>>1310047Ok, here's some bullshit. Massachusetts has a project to extend to commuter rail system by reactivating a previously abandoned line between Stoughton and Taunton. Part of the abandoned line goes through a swamp for a couple miles on an existing embankment. It's already there. It should be just a matter of relaying track on the embankment right?
Nope. The EIS says that to reduce environmental impact from a causeway that's already fucking there, the line has to be built on a brand new several mile long trestle. To save money (and to further reduce the environmental impact) it recommends that this trestle be single track, which kills the operating frequency. To try to salvage the operating frequency, the EIS then recommends that the whole line be electrified, doubling the cost of the project. All because the retarded EIS thinks there will be a lower environmental impact building a new mile long trestle vs using an existing causeway.
https://www.nae.usace.army.mil/Portals/74/docs/topics/SouthCoastRail/VolIV/Appendix3.2CHockomockTrestleMemo.pdfThe situation has become so retarded that the state is reexamining one of the previously rejected less direct routes via the Middleborough line.
