"supported buying the station for a 'minimal price'"

The Milford Daily News digs into the closing comments and the change in scope for the Citizens Committee reporting on the exploration of buying the downtown train station from the MBTA.

Town Administrator Jeffrey Nutting last week asked to meet with the Citizens Committee to discuss the idea. Nutting praised the committee’s work in pushing the MBTA to complete the recent improvements and said the station looks "100 percent better." 

At this point, though, he does not know how the town might benefit from buying the station. 

"There’s a lot of homework that we need to do on what would be the upside for the town," he said. "My position is the T needs to maintain the station; they’ve done a great job to date." 

And, he said, pursuing the purchase could cause problems for the town. 

"There’s liability issues," he said. "And one of the issues if we own it is we have to lease it. There are (Americans with Disabilities Act) issues. You’d have to sit down and go through all of these."

Read more: http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/x1868838807/Franklin-panel-suggests-town-buy-train-station-from-MBTA#ixzz2f8qNgiC2

Franklin Historical Museum: All Aboard!

ALL ABOARD!

The Franklin Historical Museum will host a talk on the history of the Southern New England Trunkline Trail, SNETT.

Guest Speaker Ron Clough of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation will give a presentation and discuss the history of SNETT which was designated as part of the National Recreation Trail in 1994.

Franklin Station

Join us for an informative look at the Southern New England Railway and trains in Franklin’s history, and learn about the ‘Ghost Train’.

Sunday February 17 @ 1:00pm, 80 West Central Street, Franklin

Train depot building gone

Additional photos from my phone camera (hence lesser quality).

The empty concrete platform



Breaking up the concrete platform



Repeating questions from yesterday's post:

Does anyone know when this building was last in operation?

Did anyone have relatives who worked there loading freight to/from the trains?

Attention Franklin Train Commuters

I almost missed this article but it does affect us on the Franklin line:

... a fresh source of delays and hassles this spring and summer for riders taking Acela and other Amtrak trains to New York, Philadelphia, Washington, and other Northeast corridor destinations. It could also mean trouble for MBTA commuter rail riders on the Attleboro/Providence, Franklin, Needham, and Stoughton branches, which use segments of the Amtrak Northeast Corridor.

Although some of the work is not directly related to the concrete tie problem, Amtrak has decided to shut down a T commuter rail track between Back Bay and Readville stations for maintenance June 14-17, T spokesman Joe Pesaturo said late yesterday. That four-day period coincides with when Amtrak plans to shut down all service between Boston and New Haven and run bus shuttles while crews complete a $76 million replacement of an 89-year-old bridge over the Thames River between New London and Groton, Conn.

Read the full Boston Globe article here.

June 14-17 may be a good time to plan to either work from home or plan an alternate route to Boston. Saturday, Sunday (6/14-15) will affect the weekend travelers. Monday, Tuesday (6/16-17) will affect the regular commuters.

Attention Franklin Train Commuters

Amtrak strike would rock T

By Noah Bierman, Globe Staff

The threat of a national Amtrak strike later this month is prompting Boston-area transit officials to prepare for potential chaos on commuter rail lines that would trickle down to subways, buses, and highways.

---------------------------

In part from the article, we read:

A strike would virtually shut down South Station, forcing rail passengers to transfer onto subway lines at the Back Bay, Braintree, and Forest Hills stations. The MBTA would also have to shut down the Providence/Stoughton Line in all likelihood, forcing about 17,000 additional daily commuters to drive into town or to take alternate rail lines. North Station schedules would not be altered, but riders might see picket lines.

"There's no ifs, ands, or buts about it. A strike that would shut down service in and out of South Station would severely hamper, perhaps even overwhelm, the subway system," said Daniel A. Grabauskas, general manager of the MBTA.

The private company that runs commuter rail under a contract with the MBTA, Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Co., has been discussing contingency plans with the T and making recommendations that include running fewer commuter trains, virtually eliminating off-peak runs. The commuter service, which carries 72,000 riders in and out of Boston daily, is already drawing ire from passengers fed up with increasingly late trains.

No strike, a deal has been reached. Details here.