A fairly rudimentary map used to promote a European S-Bahn-style central rail tunnel under Boston to link North and South stations and provide through-running commuter rail services. An interesting idea, although I’m not sure that Boston has quite recovered from the last tunnel they built just yet.
The map is functional enough, but could perhaps benefit from a little more “zing” to help it be the true centrepiece of the campaign. Personally, I’d like to see a little more differentiation between the commuter rail lines and the intersecting “T” lines in the central tunnel. The route lines become a bit tangled as they enter and exit the central spine of the network, mainly because most of the routes seem to cross over from one side of the map to the other as they pass from north to south. People with more local knowledge than I could perhaps comment on the reasoning behind these operational patterns; the website the map comes from doesn’t shed much light on the subject.
Our rating: An interesting concept for the future of commuter rail in Boston, but a fairly lacklustre imagining of that bold future. Two stars.
Source: North South Rail Link website
I , and I would presume many others, can see the benefit / advantage of a north/south connection between North and South Stations in Boston. My concern is quite simple: why didn’t the “powers that be” advocate more intensely for a north / south rail link, when the city was torn up for over a decade when the “Big Dig” project was on-going?! The automobile / vehicular tunnel starts right next to North Station (TD Garden) and emerges next to South Station. What great mind didn’t see this time ( the duration of the tunnel / central artery project ) as a “golden opportunity” to unify the southern and northern rail termini in the city??? I’m truly bewildered by this action, or more accurately, this inaction!!!