North South Rail Link rears its head again in Boston
An op-ed in the Boston Globe written by State Senator Stephen Lynch and Mass Siera Club director James McCaffrey argues that now is the time to build the North South Rail Link.
For those who don't know, the two primary rail stations in Boston (about one mile apart) are not connected. You can connect between North Station and South Station via the subway, but only if you transfer between two different lines. Naturally, it would have made sense to build a rail tunnel connecting the two stations as part of the Big Dig, and it was discussed as part of the original proposal, but it was ultimately dropped from the final plan. Unfortunately, that was probably the NSRL's best opportunity.
The current NSRL plan, I believe, calls for a rail tunnel under the Big Dig tunnel, along with new stations at either end and at least one in the middle for other connections. The op-ed notes that the current estimate is $5.7 billion (and we in Boston know well what those estimates are worth). Despite the obvious convenience, environmental and quality of life benefits, the op-ed cites the creation of 13 million man-hours of construction work.
The op-ed notes that Governor Romney's 20-Year Transportation Plan does not include the NSRL. I guess he assumed that there was really only going to be one opportunity to dig a tunnel through the middle of Boston, and that moment had come and gone. Of course, the NSRL could use one of those tunnel boring machines that you see on the Discovery Channel instead of digging a giant trench. Nonetheless, I can hardly imagine that this could be done without significant disruption on the surface. I assume that the op-ed authors feel that now is the time - before the Big Dig surface improvents are completed and all those new trees are planted. Good luck to them - I suspect that the ship has sailed on this (admittedly good) idea.
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ebs | 1:40 PM |
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How much extra was an NSRL supposed to cost if done as part of the Big Dig? It doesn't seem to me like a link is very important or highly desired as that separation of North Union Station and South Union Station has been there for a long time. It seems unlikely it is worth $6 billion to unite them now.
I don't know how much it would have been if rolled in with the Big Dig. One of the alternatives to a tunnel mentioned in the MBTA report is a dedicated shuttle bus between the two stations. Obviously, that would be the most cost effective choice at this point. I agree that $6b at this point is not worthwhile, but if there is a real demand for a connection (?) then, the bus would be the simplest choice.
