Legislators Look to Stop Ethanol Trains in Their Tracks

People are still fighting the proposed Pan Am ethanol trains into the Boston area.  READ: Legislators look to stop ethanol trains in their tracks

MBTA Fitchburg Line Rider Slightly Upset...

The MBTA station area at Ayer MA was recently covered with chalked messages telling riders to demand a refund on their passes. Apparently, the Fitchburg line will not have service on weekends through the fall. Needless to say, someone is upset that they paid full price for a pass, and is not getting service.  The T isn't even providing bus service.

The following information is from the MBTA website:

Due to track work the following Fitchburg Line stations will be closed weekends: Fitchburg, North Leominster, Shirley, Ayer, and Littleton/495. No substitute bus service will be provided. Service will run per normal schedule between North Station and South Acton.

These closures will be every weekend from June 1 through November 24, 2013 except for Fourth of July weekend (July 6 and 7) and Labor Day weekend (August 31, September 1.)

Stops Affected: Ayer, Fitchburg, Littleton / Rte 495, North Leominster, Shirley

ON THIS DAY: Boston & Lowell RR Chartered 1830

ON THIS DAY... 

... the Boston & Lowell Railroad was chartered in 1830

MBTA's Cape Flyer Train Debuts

For people looking for a way to avoid the massive traffic gridlock heading to and from Cape Cod this summer, there is a new option.  Direct rail service from Boston to the Cape began the end of May.  The Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority (CCRTA), in cooperation with MassDOT, will operate summer seasonal service from Boston South Station to Hyannis on Cape Cod beginning this weekend through Labor Day, Monday, September 2, 2013.

For more information, go to the train's very own website:   www.capeflyer.com

MA OKs Plan for "Boston Landing" MBTA Commuter Rail Station in Brighton

(SOURCE:  by Matt Rocheleau, Boston.com.  CLICK for whole article)

The state Massachusetts Transportation Department's board voted unanimously Wednesday to approve plans for new commuter rail station in Brighton MA, which New Balance will pay to build and then operate for at least the first decade after the station opens.

The station will sit next to an area where the shoe company is building a massive, $500 million development project………..The station will be called “Boston Landing.” New Balance officials have said previously they hope it will open in 2014, which would make it the first completed component of the company’s large development.

The station will include a single platform, centered between the eastbound and westbound tracks of the Framingham-Worcester line, said Mark Boyle, the MBTA’s assistant general manager for development.

The conceptual plan envisions that riders will be able to access the station directly from Guest Street and Everett Street, Boyle said......... The initial schedule will include two inbound stops at the station during the morning rush hour and two outbound stops there during the evening rush hour………….Construction is estimated to cost between $14 and $16 million, he said.

New Balance will pay to design and build the station. The company will also pay all maintenance costs for the first 10 years the station is opened. After the first decade, the state and New Balance will reassess how maintenance costs would be paid for.

New Balance plans to construct a new headquarters, sports complex, hotel, up to three office buildings along with retail, restaurant and recreation space on Guest Street. The half-billion dollar development will create a 1.45 million square-foot “health and wellness district” across about 14 acres of property.

The company began demolition on the development last fall. New Balance has said it expects to complete the six-phase project within about a four-year span. The headquarters, sports complex and the hotel are expected to be completed by 2015. The office buildings are expected to be built by 2017.

B&M/Pan Am Shop Building Burned at North Billerica MA

(SOURCE:  LowellSun.com)

BILLERICA -- An old, out-of-service hydrant in Iron Horse Park did not help extinguish a Sunday brush fire, which quickly turned into a significant blaze that leveled an old storage building for the Pan Am Railroad, according to Billerica Deputy Chief Tom Ferraro……. When a fire engine responded at 4:02 p.m., firefighters used 500 gallons of water in about five minutes, Ferraro said. Billerica firefighters then tried to use the industrial park's private hydrant, but it was out of service, he said.

Firefighters had to go 1,000 feet away to connect to a working hydrant, and by the time they came back, the blustery conditions had extended the blaze into 1700 Iron Horse Park, a dilapidated old storage building owned by Pan-Am Railways, according to Ferraro.

"I'm not going to say it would have been a different story (if the hydrant was working), but it would have been a lot easier to lay 100 feet of hose instead of 1,000," Ferraro said. "We wouldn't have run of out of water.

"This was a private hydrant," he emphasized. "This was not the responsibility of the Fire Department's hydrants."

Fire Chief Tom Conway said the storage facility was a dry, wood building estimated at 200 feet long…….. There was some damage to materials in Sanford Company's yard, he said. In addition, he believes there was some heat damage to the MBTA vehicles stored across from the blaze.

POSTCARD VIEW: B&M Station at Gardner MA

B&M Station at Gardner MA