Recent Streetsblog MASS posts about Rail

An outbound MBTA Fairmount Line train stops at the Talbot Avenue station in December 2012. Photo by Wikimedia Commons user Pi.1415926535, CC BY-SA 3.0.

MBTA ‘Rail Vision’ Comes Into Focus

By Christian MilNeil | Oct 21, 2019 | No Comments

Electrifying the commuter rail network could have profound effects on transit ridership and transportation emissions in the region, according to the MBTA’s formal analysis of possible capital improvements to the commuter rail system. For the past year, the MBTA’s “Rail Vision” study has convened state transportation planners and a public advisory committee to analyze the […]

The site of the future West Station, seen from the Cambridge Street overpass in Allston. A realignment of the Massachusetts Turnpike through this area is poised to touch off a massive urban development scheme on the vacant Harvard-owned lands visible in the distance.

An Updated Rough Guide To Boston’s Allston/I-90 Megaproject

By Christian MilNeil | Oct 15, 2019 | No Comments

Since 2013, the state's leading transportation agencies have been planning a massive reconfiguration of Interstate 90, Soldiers Field Road and the Framingham/Worcester railroad line along the Charles River waterfront in Allston.

Use of the "emergency access ramp" illustrated above eliminates the need for outbound Silver Line buses to drive an extra half a mile through congested Seaport streets to get to the Ted Williams Tunnel. Courtesy of the MBTA.

Transit Dispatches: Updates From the September MBTA Board Meeting

By Christian MilNeil | Sep 16, 2019 | 1 Comment

The MBTA’s Fiscal and Management Control Board met for the first time in over a month today, in a joint meeting with the MassDOT board of directors. Here’s a roundup of what they discussed: Successful Seaport Shortcut for Silver Line In a test run on August 29, the MBTA ran its Silver Line buses down […]

An Amtrak Vermonter train arrives at the John W. Olver Transit Center in Greenfield, MA. Courtesy of the Franklin Regional Council of Governments.

Pioneer Valley Rail Advocates Celebrate New ‘Valley Flyer’ Service

By Christian MilNeil | Aug 30, 2019 | No Comments

Rail advocates in western Massachusetts are celebrating the inaugural run today of a new Amtrak service that will afford Pioneer Valley residents and visitors better daily connections to and from New York City. The new “Valley Flyer” service will triple Amtrak’s daily frequency through the Pioneer Valley. It supplements the existing Vermonter route, which runs […]

The "Grand Junction" rail line near the MIT campus photographed in June 2019. The corridor is being redesigned to include a new dedicated bike and pedestrian pathway and a possible new rapid transit line.

Cambridge Has Grand Plans for the Grand Junction Rail Line

By Christian MilNeil | Jul 24, 2019 | 1 Comment

The City of Cambridge has kicked off a public design process to build several key segments of a new bike and pedestrian pathway that would cross the city from the BU Bridge to the Somerville city line along the Grand Junction rail line. The Grand Junction today is a little-used freight rail line, but with […]

In June, the MBTA issued a solicitation for bids from private developers for the use of this mile-long rail corridor in East Boston. The corridor connects the Logan Airport area to the doorstep of Suffolk Downs, where builders have proposed 10.5 million square feet of new development.

Why Is the T Trying to Sell Off an East Boston Rail Corridor?

By Christian MilNeil | Jul 16, 2019 | 2 Comments

Two former state Secretaries of Transportation are raising serious concerns over the MBTA’s attempts to sell easement rights to private developers for the use of an abandoned mile-long rail corridor along the Chelsea Creek waterfront in East Boston. The former railroad right-of-way, which extends from the Chelsea Street bridge northward into Revere, runs parallel to […]

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