��With the Big Dig swallowing up our limited transportation dollars, the Indigo Line�s cost-effectiveness is especially attractive.�As already noted on this website, most of the infrastructure is already in place -- the only cost will be the construction of the new station facilities, the procurement of the new vehicles, and operational costs for the added trips.

��At full buildout, the Indigo Line calls for the construction of six new stations (South Bay Center, Columbia Road, Mount Bowdoin, Talbot Avenue, Blue Hill Avenue, and River Street).� These stations need not be elaborate or costly -- and since they will ultimately serve accessible, low-floor DMU�s, they can be constructed as more affordable, low platform stations while still complying with ADA.� Based on the MBTA�s experience with the recently constructed Newburyport Branch (1999), two high platform (and thus more expensive) stations were built in Rowley and Newburyport for $900,000 and $1,600,000 respectively.� These costs include station construction only, exclusive of parking facilities.� Based on these figures, the six stations can be built for a total cost of between $5,400,000 and $9,600,000.� Approximate costs for DMU vehicles, like the one pictured in this document, are $2,000,000 per vehicle.� Assuming train sets of one, two and three cars are used, full service, with adequate spares, can be provided with ten vehicles, at an approximate cost of $20,000,000.

��Approximate operational costs can be calculated using the Federal Transit Administration�s (FTA) most recently published statistics in The National Transit Database (FY1997), which reports the MBTA�s Commuter Rail cost at $6.71/mi.� A more conservative operational cost can also be calculated using the MBTA�s self-reported fully allocated per mile Commuter Rail cost of $24.52.� The following table captures costs, using both FTA and MBTA figures, for a modest level of additional Indigo Line service, as called for in this proposal:

*� Assumes one additional round trip per hour for nineteen hours.
**Assumes eighteen round trips on Saturday and seventeen on Sunday.

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This page created 9.9.00, last modified 8.1.01.