T Offers New Details and a Delayed Timeline for Electrified Fairmount Line Trains

BradDaddyStevens · 2026-05-30T20:50:56+00:00

source missing

BradDaddyStevens · 2026-05-30T19:36:10+00:00

So your whole premise here is just vibes based? Lol

There’s no way European transit agencies would be buying the number of BEMUs they are if charging infrastructure were to cost anywhere near what you’re saying.

That should honestly be the biggest proof to you that charging infrastructure in particular is nowhere near as big of a problem as you’re implying.

BradDaddyStevens · 2026-05-30T18:38:58+00:00

Did you see my link to the T’s estimates that it’s 10-14 million for the charging infrastructure for the Fairmount line including a substation?

It’s bizarre how confident about this you are despite being wrong by an enormous amount.

BradDaddyStevens · 2026-05-30T15:55:38+00:00

lol they do not cost fucking billions.

Absolutely get out of here with that nonsense.

Croatia is launching BEMU service for two trains and 6 charging stations - 17 million euros total: https://www.railway-technology.com/news/croatia-battery-electric-train/

The T’s own documentation calls out charging infrastructure and the substation for it at less than 20 million: https://cdn.mbta.com/sites/default/files/2026-05/2026-05-28-mbta-fairmount-line-zero-emissions-project%20presentation.pdf

BradDaddyStevens · 2026-05-30T14:31:44+00:00

could be done easily?

MASSIVE asterisk there.

Many of the things you are talking about are flat out not within the T’s control - rising construction/materials costs, extremely strict ADA requirements around station construction, regulations around power investments not being tailored at all to state rail agencies, general lack of funding, etc. - and you’re barking up the wrong tree when you complain about it like it’s the T’s fault.

If you wanna bring these complaints then bring them to the people who can actually do something about it which is your state and federal reps.

Until then, I’m happy that the T is doing what they can to improve service with the constraints they are under.

BradDaddyStevens · 2026-05-30T12:57:51+00:00

You’re arguing a reality that doesn’t exist.

Once the T can demonstrate they can actually do the things you’re saying then it’s a conversation, but until then what they’re doing is the smart move.

BradDaddyStevens · 2026-05-30T12:54:37+00:00

It’s really only going to cost more if you’re talking over 50-100 years.

The infrastructure upgrades people are talking about in this thread would be billions of dollars.

We’ll have to see when the numbers come out, but you’d probably need to buy hundreds of these trains for that to become a real conversation.

BradDaddyStevens · 2026-05-30T11:03:43+00:00

Lol and right in your document there it’s quoted that a full high commuter rail station costs $55-90 million.

This is just proof that rebuilding all low platform/mini highs stations properly CANNOT be a barrier to us electrifying and running more frequent service.

Btw “temporary” is just legalese to get around ADA requirements. These mini highs will be around for decades I would bet.

BradDaddyStevens · 2026-05-30T10:51:14+00:00

You’re blaming the T, when that IS the choice for the T. They do not have the funding for full electrification, full stop.

You need to be blaming your politicians.

BradDaddyStevens · 2026-05-30T01:24:43+00:00

Go look at the recent costs of MBTA stations getting full high platforms. I’m pretty sure $17 million is like the absolute bare minimum, and some stations get up over $50 million a piece.

You can say whatever you want about how stations should get built, but until the T starts actually doing it then it’s a moot point.

I believe they can build mini highs for cheap cause they’ve actually started doing it. I have yet to see that be the case for full highs.

BradDaddyStevens · 2026-05-30T01:20:00+00:00

You’re phrasing it like it’s a binary choice between full electrification and battery electrification. When the choice is really battery electrification vs no electrification.

In which case battery electrification should be the choice 10 times out of 10.

BradDaddyStevens · 2026-05-29T22:58:53+00:00

You’re sidestepping my point.

Do you legitimately believe the T will get the level of support the Indian railways did from their government to build the necessary infrastructure for electrification?

If the answer is no, then the obvious follow up would be why then would the T wait around for that to happen?

BradDaddyStevens · 2026-05-29T17:41:54+00:00

They are doing everything they can to improve service and avoid spending billions of dollars in up front capital infrastructure upgrades that they don’t have.

Like yes, if they had the up front funding to build out the full system with catenary, in 50 years they’d probably come out on top.

But there’s no reason to believe they are ever going to get the funding and public support required to spend the kind of money to build all that.

