The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 26

TiA THE BOSTON GLOBE TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 1997 Old Colony commuter service gets back on track Riders, MBTA praise revival of railroad line A -r Sterol i vaw' if ij; city ispoifrsi i Thomas C. Palmer Jr. GLOBE STAFF MUUur X- nhfcjfc -P a Am nV'- iSf ltVn: i -rMW i -J V' I i 1 i 1 1 I I 2S I We are pleased to announce the arrival of the Fall collection of suits, sprt jackets, and made to measure fabrics from Hickey-Freeman. BROCKTON Manny Gonsalves used to drive to Stoughton and take the 7:46 a.m. train from there to Boston.

"It was standing only," on most days, the Brockton resident said. Yesterday, he drove a short distance Gonsalves admitted that he could have walked and boarded the new Old Colony train from Middlebor-ough on its first day of service. He has eagerly awaited this day. A friend who worked on the signal system on the line had kept him informed about construction progress. In planning for almost a decade, under construction for four years, and 38 years after the last train ran out of Boston to southeastern Massachusetts, the purple trains rolled again yesterday.

Almost 5,000 passengers rode the eight trains inbound on the two new lines yesterday, according to MBTA figures. The Kingston line carried 2,931, the Middleborough line 1,977. A 400-space parking lot at the originating stop on the Middleborough line, located on the Lakeville border near Exit 4 off Interstate 495, was within a few slots of being full yesterday by 7:25 a.m. The last of four morning trains inbound departed there at 7:27, two minutes late because the operator waited for a few latecomers running down the platform. "Unfortunately, there were still some people driving into the parking lot," said John Hogan, the MBTA's chief of commuter-rail operations.

The trains are closely coordinated coming into South Station and, unlike subway trains, must not fall behind schedule. The second and third trains from Kingston and the third train from Middleborough each carried more than 800 passengers. Hogan said one of the four morning trains on yesterday's Kingston line had 300 passengers when it left Kingston. An average of 140 passengers boarded at Middleborough on the four trains yesterday, which left at 5:25, 6:05, 6:45, and 7:25. a.m.

All of the passenger counts were about what had been expected, or more, Hogan said. The MBTA will increase the number of daily trains and add weekend service in December, after a shakeout of a couple months. Passengers are riding free on the ONE LIBERTY SQUARE BOSTON, 02109 35W70 GLOBE STAFF PHOTO TOM HERDE Passengers disembarked from the Old Colony commuter train at South Weymouth station yesterday. The new service is free to riders through today. Serving FwaM Mel since Bi 1 BOSTON South Station QUINCY CENTER Miles v.

i i i LEARN IMF 4V TO DANCE two lines Kingston and Middleborough on the first two days of service. Fare collection begins tomorrow, and the one-way ride costs between $2.25 and $4. "The thing that's most important to me is winter," said Joyce Marrow, who lives in Brockton and works at a Cambridge investment firm. "I don't have to drive. I don't have to park." Until yesterday, Marrow had III 1: it i.

it HOLBROOK RANDOLPH S. WEYMOUTH i MONTEUf 1 0 GREENBUSH (proposed), ft ABINGTQN A 6 WHITMAN DANVERS 508-777-4995 STOUGHTON 617-344-4145 BURLINGTON 617-229-7970 BOSTON 617-426-3335 BROCKTON CAMPEUO Sl PLYMOUTH 1 UAI ICftVMMk BRIDGEWATER KINGSTON ROUTE 3 MIDDtESOROUGH LAKEVILLE GLOBE STAFF MAP driven to Braintree, usually looked unsuccessfully for a space in the parking lot, scrounged a spot on the street, and walked to the train. She was delighted to be riding all the way from Brockton's Campello stop. "It should have happened a long time ago," she said, recalling that her aunt had taken the train to her Boston job before service ended in 1959. Although environmentalists hail the start of Old Colony service, some question the cost.

