As South Coast Rail construction nears completion, safety testing next on agenda
DARTMOUTH - South Coast Rail's start will have to wait until safety testing has been fully completed.
Jean Fox, project manager for South Coast Rail-MassDOT, said a start date for "revenue service," meaning the advent of paying customers taking advantage of rail service to Boston, can't be pinpointed yet.
"I don't have it at this time because the testing and commissioning is so robust. We're going to keep targeting and pushing and pushing. It's going to take awhile. That's what it's all about, safety."
Fox provided a South Coast rail update to the Rail to Boston Coalition at the UMass Dartmouth Law School Friday.
Fox, state Rep. Straus honored
Fox and state Rep. William Straus, D-Mattapoisett, were also honored by the group for their longstanding efforts in bringing South Coast Rail to fruition.
The group was formed in 2014 to advocate for South Coast Rail, said Coalition Chairman and Realtor Association of Southeastern Massachusetts CEO Paul Chasse.
Fox said most of the construction has been completed for the six new stations - Middleborough, East Taunton, Freetown, Fall River, Church Street in New Bedford and New Bedford - and two layover facilities.
The East Taunton station's construction was delayed by some supply-chain issues but is "moving along with alacrity now," she said.
But important system features must be fully tested and OK'd before paying customers climb aboard, she said.
Train control systems require numerous tests
That includes 2,000 required tests of the Automatic Train Control system, which alerts the engineer to potentially unsafe conditions.
The Positive Train Control system also has to be fully tested. PTC alerts the engineer when it detects the possibility of either a train-to-train collision or a train that's moving too fast along the line through a work zone.
It can monitor a train's location, direction and speed in real time. If the crew does not respond to an alert, PTC will take over and automatically stop the train.
Safety efforts will also include certification of over 200 critical elements - bridges, culverts, grade crossings, walls, tracks, stations, layovers, and the ATC/PTC systems.
Fox said test trains will begin running this spring, building up to service speed of up to 79 mph.
That's much faster than the current 25 mph reached by sporadic freight trains - which was only 10 mph not too long ago, she added.
The only safe place to cross the train tracks will be at designated pedestrian or roadway crossings.
Trains not just faster, they're quieter
The trains are not only faster but quieter due to the new continuously welded rail. "No more clickety clack," she said.
Right-of-way trespassing will be extremely dangerous, Fox said.
"For years and years and years we had nothing but sporadic slow-moving freight trains. We're now going to have faster trains and ultimately we'll have a regular service," she said.
"People need to understand that it will be extremely dangerous to walk the dog, ride an ATV, go hunting or take a shortcut on the railroad tracks."
She said the message "needs to resonate."
Fox added, "People just aren't accustomed to it. When they see some test trains running they're going to understand that the safety really is critically important, and they're going to understand what it means when they trespass."
They've developed the Safety First Program to inform folks along the route of all ages of the potential hazards.
This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: South Coast Rail safety testing must come before service starts
