[neilv]

I'm sitting just up the street right now, and -- hoping to buy a walkable nice home in town someday -- wholeheartedly counsel the East Cambridge biotech people and the Kendall MSFT/GOOG/etc. outpost people to make a luxurious and convenient commuter rail ride, between work and BFE part of their daily lifestyle.

[kitten_mittens_]

If the commuter rail ever electrifies and becomes regional rail, it might not be so bad.

[lsllc]

The commuter rail as-is is too infrequent, too packed and too polluting with all those stops & a diesel train.

Overhead electrification on the commuter rail lines or even battery-electric trains would allow the T to run Green line style trams further out into the 'burbs out to I95 and let the commuter rail trains focus on the I495+ outer burbs/medium distance without having to stop frequently on the inner part.

Reusing the existing commuter rail lines with trams is much cheaper than building new T lines as they did with the Green line into Medford (and if you don't live in Medford, it doesn't help you!).