So far as I understand, there's a lot of moving part and the depot building itself is the least malleable of those parts. It's in private hands, and we failed in the effort to take it by eminent domain. There's still ongoing efforts to rehab the building and include it in the overall plan, but The City doesn't hold very many cards. If we're not "drawing dead," we definitely need to "catch a card on the river."
"The fix is in," is far afield, IMO. More like "Tried. Failed. Next."
The main priority for The City is getting the train to stop, which is not any kind of a done deal. Amtrak wants a fourth line installed so the T won't stop on the main line. Never mind that it stops on the main line in Attleboro two miles up the track. Amtrak doesn't own that part of the line, so they can't make that demand. They DO own all the track through Pawtucket, so it's their prerogative to mess with our deal.
As John Lennon said, "Possession is 9/10ths of the problem."
Your question re: the north-of-the-depot site is apt, because it's, uh, problematic. Take a walk up there and think about adding a 4th line. You'll quickly see that it's a tight fit. I've heard some talk about the other site again, the one south of Union Wadding, same place they wanted to put the trash transfer deal. Plenty of space there for a 4th line. Except then you'd have to move a working freight yard.
If you haven't noticed, the Northeast is already chockablock with infrastructure. There's practically no unbuilt space, so adding more is like playing whack-a-mole. Something as heavy as commuter rail is a big, big deal.
Er, project.
So there's more study money they're trying to get from the Feds to study the 4th line issue. 'Cept that money comes from the US Congress in the next budget. And that budget is in limbo with a series of Continuing Resolutions funding existing programs while the Democans and Republicrats duke it out for supreme control of the universe. Once they settle that, we can look at our train tracks again.
Does that clear things up?