Boston Surface Railroad has a transport solution for the Northeast’s underserved metropolitan regions

The Northeast boasts some of the best transportation systems in the U.S., but underserved, tightly coupled metropolitan regions exist and Boston Surface Railroad Company (BSRC), a privately-funded passenger provider, believes it has a way to better serve these areas while making money. 

BSRC was founded in 2013 and was granted authority to operate passenger rail service between Worcester, Mass., Woonsocket, R.I. and Providence, R.I., by the U.S. Surface Transportation Board in 2016.

The railroad has determined that passenger rail service could be profitable during typical commute hours in high-volume corridors and anticipates providing between 1,500-2,000 daily round trips between Worcester, Woonsocket and Providence within five years of the start of operations. BSRC says those numbers would remove nearly five percent of cars that travel on congested Routes 146 and 99 and would eliminate almost 150 million tons of carbon and atmospheric pollutants each year.

Vincent Bono, president of BSRC, explains the railroad has completed necessary engineering and environmental work, proceeded with the purchase of locomotives and secured station rights through the Worcester Redevelopment Authority for use of Worcester Union Station and leased the downtown train Depot in Woonsocket.

“At this stage and to meet its goals BSRC has opened up its first round of investment opportunity, hoping to raise $5 million dollars to go with the already $2 million spent to date,” said Bono.

Bono said the funding strategy is through additional founder investment, classic venture funding and even community participation through the offering of small, savings certificates available on BSRC’s website.

BSRC is working closely with its host railroad, the Providence and Worcester Railroad, in order to begin train runs in mid to late 2020 with revenue service commencing soon after.

Bono said passengers can expect amenities on par with other northeast regional passenger service such as a café, Wi-Fi, assigned single person reclining seats and 100 percent e-ticketing.

Bono also notes that, while not required, BSRC has partnered with Siemens Mobility to develop a positive train control solution (for roughly a tenth of the traditional cost) and intends to deploy the technology on its route.

“After initial service is started, BSRC hopes to expand north and tie together some of New England’s largest gateway cities – which are all woefully underserved by transportation relative to their population, social and economic importance to the region,” said Bono. “To further this goal, BSRC entered into a public-private partnership agreement with the cities of Worcester, Mass., and Woonsocket, R.I. Again, with the vision of expanding north to Lowell, Mass., and Nashua, N.H., which were included in this regional agreement.”