The following is fact sheet published by the New Hampshire Rail Transit Authority on July 7th, 2008.
Project Description
Project Goal: Full commuter rail service from Manchester Downtown to Boston North Station with 12 to 15 round trips per day during weekdays and eight to ten round trips per day on weekends serving between 3,000 and 4,000 trip riders per day. Currently planning for an extension of existing MBTA service to Manchester and Nashua.
Opening Day Service Goal: Commute hour focused service with four to five southbound trips in the morning commute and the same number of northbound trips in the evening. Ridership estimate for this initial service is 1,000 riders per day.
Stations: Three expected stations on opening day – downtown Manchester near Fisher Cats Stadium, Manchester Airport off Brown Ave and I-293, and south Nashua between FEE Turnpike Exits 1 & 2. Future station options include Merrimack and downtown Nashua.
Funding
Current Funding Commitments: Funding includes $21 million committed to Nashua rail project, $7 million committed to Manchester multimodal terminal, $2 million committed by Manchester Airport to airport station and $250,000 committed to Merrimack station. In addition, Governor Lynch committed $1 million in the state capital budget for this biennium to match federal funds for the station site purchased and development in Manchester and Nashua. Total available funding of $32.25 million.
Progress in 2007/2008
Support by Governor Lynch: Governor Lynch has stated that the commuter rail project is a priority for his administration and has provided key support at critical points in the legislative process of the past year.
Formation of New Hampshire Rail Transit Authority: The state took a key step by forming the New Hampshire Rail Transit Authority this year. The organization was given specific responsibility to develop and oversee the Nashua-Manchester commuter rail project as well as provide support and assistance to other passenger rail efforts throughout the state.
Rail Liability: The biggest variable cost for operation of the commuter rail service will be liability insurance. Proponents of the rail project have been advocating for enactment of a liability cap for 10 years. The financial feasibility of this service may depend on reducing the overall liability exposure in some fashion to minimize the cost of insurance. Recent estimates are that if liability is uncapped, the cost for insurance for the Manchester-Nashua-Boston commuter rail service will be $1.425 million per year. If liability is capped at $75 million the insurance cost is estimated to be $375,000. This decrease in cost represents a 12% decrease in annual operating cost for the commuter rail service. Surrounding states in New England have adopted liability caps to limit liability at an aggregate $75 million per year. Legislation, modeled on the Massachusetts liability cap was introduced and passed by the Legislature during the 2008 session and was signed by the Governor in June 2008.
Support by Pan Am Railways: The private owner of the railroad right-of-way, Pan Am Railways is a critical partner in the project. Under Senator Burlings leadership, the NHRTA has made significant progress in building a supportive relationship with Pan Am.
NHRTA Tasks for 2008/2009
Station Site Acquisition and Development: Station sites must be identified and acquired in Nashua, downtown Manchester and at a location near Manchester-Boston Airport. Station locations are extremely important due to their influence on ridership and the opportunities for revenue generation. Nashua Regional Planning Commission and City of Nashua are currently studying station locations in Nashua with the assistance of rail project consultants. Southern New Hampshire Planning Commission, City of Manchester, Town of Bedford and Manchester-Boston Airport recently were awarded funds to conduct a similar study for the downtown Manchester and Airport Stations. Activities undertaken as part of these studies will include site identification and environmental review process, traffic analysis, ridership forecasting, marketing/revenue analysis, fiscal impact analysis and conceptual design studies. Actual property acquisition and development activities will follow completion of all federally required studies. Either the municipalities or the NHRTA could en dup as owners/operators of the stations.
Operating Agreements with Pan Am and MBTA: The NHRTA needs agreements with both railroads regarding the cost sharing for use of their rights of way and all responsibilities related to joint operations. Representatives of NHRTA led by Kathy Hersh of Nashua have started working towards those operating agreements. These agreements must be adopted by NHRTA once negotiated.
Financial Plan: Startup of commuter rail service requires sufficient funding for development as well as a viable long-term financial plan that demonstrates stable funding for operations. This is done through the development of a 20 Year Financial Plan that includes both capital development costs and funding as well as year-to-year operating budgets. An aspect of this is determining the sources of any subsidies that will be used toward the on-going operations of the commuter rail service.
Support from Congressional Delegation
Request Appropriations: The New Hampshire Rail Transit Authority has requested funding for required studies through New Hampshire Department of Transportation. Two appropriation grants have been requested form the FFY2009 budget: 1)$800,000 from FTA for an Alternatives Analysis for the Nashua-Manchester portion of the project, and 2) $2.4 million for preliminary engineering and environmental analysis for the entire extent of the project from Lowell to downtown Manchester. These request have been submitted and are being supported by Congressman Paul Hodes and Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter of New Hampshire as well as Congresswoman Niki Tsongas of Massachusetts.
Revisions to Previous Section 5309 New Starts Appropriations: Congress appropriated funds for the project in four federal fiscal years, FFY2000-2003. These appropriations from the Federal Transit Administration Section 5309 New Starts Program were listed as “Lowell, MA – Nashua, NH Commuter Rail Project.” Some of these funds lapsed. However, some of the funds were committed in an FTA grant currently being used for project activities. Before the New Hampshire Rail Transit Authority can begin working on the full scope of the project to Manchester, it is necessary to review the language for the previous years appropriations to read “Lowell, MA – Manchester, NH Rail Project.”