Sman_theman t1_j7uf43g wrote on February 9, 2023 at 2:13 PM

I briefly worked for Pan Am Railways right before csx took over. I will say that despite being an awful employer…csx does a great job of maintaining track. It will be a while before passenger rail returns because all the track between nashua and concord will need to be replaced as well as signal systems being installed. All this will have to be done before trains can move faster than 10 mph. It would certainly be a great way to get to boston for sporting events and concerts without having to drive to the commuter rail.

AKBigDaddy t1_j7ujmsy wrote on February 9, 2023 at 2:46 PM

Right? At most my wife and I will do a day trip to boston. We'll leave after breakfast, home around dinner. Parking is a PITA and expensive, driving around Boston is a clusterfuck. If I could take a train right into downtown, instead of driving down, catching a bruins game, and driving home, we'd make a weekend of it, take the train in, shop around, hit up the bars, stay in a hotel, and take the train back the next day.

Not to mention there's perks coming the OTHER way too- flying out of MHT is a lot cheaper than BOS sometimes, so being able to just hop a train up to manch and fly out from there would make people far more likely to consider it as an option. That draws more people in, more money brought into the local economy.

Sman_theman t1_j7v1qwk wrote on February 9, 2023 at 4:46 PM

Exactly! Usually when I go to a bruins game I take the orange line in from malden. Which makes it easy to get out of the city but traffic is BRUTAL to get there. A few weeks ago I was going down for a game and ended up sitting in traffic for nearly 2 hours because of an accident.

AKBigDaddy t1_j7v3msk wrote on February 9, 2023 at 4:58 PM

I drive all the way from the upper valley, I would love to only have to drive to Manch and just catch a train.

sirspidermonkey t1_j7v4zit wrote on February 9, 2023 at 5:07 PM

I know no one would openly commit MA tax fraud by hoping the rail to a retail district in NH and skipping out on sales taxes.

But if they did...I'm pretty sure we'd benefit.

AKBigDaddy t1_j7v5blx wrote on February 9, 2023 at 5:09 PM

I thought about that, but I also was thinking of the fact that the boston area has far better shopping options. But you're right. If you could take an hour ride on a train on a day off, you could save a bundle on taxes.

SomeCalcium t1_j7w7yzw wrote on February 9, 2023 at 9:06 PM

>It would certainly be a great way to get to boston for sporting events and concerts without having to drive to the commuter rail.

I live on the Seacoast and it's super convenient to take the Amtrak down to Boston. Driving down to Boston is a nightmare, but taking the train down is relatively painless by comparison since you just get plopped at North Station. It's one big benefits of living on the Seacoast instead of living off the I-93 corridor where I grew up.

Hell, even taking the C&J to Logan is much more convenient than driving down.