If you've live in RI since 1975, Carnej, you have a lot more current information than I do. As I said, I grew up in Warwick but left for the Army in 1959. Since then I've only been back for visits.
I had no idea there even is a Port of Quonset much less that it is so successful. Thanks for the information.
John
I do think that with the service extension some thought should be given to diesel multiple units. DMU's were invented so short consists (such as 2 cars) might be run on lightly used routes. There is no weekend service from Wickford Junction. It might be possible to run 2 DMU's on the weekend shuttling back and forth with a change at Providence to connect with the Boston train. During the week they could be used in mid day service.
Mike,
I looked and looked on the net to try to find the study of electric vs. diesel service you suggest. I couldn't find it. And I have to wonder why. I've traveled between Providence and Mansfield MA outside of the rush hour and found the trains had relatively few passengers at certain times. It seems to cry out for a couple or four MU's, ideally electric but even diesel would cost less than a whole train
carnej1IIRC, the New Haven had plans to extend the electrification from New Haven to Boston and did do engineering studies but the scheme died during the Great Depression..
Along with the once proud jewel in the Morgan crown, the New York New Haven and Hartford Railroad.
Looking at the MBTA schedules, I see that the Providence line is the busiest in number of trains. Just over 15% of the round trips on their commuter lines run on this line. Since the line connects two of the biggest cities in New England I would guess that the trains on average carry more passengers per train than the other lines trains, so it may represent more than 15% of the passengers. The schedule seemed to show all Providence trains went via main line, the Fairmont line had its own schedule. I think the Providence line has significant enough traffic to warrant an electric service feasibility study. For comparison, Metro North has studied electrifying the Danbury branch, even though the wires have been removed 50 years.
The only ones with the answers you seek, Midlandmike, is the MBTA itself...contact them with your questions and let us know what their thinking is.
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henry6 The only ones with the answers you seek, Midlandmike, is the MBTA itself...contact them with your questions and let us know what their thinking is.
On the MBTA site, you communicate with them thru a customer comment page which asks where you live and what line you ride, so for someone from Michigan who does not use the service, it did not seem an appropriate communication tool. Nevertheless, in my research into the topic, I came across a reference to Amtrak.s NEC Master Plan that assumes the Providence commuter trains will be electrified to mesh with increased frequencies, so I will assume it's likely to happen.
If you click on the the below link you will see a picture of the platform at the Wickford Junction, RI, MBTA station and the track in from of the station. You can clearly see that the track is not is not equipped with a catenary. To the right are the two tracks of Amtrak's main line with their catenary.
Of course it is possible to electrify the line at some future time. But right now electric service is not possible.
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