Monday Night's P527 Commuter Rail Train

Last night, the P527 outbound train on the Worcester-Framingham line was about 3 minutes behind schedule, as we arrived to Grafton around 7:22 p.m.

I did not commute in on the train this morning, as I have a post-work engagement in Needham.

I just read Commute-a-holic's post about last night's commuter rail extension discussion. I love this comment from State Rep. Betty Poirer (R) from North Attleboro:

"Let's fix what we have" before building new rail systems, she said.

NO KIDDING! The T cries poor, that they can't maintain the cars/lines they have, but then want to spend a billion dollars expanding a line no one wants? They're so out of touch w/reality, it's unbelievable.

I hope this doesn't turn into another Greenbush line. No one wanted the Greenbush area - the towns of Hingham, Cohasset and Scituate fought the extension of this line for years. First, the towns didn't need the extension because they have access to the Red Line, the Quincy Commuter rail line, and the ferry's. Second, the Greenbush line cuts very close to some historic buildings and homes. But the T literally bulldozed their way to a line extension. Since Greenbush is a new line, they have the best cars and their service seems to be amazing. And it sounds like the trains are relatively empty and no one seems to know whether Greenbush will see the ridership on lines like Worcester-Framingham and Franklin.

I know Worcester line riders would love new cars. It sounds like the riders of the Northern lines would like new cars. Heck, Worcester line and Franklin line riders would just like to get to Boston on-time with relatively easy schedules (not "new" schedules that cut out more hours from your life).

Watching the New Bedford/Fall River saga unfold is bound to be interesting.