Overview | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Service type | Commuter rail | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Status | Proposed (defunct) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Locale | Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Predecessor | Penn Central's passenger service over Providence and Worcester Railroad-owned tracks | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Website | http://www.bsrc.com/ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Route | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Termini | Providence Station Concord, New Hampshire | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stops | 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Service frequency | 2 daily round trips (Proposed) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Technical | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Track owner(s) | Providence and Worcester Railroad | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Boston Surface Railroad Company (BSRC) was a proposed private commuter rail service between Providence, Rhode Island, Worcester, Massachusetts and Concord, New Hampshire on trackage owned by the Genesee & Wyoming and Pan Am Railways. [1]
The company was formed in 2014 by Vincent J. Bono, when it began a feasibility study for operating three trains daily over the route, with a single intermediate stop in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. [2] The estimated initial budget was between $3 and $5 million, largely for building a platform at Worcester Union Station, building a single passing siding, and the purchase and refurbishment of three locomotives and twelve passenger cars. [3] The project was to be privately financed, and would have used a mix of money from investors and commercial credit. [4]
By August 2015, the feasibility study had been completed, and the company had agreed to a memorandum of understanding with the PW for the use of its trackage and had submitted a safety plan to the Federal Railroad Administration. [3] [4] It had begun negotiating with the PWRR for a final trackage rights agreement pending identification of all infrastructure improvements required, and had also begun work on an agreement with Amtrak for access into Providence. [4] In September 2016, the operation was granted exemptions from certain Surface Transportation Board rules. [5]
In 2016 the Rhode Island Department of Transportation leased the Woonsocket Depot in Woonsocket to the BSRC to be used by the company as a hub for the line. [6] Later in 2016, the company moved its headquarters to the depot. [7] [8]
In June 2017, the company revised the start date to mid-2019 due to difficulties acquiring rolling stock and negotiating track usage costs with Genesee & Wyoming. [9] However, two locomotives were acquired via auction from the Connecticut Department of Transportation in August 2018. [10]
On June 28, 2019, the Boston Surface Railroad Company was involuntarily dissolved for failure to file an annual report by the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, though it was reinstated two months later after the delinquent reports were filed. [11]
On October 6, 2019, the company filed a Chapter 11 Bankruptcy petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Hampshire. [12] At the time, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation had won an eviction case against the company that would oust it from its headquarters at the Woonsocket Depot. [13]
In 2020 BSRC's sole owner Vincent Bono ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the Rhode Island House of Representatives. [14] Bono was later fined $2,000 by the Rhode Island Board of Elections for mishandling campaign funds. [15]
In January 2021, BSRC vacated its headquarters in Woonsocket. [16] The company claimed it would still launch service between Providence and Worcester, but the intermediate stop would be in a nearby town such as Lincoln or Blackstone. [16]
The railroad was administratively dissolved by the State of New Hampshire on 1 September 2023. [17]
The railroad had planned to begin operation in 2020 with two round trips over the line each day, with morning trains traveling southbound and evening trains northbound, and a total trip time of 65 to 70 minutes between Providence and Worcester. Tickets would cost $18 round-trip. [4] [8] On-board amenities would include wireless Internet access and assigned seating via an electronic ticketing system. [2] It expected to initially attract about 600 passengers per day, with ridership rising in following years. [2] [4]
The service was envisioned to extend north as far as Bedford, New Hampshire and Manchester-Boston Regional Airport. In October 2017, Nashua city leaders approved a memorandum of understanding with Boston Surface Railroad. [18] [19] [20]
It was revealed in October 2019 that the company planned to offer a preliminary passenger bus service between Providence, Woonsocket, and Worcester in February 2020. [21] This was delayed and later halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [16]
The Boston and Maine Railroad was a U.S. Class I railroad in northern New England. Originally chartered in 1835, it became part of what was the Pan Am Railways network in 1983.
The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, commonly known as The Consolidated, or simply as the New Haven, was a railroad that operated principally in the New England region of the United States from 1872 to December 31, 1968. Founded by the merger of the New York and New Haven and Hartford and New Haven railroads, the company had near-total dominance of railroad traffic in Southern New England for the first half of the 20th century.
The MBTA Commuter Rail system serves as the commuter rail arm of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's (MBTA's) transportation coverage of Greater Boston in the United States. Trains run over 394 mi (634 km) of track to 134 stations. It is operated under contract by Keolis, which took over operations on July 1, 2014, from the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Company (MBCR).
The Boston and Lowell Railroad was a railroad that operated in Massachusetts in the United States. It was one of the first railroads in North America and the first major one in the state. The line later operated as part of the Boston and Maine Railroad's Southern Division.
The Providence and Worcester Railroad is a Class II railroad operating 612 miles (985 km) of tracks in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, as well as New York via trackage rights. The company was founded in 1844 to build a railroad between Providence, Rhode Island, and Worcester, Massachusetts, and ran its first trains in 1847. A successful railroad, the P&W subsequently expanded with a branch to East Providence, Rhode Island, and for a time leased two small Massachusetts railroads. Originally a single track, its busy mainline was double-tracked after a fatal 1853 collision in Valley Falls, Rhode Island.