Bus companies are reducing service because of the availability of the train, which may put some commuters back into cars. Also, not everyone on the train yesterday relied exclusively on a car. Some who used to drive to the Route 128 stop in Westwood or to Stoughton and take the train now just take a different train. Combined, the two Old Colony lines cost more than $500 million to build, with extensive safety systems, reconditioned coaches that cost $800,000 each, and concessions to communities such as sound walls and protective fencing. Greenbush service, which is opposed by some, will not begin until at least 2000.

The MBTA says it will cost about $17 million a year to run the two Old Colony lines. Officials estimated that two-thirds of that will be covered by fares, although systemwide, only one-third of the commuter-rail cost is paid for by riders; the rest is subsidized by the state. That means commuter-rail riders get a subsidy each of several dollars a day. The cost of up to $4 a ride on the new lines is reduced if passengers buy monthly passes, as most regular patrons do on both subway and commuter-rail lines. Transportation specialists argue over just how much cleaner the air will be even with a few thousand cars off the road, because they are being replaced with diesel engines.

Also incalculable, but important, is the reduction in stress that more than a few riders will experience. "For me it's going to be a little bit more expensive," said Brian Miller, who lives in Randolph and works at MIT Press in Cambridge. But, he added, "this is a heck of a lot more relaxing than sitting in a car." Miller used to commute by car on Route 28 through the city, which he called his "secret" route, staying clear of the normally backed-up Routes 24, 128 and 3. Miller's wife, Vicky, took an earlier train from the RandolphHol-brook station, he said. "I assume she made it -1 was looking for her car in the parking lot." Bob Dornan, a rail buff from Brockton, and two friends caught the 4:37 p.m.

train going south to Middleborough. "We just wanted to ride the first day," Dornan said. "Somebody's going to pick us up and we are going to the Fireside to eat and celebrate." Z- Harshbarger says change campaign spending law By Frank Phillips GLOBE STAFF The worst time to find out there's something wrong with your dental plan is when you need it. That's why over one million people throughout Massachusetts have chosen Delta Dental. Our single-minded commitment to dental-and only dental-has set us apart in the industry and helped us achieve 93 member satisfaction.

Delta Dental. The plan of choice. As the leading dental benefits administrator in the state. Delta Dental has more of the features and services you should look for in a dental plan. So look before you leap.

Make sure the dental plan you choose offers you sufficient access to quality dentists. At Delta, for example, 95 of the state's dentists participate in one or more of our networks. We also offer access to a number of different networks, each designed to answer the The bill creates a $1.5 million spending cap for the first six months of an election year. diverse needs of our members. Jou get what ycu pay for.

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At Delta Dental, all our dentists adhere to our high standards of care for dentistry that Attorney General Scott Harshbarger yesterday filed a bill that would expand the state's campaign spending cap but also impose stiffer criminal and civil penalities on those who spend beyond the ceiling. In releasing his plan, Harshbarger, an undeclared Democratic gubernatorial candidate, called on Acting Governor Paul Cellucci to join him in the push for tougher campaign spending rules. The bill creates a $1.5 million spending cap for the six months between January and June of an election year. Current law does not limit spending during that period; it allows for a voluntary $1.5 million limit from June to the primary and another $1.5 million from the primary to the general election. The bill would also require candidates to declare in February, rather than in June, as the current law allows, whether they will abide by spending limits in order to qualify for public financing.

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we do. So whenever you call with questions about your care or coverage, you can always be sure you're getting our publicly endorse my bill and join me in working for its passage or he can continue to backpedal away from the campaign spending law he claims to support and signed," Harshbarger said. Cellucci, who had rejected calls for spending caps earlier this month, last week challenged his opponents to agree to a $5 million overall spending limit, while rejecting so-called soft money and contributions from political action committees. Yesterday, a Cellucci spokesperson scoffed at the attorney general's proposal, saying that the Harshbarger plan failed to address either the issue of soft money donations to political parties or political spending by special interests. undivided attention.

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