Old Colony Railroad Rehabilitation Project By: Robert J. Frascella, P.E. Project Manager Sverdrup Civil, Inc. Two Center Plaza Boston, MA 02108 Phone: (617) 742-8060 Fax: (617) 74241830 ABSTRACT OLD COLONY RAILROAD REHABILITATION Southeastern Massachusetts Sverdrup Civil, Inc. provided all engineering and construction phase services to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority for the reconstruction of three branch lines of the Old Colony Railroad. The Old Colony Railroad serves 600,000 residents in more than 30 communities in the fastest growing part of the state, helping to relieve severe traffic congestion on area roadways. The Main, Middleborough, and Plymouth Lines of the Old Colony Railroad have been totally reconstructed and now offer direct service to Boston's South Station Intermodal Transportation Center for more than 10,000 inbound riders per day with trip times of under one hour. Restoring service required the design and construction of 99.8 km (62 route miles) of railroad; 488 m (1,600) feet of cut-and-cover tunnels; 15 commuter rail stations; two train layover facilities; a centrally-located maintenance facility; 44 grade crossings; 11 passing sidings; improvements to 18 roadway intersections; a system wide signal and communications system; and the construction or rehabilitation of 47 bridges. The Old Colony Railroad, which maintained rail traffic throughout construction, was designed for joint use by commuter and freight trains. This presentation focuses on the challenging and difficult issues associated with constructing a modern commuter rail transportation system in an urban, suburban, and rural environment. KEYWORDS: Commuter Rail Railroad Rehabilitation New Service Joint Use Massachusetts INTRODUCTION For more than thirty years, Southeastern Massachusetts has been plagued with severe traffic congestion because that region of the State lacked a viable commuting alternative to the passenger automobile. The focus of this presentation is two-fold. First, it will present the history, planning and development of restored commuter rail service to this region. Second, it will highlight some of the engineering challenges that the designers and builders faced in bringing this once thriving railroad back to life. Since the start of revenue service in September 1997, more than 8,000 automobiles per day have been eliminated from area highways, traffic conditions have greatly improved and air quality has become more acceptable. This has all become possible due to the rehabilitation of the Old Colony Railroad. HISTORY The Old Colony Railroad was originally constructed in the mid-nineteenth century to satisfy the transportation needs of eastern Massachusetts. By 1845, rail service on the Old Colony lines had been extended to most of southeastern Massachusetts and portions of Rhode Island- In 1893, the Old Colony Railroad became a part of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad through a lease arrangement. Under New Haven management, The Old Colony lines survived for many years as the primary means for commuters to access Downtown Boston from the southern suburbs. During the post-World War II years, the Old Colony commuter lines became a financial burden for the New Haven Railroad which sought for many years to abandon the passenger service on the branch lines serving Plymouth, Middleborough and Scituate, MA. Increased use of the passenger automobile and new highway construction meant decreased ridership on the former Old Colony Lines serving the southeast region of the Commonwealth. In 1959, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts completed construction of the Southeast Expressway, a major arterial highway from Boston to Cape Cod. Concurrently, the State railroad subsidy was discontinued. This made automobile access to Boston easier and forced the New Haven Railroad to further reduce service on the Old Colony Lines. Shortly after the Southeast Expressway opened in 1960, the Old Colony drawbridge across the Neponset River was destroyed by fire. Through train movements were no longer possible between Boston and South Shore communities. Freight service continued uninterrupted on the Old Colony Lines after the bridge was destroyed from existing connections via Attleborough, MA and South Boston. As such, the New Haven had no interest in replacing the damaged structure. Commuter service was permanently halted on the former Old Colony Lines and many Boston commuters were left with few alternatives to the automobile. In 1984, the Massachusetts Legislature allocated funds to enable the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) to study the restoration of commuter rail service to southeastern Massachusetts. A feasibility study was undertaken by Sverdrup Civil, Inc. to determine whether sufficient ridership would support reconstruction of the Middleborough, Plymouth and Greenbush Lines of the Old Colony Railroad. The initial study concluded that ridership would support restoration of commuter rail service in this region. The study recommended a number of alternatives worthy of consideration. In 1986, the Governor and the State Legislature directed the MBTA to proceed with environmental studies in support of the restoration of the Old Colony Railroad to full commuter rail service. The environmental studies recognized several other benefits to the restoration of commuter rail service. A reduction in vehicles on the area roadways would improve air quality within the region. Also, improved commuter rail service would provide valuable mitigation to the planned Central Artery Project, a major highway construction project currently underway in downtown Boston. As part of the environmental review process, a Draft and Final Environmental Impact Statement/Report (EIS/R) was prepared for the Main, Middleborough and Plymouth Lines. Following a six-year public review process involving legislators, federal and state agencies, town governments, and the general public, the environmental assessment was completed by the end of March 1992. The Massachusetts Secretary of the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs (EOEA) issued the final state approval in May of 1992. The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) issued its Record of Decision (ROD) in June of 1992 clearing the way for design and construction of the Middleborough and Plymouth Lines of the Old Colony Railroad. The Greenbush Line was excluded from the ROD because of public opposition in the Town of Hingham with regard to impacts on historic resources. A supplemental EIS/R was prepared separately for the Greenbush Line addressing these issues and preliminary design on this branchline is now underway. DESIGN OF THE RECONSTRUCTION BEGINS Immediately following the ROD, the design phase of the Old Colony Rehabilitation began. The project, as conceived, involved the reconstruction of 99.8 Ian (62-route miles) of track; construction of 14 new commuter rail stations; rehabilitation or replacement of 42 bridges; improvements to 54 grade crossings; construction of two train layover facilities; construction of 2.9 Ian (1.8 miles) of track on new alignment; construction of 1,067 m (3,500 ft.) of new double-track tunnel section under a limited access highway and a highway interchange; replacement of the Neponset River drawbridge with a 363 m (1,190 ft.) double-track, fixed-span structure; a maintenance of way facility; a new signal system; and other amenities required to develop a modem, functional passenger transportation system. An aggressive schedule for design and construction was undertaken. The start of revenue service date was fixed at December 31, 1996. This left four short years to complete design, construction and stall-up activities. In addition, it was decided to divide the construction into several smaller contracts to provide more opportunities for smaller contractors and to allow the construction to be staged to permit early activities to proceed unabated. Long lead items were procured separately by the MBTA for installation by the primary contractors. Such items as rail, crossties, fasteners and turnouts were ordered at an early date to avoid delays during construction. By the time construction was complete, more that thirty construction contracts were awarded to more than 25 different contractors with a total construction cost of $537-Million. CONSTRUCTION OF THE NEW OLD COLONY RAILROAD The first 17.7 kin, (11 miles) of the New Old Colony Railroad was constructed immediately adjacent to the MBTA's Red Line rapid transit system. The Red Line system was constructed in the 1970's within the former Old Colony railroad right-of-way. The Red Line designers had the foresight to reserve an additional trackway within the corridor for future transportation purposes. Had this not occurred, rehabilitation of the Old Colony as a commuter rail system would not have been possible. Though this advanced planning facilitated the development of the Old Colony Commuter Railroad, it was not an easy effort. The reserved trackway meant that only a single-track railroad with one passing siding could be developed for the first 11 miles. And, the trackway, which was originally reserved for rapid transit purposes, did not have adequate clearances for commuter rail equipment without significant reconstruction. The rehabilitated portion of the Old Colony Railroad began just south of Boston's South Station (Milepost 0.0) at Milepost 1.1 at a location known as South Bay. The first major obstacle was encountered at this location. A double-track embankment supporting the Red Line access to Cabot Yard