Boston Rail Link Would ‘Supercharge Access’ To Jobs, Housing: Harvard Kennedy School Study

SALEM, MA — A $7.9 billion project that would link North Station and South Station through a 2.9-mile tunnel and provide a direct public transportation link from points north and west of Boston to the south could return nearly more than three times that in economic benefits that include housing development, improved employment access and reduced carbon emissions, according to a Harvard Kennedy School study solicited by U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Salem).

Moulton, a longtime critic of MBTA deficiencies and proponent of modernizing high-speed commuter and regional rail to connect cities and towns across the state, said the underground link between North Station and South Station — which would allow for continuous train routes from places like Rockport, Haverhill and Fitchburg to Cape Cod, Franklin, Worcester and beyond — should be prioritized over the current $4 billion plan to simply expand South Station.

“The Rail Link is the single most important project for transportation in Massachusetts,” Moulton said in backing the study. “It makes regional rail not just possible but successful. It does more to boost housing than any housing bill. And it has huge benefits for climate and racial justice in historically forgotten communities.

“Until we build the Rail Link, we won’t just be stuck in traffic, we’ll be stuck in the past. The question is no longer ‘Can we afford to build the link?’ but ‘Can we afford not to?'”

He said the Rail Link would open up economic opportunities by allowing someone who lives in Salem, for instance, to efficiently use public transportation to get to a job in Needham, whereas now that would include getting off a train from Salem at North Station, taking the Green Line or Orange Line and transferring to the Red Line to get to South Station, then board a different train to Needham.

He said that while past studies have studied the cost of building the link, this is the first to quantify its benefits.

The study said the $7.9 billion tunnel would produce between $28 billion and $31 billion in economic benefits, would quadruple ridership to an estimated 86 million new rides each year, would generate $7 billion in additional fares over 20 years, save $1.1 billion in carbon costs, create 479,000 new jobs and incentivize 150,000 new housing units over 20 years.

“The Rail Link would eliminate current capacity constraints at North and South Stations and supercharge access to our employment hubs from across Massachusetts,” Transit Matters CEO Jarred Johnson said. “Our Commonwealth faces intertwined housing, transportation, and climate crises, but each of these crises is also an opportunity. It’s time to start making generational investments like the Rail Link to set our Commonwealth on the path to inclusive, sustainable growth for the long term.”

According to the study, the environmental justice corridor from Boston to Beverly alone would see frequent access to 60 percent more jobs than today, while in Dorchester and Roxbury they would see 20 percent more job access.

The study proposes the tunnel to run 150 feet below ground — similar to the depth of Porter Square station in Cambridge — largely along the central artery that is public property and has been cleared of utility infrastructure.

It found that having the trains make continual trips would lower maintenance and labor costs and create a greater level of service with a smaller fleet, that moving most everything underground would reduce the need for the carbon-heavy North Station rail yard, and cited the climate and economic benefits of allowing people to travel longer distances on electrified rail instead of further taxing the state’s roads and highways.

The full 27-page Rail Link Study overview can be found here.

“The North-South Rail Link is an investment that will repay huge dividends for the Commonwealth, and for the entire New England Region,” determined Linda Blimes, Daniel Patrick Moynihan Chair in Public Policy and Public Finance, Harvard Kennedy School. “Connecting North and South stations will eliminate a transportation bottleneck that has caused congestion for decades and make it possible for the rail system to expand economic opportunities.

“It’s a real win-win for everyone.”

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)