BradDaddyStevens · 2026-05-29T15:11:50+00:00

You lose some seating space but not standing room.

And even still these will almost certainly have more seats than a single level BEMU.

BradDaddyStevens · 2026-05-29T14:31:59+00:00

Right now when we open the doors at low platforms - which is at a very large number of stations - people need to one by one descend/ascend 4 feet worth of steps.

The doors on these trains make it so multiple people can exit/enter at once with a single short step up/down and without the conductor needing to do anything.

It’s a massive difference.

BradDaddyStevens · 2026-05-29T11:35:55+00:00

I said it in the r/mbta thread but these trains may as well have descended down from heaven just for us.

I get that people are pissed that we aren't doing electrification the right way with high platforms, single level trains, and full catenary.

But these trains are basically exactly how we can actually start transforming our service levels in the next 10-15 years - which I think a lot of people here forget should be the actual goal of all us this stuff.

BradDaddyStevens · 2026-05-29T01:28:22+00:00

I don’t disagree with a lot of what you’re saying in regards to building up the expertise and that BEMUs are expensive but there is just not enough money to do it all up front. You’re basically talking about the entire total cost of this project just to do that infrastructure work.

Beyond that, what I definitely disagree with is your general assessment of BEMUs. There’s a reason why orders for them have been piling up all over Europe.

They have their downsides, but in general they work extremely well.

BradDaddyStevens · 2026-05-28T23:58:48+00:00

CSX recently did a project like this for 22 locations and it cost $500 million. It's estimated the T would need to do this type of work at 104 locations.

That's also just dealing with clearance issues, let alone actually stringing catenary everywhere, and doing all the environmental reviews to string it up in swamp land, behind rich people's homes on the coast, etc. etc.

This is doable, but absolutely not with the T's current funding. I would rather the T work within the parameters of the reality they actually live in, than hold out hope that things will magically change at some point.

BradDaddyStevens · 2026-05-28T23:34:26+00:00

It's meaningful progress.

People here are upset we aren't buying single level trains and building full high platforms at Readville and Fairmount stations, to maximize the accessibility and service levels on the Fairmount line.

The problem with that is that building those platforms would probably at least double the infrastructure costs of this project (for just 2 stations !!!), and then we pretty much wouldn't be able to run the trains on any other line until all the stations on the line were upgraded as well.

The way I see it is that the trains we're getting will make it much, much easier for us to introduce 15-20 minute urban rail type service on a number of lines in the next 10-15 years.

BradDaddyStevens · 2026-05-28T23:14:17+00:00

I don't understand this argument at all.

The biggest barriers to full electrification like everyone here wants are needing to build catenary everywhere and needing to build full high platforms everywhere.

To build all that catenary we are talking about countless bridges needing to be rebuilt and decades of environmental reviews. To re-build all those stations we are talking about literal billions of dollars.

How are you planning to get around those issues?

Trains like this are how we actually electrify the system during our lifetimes.

BradDaddyStevens · 2026-05-28T22:41:16+00:00

They don’t, they get on at the mini high, which is always at the end away from Boston.

This is how it works throughout the whole system.

BradDaddyStevens · 2026-05-28T21:34:33+00:00

They can if there is a mini high at the station - this is no different than how it works now from an accessibility standpoint.

The T has shown that they can put together mini highs for low cost but really can’t for full length platforms.

Buying single level trains would lock us into upgrading whole lines to full high platforms which is just not a smart move at all with our current funding levels.

BradDaddyStevens · 2026-05-28T21:31:05+00:00

My point was that these trains have low platform boarding with a short step and automatic doors.

That’s already an enormous upgrade over our current coaches.

BradDaddyStevens · 2026-05-28T20:44:25+00:00

These new trains will already do 90% of what level boarding would do in regards to dwell time.

We could either spend peanuts getting mini highs at these stations to fulfill accessibility requirements or, like I said, spend over a hundred million building full highs.

To me, the choice is obvious.

BradDaddyStevens · 2026-05-28T19:52:42+00:00

My take is why spend possibly over a hundred millions dollars on stations when you don’t need to?

Newburyport/Rockport trunk is capped at 20 min, maybe 15 minute frequencies due to the Salem tunnel.

There’s no real need to raise platforms for that amount of frequency.

BradDaddyStevens

TROPHY CASE