The Lowell Line is a railroad line of the MBTA Commuter Rail system, running north from Boston to Lowell, Massachusetts. Originally built as the New Hampshire Main Line of the Boston & Lowell Railroad and later operated as part of the Boston & Maine Railroad's Southern Division, the line was one of the first railroads in North America and the first major one in Massachusetts.
The New York and New England Railroad (NY&NE) was a railroad connecting southern New York State with Hartford, Connecticut; Providence, Rhode Island; and Boston, Massachusetts. It operated under that name from 1873 to 1893. Prior to 1873 it was known as the Boston, Hartford and Erie Railroad, which had been formed from several smaller railroads that dated back to 1846. After a bankruptcy in 1893, the NY&NE was reorganized and briefly operated as the New England Railroad before being leased to the competing New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad in 1898.
Providence station is a railroad station in Providence, Rhode Island, served by Amtrak and MBTA Commuter Rail. The station has four tracks and two island platforms for passenger service, with a fifth track passing through for Providence and Worcester Railroad freight trains. It is now the 11th busiest Amtrak station in the country, and the second-busiest on the MBTA Commuter Rail system outside of Boston.
Franklin/Dean College is an MBTA Commuter Rail station located in Franklin, Massachusetts near Dean College. It serves the Franklin Line, for which it was the terminus from 1966 to 1988. The station has a mid-sized park and ride lot to serve town residents; Forge Park/495 station is intended to serve commuters from other nearby towns. The 1912-built station building still serves as a waiting hall and café, open during morning commute hours on weekdays. Franklin/Dean College station has a single side platform serving the line's single track; it is not accessible.
The Blackstone River Greenway is a partially completed 48-mile (77 km) paved rail trail defining the course of the East Coast Greenway through the Blackstone Valley from Worcester, Massachusetts to Providence, Rhode Island in the United States.
Forge Park/495 station is a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) commuter rail station on the Franklin Line located off Route 140 near Interstate 495 in Franklin, Massachusetts, United States. A park and ride station serving southwestern Boston suburbs and northeastern Rhode Island, it is the outer terminus of the Franklin Line. The station has two side platforms serving a single track, with an accessible mini-high platform and a station building on the south platform.
Ayer station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station located off Main Street in the Ayer Main Street Historic District of Ayer, Massachusetts. It serves the Fitchburg Line. There are three tracks through the station, two of which are served by a pair of low-level side platforms, which are not accessible. There is a shelter on the inbound platform.
Pawtucket/Central Falls station is a commuter rail station in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. It opened for MBTA Commuter Rail Providence/Stoughton Line service on January 23, 2023. The station has two side platforms serving the two tracks of the Northeast Corridor. It is also a hub for RIPTA local bus service.
The Worcester, Nashua and Rochester Railroad was a railroad line that was to link the city of Worcester, Massachusetts, to the city of Portland, Maine, via the New Hampshire cities of Nashua and Rochester, by merging several small shortline railroads together.
Woonsocket station is a former railroad station located at Depot Square in downtown Woonsocket, Rhode Island. It was built by the Providence and Worcester Railroad in 1882 to replace a previous station built in 1847.
The Woonsocket Union Railroad was a railroad in Rhode Island. It was incorporated in Rhode Island in 1850 to build a rail line from the Massachusetts state line near Woonsocket through the towns of Smithfield, Burrillville, and Glocester to the Connecticut state line.
The Milford Secondary is a railroad line that runs between Franklin and Milford, Massachusetts, United States.
The East Providence Branch is a railroad line in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, in the United States. It connects Valley Falls, Rhode Island, to East Providence, Rhode Island, via South Attleboro, Massachusetts, and Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The branch was originally built by the Providence and Worcester Railroad (P&W) in 1874, connecting its main line to a coal dock in East Providence, and was 7 miles (11 km) in length. At East Providence, the branch also met the East Junction Branch of the Boston and Providence Railroad and the mainline of the Providence, Warren and Bristol Railroad. Built as a single-track railroad with bridges and the right-of-way prepared for future double-tracking, the line was fully double-tracked from 1892 to 1895; the second track was eventually removed.
The Southbridge Branch was a railway line in Connecticut and Massachusetts, United States. It ran 16.9 miles (27.2 km) between Southbridge, Massachusetts and East Thompson, Connecticut, via Webster, Massachusetts. Originally planned to be part of the Southbridge and Blackstone Railroad, it was ultimately built in 1866–67 by the Boston, Hartford and Erie Railroad. It became part of the New York and New England Railroad in 1875, and the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad in 1898. Passenger service ended in 1930, and the eastern portion of the line was abandoned in 1937. The western half continued to be used for freight service; it passed to Penn Central in 1969, and to the Providence and Worcester Railroad (P&W) in 1976 as the Southbridge Running Track. The P&W stopped serving the line in the 1980s, but did not abandon it until 2004. Much of the western half of the line in Massachusetts has been converted to the Quinebaug Valley Rail Trail.