which the trains will continue to run without interruption to Boston.
Make no mistake, this represents a major inconvenience for those living north of Boston who wish to travel to the sporting events and cultural attractions the city offers, as well as tourists who might want to use the train to make a weekend trip to the beaches in Gloucester and Ipswich or visit historic Newburyport.
Just as concerning, however, are everyday issues.
“We’ve been getting a lot of complaints about the regular service, and we’ve been on Keolis (the company contracted to operate the commuter rail lines) and the T incessantly,” state Rep. Paul Tucker, D-Salem, said recently. “This is just one more indignity that the commuting public has to suffer.”
As our highways and major arteries become increasingly clogged with traffic, more and more of those living in this region are looking to public transit to get around. Yet haphazard scheduling and mechanical issues have made commuter rail an unreliable provider of this service.
The fixes being contemplated for this summer are bothersome, yet necessary. Tucker and his colleagues need to keep the pressure on for the rest of this year and well beyond to improve and expand the options for those who ride the rails.
Here are a handful of options that have been in the news recently:
First comes the task of, as a headline in CommonWealth magazine put it recently, “Changing the mindset on commuter rail.”
The current schedule dates back to an era when Monday through Friday, “Dad” would leave the house promptly at 7 a.m., take the 7:30 train into “town,” and catch the 5 p.m. train home. For maximum utility, commuter rail service in the 21st century must be more frequent and flexible.
Yes, it would cost more, but as Andy Monat of TransitMatters writes in CommonWealth, it could attract between 100,000 and 200,000 regular new riders to the system. That’s more than what the Blue Line carries daily.
Adding a new station in South Salem that would serve the state university campus as well as commuters in Marblehead and Swampscott, makes a lot of sense. This could be done at relatively low cost using the existing tracks and vacant land off either Canal Street or Jefferson Avenue.
A much more expensive undertaking is the idea of building a tunnel allowing rail access between North and South stations in downtown Boston.
Fortunately, U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Salem, isn’t afraid of the challenges facing what he believes would be a “transformative” project for Boston and its environs. And while some may dismiss the so called North-South Rail Link as pie in the sky or another potential Big Dig, he feels it’s critical to improving access from his district to the job opportunities about to unfold in Boston’s Seaport District where General Electric is building its new headquarters.
“Good ideas don’t succeed on their own,” Moulton noted recently after advocating for the project before the Boston Chamber of Commerce, and he’s willing to help in the heaving lifting needed to get it done.