[A.] SPECIAL REPORTS ON RAILROAD MATTERS. TRAIN ACCOMMODATIONS. PETITION OF WEST SOMERVILLE BOARD OF TRADE FOR IMPROVED TRAIN SERVICE BETWEEN WEST SOMERVILLE AND Boston. Upon the petition of the West Somerville Board of Trade for improved train service upon the Boston & Maine Railroad between West Somerville and Boston, several hearings were held, which were very fully attended by the business men of West Somerville and of Arlington and neighboring towns. The desire of the petitioners took shape. in the request that certain trains which are now operated as express trains each way between Boston and Arlington should stop at West Somerville. It appeared that there are now twenty-four trains daily each way between these places, and it was admitted that there was no call for any increase in the number of trains. The distance between the stations at West Somerville and Boston is between four and five miles. The growth in the street railway service in this territory has been such as to very materially reduce the travel upon the steam railroad. It is to be expected that until some new and more effective method of competition is adopted by steam railroads communities at this distance from Boston will increasingly use the facilities for travel afforded by the street railways. Through the extension of the system operated by the Boston Elevated Railway Company the people of West Somerville will soon have better accommodations for travel to and from Boston than they now have. Under the circumstances, to grant the request of the petitioners and to recommend that certain trains now running to Arlington as express trains should stop at West Somerville would be to benefit one community at the expense of others. The people of Arlington and of the towns beyond, who are less favorably situated than those of West Somerville in respect to present and prospective street railway service, are enjoying a steam railroad service which, in the opinion of the Board, ought not to be made less convenient by requiring the trains to stop between Arlington and Boston. For this reason, and independent of the consideration that, if the Board should recommend that these trains stop at West Somerville, it would be difficult, in the light of such a precedent, to refuse similar requests from other places between Arlington and Boston, the Board is of the opinion that this petition must be refused. It appeared from statements made at the hearings that the train leaving Boston for West Somerville at 5.32 P.M. has been frequently so crowded that passengers have been unable to find seats in the cars. Such a condition of things ought not to continue, as there can be no good reason why suitable accommodations should not be regularly furnished upon this train. JUNE 5, 1900. JAMES F. JACKSON, Commissioners. PETITION OF O. B. PARKS AND OTHERS FOR ADDITIONAL TRAIN SERVICE TO AND FROM WESTFIELD. In the matter of the petition of O. B. Parks and others that the Boston & Albany Railroad Company be required to stop all trains running through Westfield for the purpose of receiving and delivering passengers, several hearings were had, at which the parties interested were represented by counsel and were fully heard. Since the first hearing certain changes have been inaugurated by the Boston & Albany Railroad Company in the operation of its trains. For the purpose of improving the through train service between Boston and the west, a new express train each way has taken the place of two of the trains affected by the request of the petitioners, and the time occupied in the run between Boston and Albany has thus been materially lessened. The importance of this change to the travelling public is manifest, and we should be unwilling to take any action which would tend to interfere with this new service, believing that improved facilities for travel should look to a still further shortening rather than lengthening of the time of these trains in the interests of those whose convenience and necessities they serve. There are two other trains passing through Westfield daily which the petitioners desire to have stop there. One of these is the eastward-bound train, numbered 18, which now stops at Westfield to leave passengers from Syracuse and points beyond; and the other is the westward-bound train, numbered 19, which now stops at Westfield upon Sundays. In view of all the circumstances, the Board would recommend that this westward-bound train should, in addition to the Sunday service, regularly stop at Westfield to take on passengers for Albany and places beyond, and that the eastward-bound train should stop at Westfield to leave passengers from Albany and places beyond, and that proper advertisement of this arrangement be made in the official time table by reference in the columns indicating the service of these trains. While the character of these trains may suffer in some degree from the loss of time in making these stops, the extent of the interference with them would not seem to be such as to make it unreasonable to give the benefit of this better through service to the people of Westfield who have occasion to use them. JAMES F. JACKSON, Commissioners. JUNE 21, 1900 STATIONS. PETITION OF SELECTMEN OF YARMOUTH FOR RELOCATION OF STATION AT SOUTH YARMOUTH. In the matter of the petition of the selectmen of Yarmouth for a relocation of the passenger and freight depot of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Company at South Yarmouth, a hearing was given, at which all parties in interest were fully heard, after which a view of the locality in question was taken by the members of the Board. The petition seems to have been based upon the provisions of section 157 of chapter 112 of the Public Statutes. If it be suggested that under the provisions of this section the moving party should be the railroad corporation, there is found in the general jurisdiction conferred upon the Board authority for such recommendation as it deems proper in the premises. The station at South Yarmouth is now located at a considerable distance from the thickly settled parts of the town. The place to which it is asked that the station be moved is similarly situated. The complaint against present conditions is that passengers to and from the depot are obliged to drive a long distance, over a road of a character rendering travelling peculiarly disagreeable and in convenient. Were the station removed to the proposed site, the same ground of complaint would exist, unless action be taken by the town to make over the highway now leading to this place. The local authorities seem to have recognized the great need of highway improvement, and assert their readiness to carry it out, even at a considerable expense to the town. In determining what public way should be improved in the general interest of the community, they have with apparent good reason selected for this purpose the roadway which will directly connect two of the chief centres of population. They ask that, in conjunction with this enterprise on the part of the town, the railroad company remove the station from its present location to what seems the most desirable point upon this newly constructed highway. It is evident, from the statistics of passenger traffic at South Yar. mouth, that the travel to and from this station between the first days of June and of November constitutes by far the largest part of the entire passenger traffic of the year. This is what would be expected from the growth of travel to and from the seashore during a considerable part of the year. It would seem a sound administrative policy upon the part of the railroad company to adopt all reasonable measures that would tend to bring it into accord with progressive movements in a community looking to the development of business interests. We believe that in this instance there would be realized from the change of station a general good, in which the travelling public and the railroad company will participate, which warrants the recommendation that the change be made. As the principal reason for such a change is the proposed action of the town authorities in the improvement of the highway connection with the station, this recommendation is made dependent upon the carrying out of such action by the town. We cannot believe that the change in location of the depot will prove a serious disadvantage to shippers of freight. Should, the amount of freight to be shipped warrant it, the present siding could be maintained for the benefit of this traffic. Generally speaking, the shippers of freight who found themselves at a greater distance from the station would realize in the better highway full compensation for any longer distance of travel. JAMES F. JACKSON, Commissioners. JUNE 26, 1900. |