MBTA won't add new HeartToHub stops
Sam Bonacci
The MBTA will not add stops in Framingham and Ashland to its evening express train from Boston to Worcester, after community members and local officials said they were opposed to the idea.
The only thing that will be different about the HeartToHub train on May 22, when commuter rail schedule changes go into effect, is that it will leave five minutes earlier -- at 8 a.m. instead of 8:05 a.m., according to a Tuesday press release from the MBTA.
Since it started operating around this time last year, ridership on the express train has been fairly consistent, according to MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo. In June, the morning inbound train from Worcester averaged 160 customers and the evening outbound train from South Station averaged 66, and last month, 169 people rode the morning train, and 64 rode back to Worcester at night, on average.
“Based on the data, it’s clear to see that HeartToHub has developed a loyal customer base, with fairly consistent ridership levels from week to week and month to month,” said Pesaturo. “As we enter the second year of this first-of-its-kind service on the Worcester Line, our aim is to grow ridership through continued improvements along the line,” including installing miles of new track and thousands of new railroad ties, he said.
Earlier this year, the MBTA proposed adding stops in Framingham and Ashland to the outbound train from Boston to Worcester starting in May. That idea was opposed by many in Worcester, including Mayor Joseph Petty and City Manager Edward Augustus, who wrote a letter to the state transportation secretary, saying that the MBTA should instead focus on better timing for the HeartToHub train.
"Worcester needs to have nonstop train service that will accommodate a 9-5 work schedule and deliver passengers to work on time in the morning and home for dinner in the evening," Petty and Augustus said in the letter.
The MBTA also announced that the local Framingham/Worcester train will include a stop at the new Boston Landing station in Brighton, also starting May 22.
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