The trouble with this is that many sections of that line are just barely above sea level right now. Any sort of long-term investment in reopening the corridor as a rail line would be at risk due to sea level rise.

So all of my information is very old and second/third hand but one of the old GMs of the T was pushing for something like this. He wanted to extend the Plymouth line to swing down by the cape bridges and create a south coast loop.

He also wanted to revitalize the port in Fall River and have the state move the import/export seaport there. He wanted to move away from the Boston being the center of the universe model that exists and start servicing the rest of the state and region.

So they forced him out.

I'm all for increasing public transportation, but I'd rather have the bike path that currently sits where these old train tracks were.

A timeline where East Bay NIMBYs don’t exist 🤤

rhode island residents are quite fond of ripta. Heavily investing in **real**, high-frequency, high-quality BRT is the likeliest way to have enough public support to improve public transportation to a respectable LoS

This line follows an old interurban route between Providence and Fall River and then continues to New Bedford. With the coming of the South Coast Rail project, this would be even more useful by providing a connection between stations along the South Coast extension and Providence. The biggest issues would likely be getting through Ocean Grove, where 5 or 6 homes have been built on the ROW, and tunneling under I-195 in Fall River. The alternative to taking the homes in Ocean Grove would be to use a power line ROW from the RI/MA state line to the Taunton River, although connecting to that presents a challenge as well, albeit smaller. This hits the downtowns of all 3 as well as Warren and Barrington and would provide an alternative to I-195. The idea would be something more along the lines of a regional line, similar to the old interurban operation, with shorter 3-4 electric trains rather than MBTA diesel hauled trains.

Feel free to suggest any infill stations. Thoughts? Map here

Realistically you could use the line from Attleboro to Taunton and connect into the rail lines for Fall River and New Bedford. That line would most likely need work to allow Passenger traffic, but the rail lines are still there and active.

Extend it to Buzzards Bay and connect to Cape railway.

Who would use such a train? Few people in RI are trying to get to Fall River or New Bedford, and there aren’t enough people in that part of MA commuting to Providence to support the costs of operating the line.

I’m in Warren and wouldn’t want this at all. I can’t imagine there’s a large interest in this for EP, Barrington, Riverside or Warren. We have Ripta already, it’s an easy ride to prov, and this would kill the east bay bike path. Noise pollution would also suck.

From a logistics POV- I just don’t think it’s possible also. Not enough room and would need to take down peoples homes or cut into their properties.

Someone else mentioned this but have this train run near 195 and route 6.

My initial thought is how many people commute in that direction?

Extend it to the airport in Warwick and then there would be much more interest.

We could use a commuter rail connection to the Shoreline East in CT too. MBTA is about halfway there with the extension to Kingston.

Next up I would like to propose the Cranston to Des Moines Iowa monorail.

Peter Pan already goes that way so what's the point?

The bike path in east providence would never be used for a train.

Terrible idea. Use your time for better things

While we’re dreaming here, i’d have it go from barrington into warwick under the river, and hit up the airport

Unfortunately no one rides the train. This seems like a money pit. Run buses for a fraction of this investment. The concept though is interesting, is there demand?