12-06-10 MBTA Watch - First Train to TF Green Airport from Providence and Back

[Fred G]

Crack of dawn at Providence but all's well that ends well. I rode the first train to TF Green Airport station this morning. Train 8801 left PVD at 0541. The trip is 20 minutes and costs $2.25. IIRC, the fare from TF Green to Boston is $8.25, and the park and ride makes it a lot more convenient than parking at or near the downtown Providence station. Let's look at the pics:

 

Solari board showing train 8801, the TF Green train.

 

First southbound Acela stops here, and yeah it is that color down there.

 

Here comes the first TF Green train, led by F40 1058.

 

Arrival at TF Green looking west.

 

Here's a view east, showing the parking garage. The capacity is reportedly 3500 spaces with room for 660 cars as park and ride*, something like that. It will cost $6.75 to park all day (presumably with a train ticket stub validation). Overnight parking is reportedly 30 bucks.*

 

Here you can see the siding track is a couple feet lower than the mainline. The siding is closed ended, that is not a spur, and it's not wired.

 

One of 3 TV vans onsite.

 

Obligatory 2 floors up shot of my train back to PVD

 

Fast forward back to PVD looking easterly where we see a mixed consist of 2 single level coaches and the bilevels, plus F40 1056 without ghetto grates, plus new platform construction.

 

I hope this catches on so that more trains can be added (there are now 3 a.m. and 3 p.m. trains for commuters). It makes taking the T to Boston a lot easier. The next new station is west of here, in Wickford Junction, so slowly the T is extending the Providence/Stoughton branch westward.

 

Full album here

 

Thanks for checking this out.

 

*hearsay during the trip.

[Amtrak7]

Nice shots!

 

That car in the 4th shot looks nasty!

[Fred G]

Thanks. I think it's just a funny reflection; I don't recall seeing any trashed up cars this morning.

[BZGuy]

Money says next bid Peter Pan is gonna cut the trips to TF Green, there by cutting runs, forcing most junior operators to commute to either Cape Cod or Hartford to continue holding runs. Thanks MBTA.....NOT!:mad:

[Fred G]

I don't think this is going to affect Peter Pan too much, as the trains are mostly commuter trains to Boston rather than a "train to the plane." The trains to the airport in the morning are both near 6 a.m. and the afternoon trains are at rush hour. There are not trains midday or even late morning. Not yet anyway.

[BZGuy]

I don't think this is going to affect Peter Pan too much, as the trains are mostly commuter trains to Boston rather than a "train to the plane." The trains to the airport in the morning are both near 6 a.m. and the afternoon trains are at rush hour. There are not trains midday or even late morning. Not yet anyway.

 

It's already hurt us. Before the train we used to have scheduled double buses on the Providence-Boston-Logan Airport line. Train comes in with a lower fare that we can't undercut and boom we go from 30 runs in Providence to 20. That's why with 3 years of seniority I can barely hold a relief run. And once they start running to train to Fall River, our Boston-Fall River line will probably go away.

 

Gotta love the goverment for killing our good paying runs!

[dman1455]

fred great job!! I need to check out that area sooner or later

[IRT Bronx Express]

Excellent pics :tup: The Train Info looks more professional than the next train countdown clocks here.

[PATCOman]

Slammin pics Fred!

[Fred G]

It's already hurt us. Before the train we used to have scheduled double buses on the Providence-Boston-Logan Airport line. Train comes in with a lower fare that we can't undercut and boom we go from 30 runs in Providence to 20. That's why with 3 years of seniority I can barely hold a relief run. And once they start running to train to Fall River, our Boston-Fall River line will probably go away.

 

Gotta love the goverment for killing our good paying runs!

 

What about Fung Wah and Bolt? You gotta be takin a spankin from them.

[Robert Paniagua]

And there are no plans to electrify that track (probably due to the MBTA Kawasaki Bilevel clearance restrictions) so Amtrak will not serve that station, but those are awesome shots Fred, I'm going to have to take that train there someday!, and also it could be a great ride to do, say, on a Friday night and I feel like going to New York City after working in Boston, I just get up super-early (at 2:45), then drive down all the way from my Weymouth MA home to exit 13 off I-95 and then go to work from TF Green to Boston, then take an outbound TF Green train and then I drive from there to New Haven CT and head to New York via Metro-North

 

I am finally glad they TF Green is now open, just hopefully they'll add more TF green trains, even a few Shuttles from Providence that connect from the Providence line trains from Boston we could use also

[Fred G]

And there are no plans to electrify that track (probably due to the MBTA Kawasaki Bilevel clearance restrictions) so Amtrak will not serve that station, but those are awesome shots Fred, I'm going to have to take that train there someday!, and also it could be a great ride to do, say, on a Friday night and I feel like going to New York City after working in Boston, I just get up super-early (at 2:45), then drive down all the way from my Weymouth MA home to exit 13 off I-95 and then go to work from TF Green to Boston, then take an outbound TF Green train and then I drive from there to New Haven CT and head to New York via Metro-North

 

I am finally glad they TF Green is now open, just hopefully they'll add more TF green trains, even a few Shuttles from Providence that connect from the Providence line trains from Boston we could use also

 

Thanks and I hope they add more trains, too. There's a station further west at Wickford Jct under construction as well.

[ChickenPotPie]

And there are no plans to electrify that track (probably due to the MBTA Kawasaki Bilevel clearance restrictions)

I don't think it's due to clearance issues. MBTA bi-levels have no problem operating on the Providence Line, which is electrified and used by Amtrak Acela and Regional trains. There's probably just no reason to electrify the track. Amtrak has no intentions of stopping at the station(probably due to low demand) and the MBTA has no electric locomotives nor any plans to purchase electric locomotives. Electrifying the track would only add unnecessary costs. Besides, they can always do it later if need be.

[Fred G]

I don't think it's due to clearance issues. MBTA bi-levels have no problem operating on the Providence Line, which is electrified and used by Amtrak Acela and Regional trains. There's probably just no reason to electrify the track. Amtrak has no intentions of stopping at the station(probably due to low demand) and the MBTA has no electric locomotives nor any plans to purchase electric locomotives. Electrifying the track would only add unnecessary costs. Besides, they can always do it later if need be.

 

It's not clearance issues for the reason you state. This track is just a long siding and the trains have to run under the wire to get there, all the way from Boston in the PM. No scrapes on the wire.