Commuter rail forum has company, public on same page ‘We are doing this purely to be a good corporate neighbor’
WOONSOCKET — Vincent Bono, the president of the Boston Surface Railroad Co. (BSRC), has been working to develop a commuter rail link between Providence and Worcester for the past three years and recently decided it was time update the public on his company’s progress toward that goal.
So on Wednesday evening, even though his private company faced no requirement to do so, Bono held a public information meeting of sorts at the Woonsocket Train Depot. That is where the company, founded in 2015, is headquartered and Bono issued a progress report on BSRC’s goal of starting operations in June of 2020.
The overview included information on BSRC’s recent purchase of two locomotives and pending bid to acquire three more, as well as information on the type of commuter rail cars that will be added next and details on train schedules, tick- et costs and projected revenues. Bono even held a question and answer session at the end of his presentation to cover inquiries from the gathering of about 100 interested area residents about how tickets would be sold, how much parking is available for commuters at the depot and other stops on the route, and what type of security will be maintained on the trains and BSRC’s track sidings.
Bono said he decided to hold the informational meeting after getting a
steady stream of questions about his railroad’s start up through emails and messaging.
“We are doing this purely to be a good corporate neighbor,” Bono said. With the planned commuter rail operation expected to bring increased train runs to the Providence & Worcester Railroad tracks BSRC will be using, Bono said he also wished to start a public awareness effort aimed at promoting safety along the rail corridor running from Providence through Woonsocket, its sole midroute stop, and on to Worcester. BSRC won approval of its railroad plan from the federal Department of Transportation’s Surface Transportation Board in 2016, a significant step forward in the company’s plan to start up operations, according to Bono. BSRC is also working on adding a train route from Worcester to the Lowell area and upward into nearby New Hampshire as the railroad grows.
Currently, there are two daily freight train runs on the Providence & Worcester tracks at night and also an occasional added day run depending on the freight railroad’s business needs, Bono noted.
BSRC will be running 8 trains a day, four in the morning along the route and four in the evening.
BSRC recently acquired two FL-9 diesel-electric locomotives from the state of Connecticut and is in the process of buying three newer FP-10 locomotives to round out the power end of its roll- ing stock, according to Bono.
Four locomotives will be needed for BSRC’s daily runs, two per train, and the fifth will serve as a back up. The two already acquired engines are being refurbished by Seaview Transportation in North Kingstown and the company would also take on work on the remaining three when they are acquired, according to Bono.
The next step will be acquiring the passenger rail cars for the daily trains and Bono listed those to be the standard Comet cars, not the motor car, that train riders are familiar with on Amtrak routes. The company plans to start out with three of the 88-passenger cars, and then increase that number to 7 as needed.
While those cars often come with large seats for two or more people per side, Bono said his company is planning a more business style arrangement of two person seats, slightly reclining seats on either side of the aisle with drop down work tables and WiFi availability.
The key to BSRC’s ability to attract riders, however, will be its reliability of service and over time, the reduction of the commuting time by car between Providence and Worcester, or Woonsocket to either city.
“Our goal is for making a Providence to Worcester trip in 57 minutes,” Bono said. By car, that trip currently takes 75 minutes, he noted. Eventually, with planned track improvements along the route, BSRC wants to see the travel time shortened to 42 minutes between Providence and Worcester, Bono said. A trip from Woonsocket to Worcester should take about 21 min- utes, he noted.
“We actually don’t have to be faster than driving but we do have to be more reliable,” Bono said.
When winter snow storms arrive, Bono said the trains will still run just as the Providence & Worcester Railroad does now. And if the train is late and doesn’t make a scheduled arrival, Bono said customers will get a refund on their ticket cost.
As projected now, a one way trip from Providence to Worcester or vice versa will cost $11 with a commuter discount and a trip from Woonsocket to Worcester about $7, he said.
Bono’s company is looking for about 150,000 riders a year as a start and increasing that to over 400,000 annually as time goes on.
Worcester officials are already looking forward to the company’s 2020 start up given that it coincides with the announced relocation of the Pawtucket Red Sox to that city, Bono noted.
Why take the train? Bono noted that commuters will not only save the cost of gasoline for their car trips,avoid creating pollution and be able to better use the time involved, but they will also avoid parking fees for day time parking in the cities that can range from $12 to $14 daily. Those using the Woonsocket Depot will be able to leave their cars at its parking area for more than 100 cars at no cost, Bono said.
Bono also introduced other officials in company, including Jonathan Klein as operations manager, longtime veteran of railroad operations, and Ed Reardon as chief operating officer, a veteran rail administrator with 30 years experience in the field.
Eventually, Bono plans to hire more than 30 employees for BSRC’s operations and said on Wednesday that he hopes to include local residents in that number as well.
While taking questions from the gathering Bono explained that tickets for the trains will be available online in advance or at the stations through a BSRC kiosk. All seats will be reserved in advance, he noted.
BSRC will be looking to hire security personnel as part of its start up and also employees for the stations and trains, Bono said while answering questions on that topic.
The trains will also be fully handicapped accessible and there will be provisions for taking along bicycles for bike commuters.
Although the trains will stop in Woonsocket, Bono answered one question regarding whether there might by more by indicating that is not likely given every stop would add about 6 minutes of travel time to the commute.
Bono concluded by noting that after years of work and also securing required approvals, BSRC’s operations are moving forward to the planned start in 2020.
“We are very close and we are just 18 months away from running our first train to Worcester,” he said.
After listening to the presentation with the rest of the crowd, Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt said she was encouraged to see that Bono had put on a public meeting for the area.
“As he indicated, there is a lot more to bringing trains to into a community and meeting expectations. Progress is happening, it is just not always visible,” Baldelli-Hunt said.
The evening provided residents and local officials with a lot of useful information on the plan, Baldelli-Hunt said and they even got to ask questions about things what were not raised in the presentation.
From her perspective, Baldelli-Hunt said she believes BSRC will bring a much needed boost to the Main Street area while providing local residents with opportunities to commute to work outside the city and for those wanting to see what Woonsocket has to offer. Visitors will be able to take a train ride into the once flourishing business district where they can still find a good restaurant, visit a museum or attend a performance at the Stadium Theatre, she noted.
“It’s great because it offers a wide variety of possibilities for travel not to mention that our downtown will be booming,” Baldelli-Hunt said.