From: M00209@MBVM.Mitre.Org
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Re: MBTA Expands Commuter Rail Service
Date: 3 Sep 92 20:57:58 GMT
Organization: The MITRE Corporation, Bedford MA 01730

In article <1992Sep2.163348.1@cortex>
mboucher@cortex.prospect.com (Mike Boucher) writes:
 
>
>Message-ID: <1992Sep2.144811@uspi2.Prime.COM>, Dave Kantor writes
>
>>> then to double-tracking the Haverhill line
>>
>>Any plans to extend this line to New Hampshire ?
>
>I suspect part of the "lets replace the track that we tore up a few years back"
>is because AMTRAK wants to run from North Station to Maine.  Unless they do
>some *REAL* creative routing, the've gotta go up the Reading/Haverhill line!
>
>A few years back the MBTA suggested going into Plaistow, NH (I'ts right over
>the border from Haverhill) and there was the usual border-war uproar.
>
>Mike
>--
>Mike Boucher                    mboucher@cortex.prospect.com
>Cortex Corp                     "Don't take life too seriously, you'll never
>Waltham, MA, USA                 get out of it alive!"
 
The MBTA is "officially" planning to run to Plaistow NH.  A local group there
supposedly will supply (some of?) the funding.  They want to tap the NH
commuter market even more than they now do at Bradford.  Route 125 from the
State Line to I-495 cannot be described in words fit for mixed company!
 
The double-tracking plans had been made and pretty well finalized before
there was any serious talk about Amtrak service to Portland.  The MBTA feels
that double track is a prerequisite for increased service to Haverhill, which
both the MBTA and the MVRTA (Merrimack Valley Regional Transit Authority) are
hot to establish.  The original push came from plans to move Emerson College
to Lawrence, which was expected to create a major "reverse commute" demand.
Even though that ain't gonna happen, both public agencies and the general
public as well are all clamoring for more service.
 
As far as the route of proposed Amtrak service to Maine is concerned, as
incredible as it may seem to people knowledgeable in such matters, there was
for a time serious discussion as to whether it should run via Haverhill and
Dover or via Newburyport and Portsmouth.  It seems that Portsmouth is
considered to be the population centre for Seacoast New Hampshire, and is (or
would like to be) a tourist mecca, as Newburyport is fast becoming.  Also it
was seriously(!?) suggested that a route via Npt could serve Logan Airport.
Apparently nobody proposing this stopped to realize that -
 
         1 - The bridge over the Merrimack at Newburyport was a few years ago
  the subject of an ultimatum from the Coast Guard to Guilford to either fix it
  or tear it down.  They managed to force it open and anchor it in place for a
  cost of about $2 million, because they said it would have cost $10 million to
  tear it down.
 
         2 - The Seabrook nuclear power plant sits athwart the right of way.
 
         3 - The bridge at Portsmouth across the Piscataqua works - sometimes.
 
         4 - The right of way from Kittery Junction to North Berwick was
disposed of by the B&M in 1956.  Most of it is now Maine Route 236.
 
The cost and time implications of the above facts finally got through to the
planners, and the Haverhill/Dover route will be used.  They are still arguing,
though, about where the stops should be.  Durham (University of New Hampshire),
Dover and Haverhill are in my opinion absolutely necessary (and I don't say
that just because Haverhill is my hometown, but because it is the end of the
commuter rail service and therefore a place to connect for any other stops
between there and Boston).  Exeter (Phillips Exeter Academy), Wells and Old
Orchard (for Beach traffic) would be other good bets, and either Biddeford or
Saco as the population centre of York County.
 
 
Len Bachelder        Archives Committee, Boston and Maine RR Historical Society
MITRE Corp.           Secretary, Massachusetts Bay Railroad Enthusiasts
Bedford MA 01730      Member, 470 Railroad Club
<M00209@mbvm.mitre.org>
 
"Amazing love, how can it be that Thou, my God, should'st die for me!"
                                                 - Charles Wesley
Newsgroups: rec.railroad