Pace of change on commuter rail knocked
Photo | Courtesy of MassDOT
An MBTA commuter rail train
Sixteen months after the MBTA Board voted to overhaul the commuter rail system starting with electrification and more rapid service on three lines, elected officials are growing frustrated with the pace of change.
Lawmakers and local leaders from communities along the Providence/Stoughton Line, the Fairmount Line and a section of the Newburyport/Rockport Line -- the three routes where the Fiscal and Management Control Board targeted the fastest improvements -- demanded more committed action to fulfill promises.
"I greatly appreciate the board's past leadership, yet here we are, nearly a year and a half later, and we have little to show for it," said Sen. Brendan Crighton, a Lynn Democrat representing communities on the Newburyport/Rockport Line. "Beyond hiring minimal staff, we as legislators and the general public are unaware of what tangible progress has been made toward fulfilling the promise of a fully electrified commuter rail system."
In November 2019, the FMCB adopted resolutions calling for the T to "transform the current commuter rail line into a significantly more productive, equitable and decarbonized enterprise." The board instructed the general manager "to immediately take steps to prepare for implementation" of the project's first phase, which would deploy electrified service as well as fares and gaps between trains similar to the core subway system on those three lines, estimated as a roughly $1.5 billion investment.
FMCB Chair Joseph Aiello acknowledged the criticism during Monday's meeting. He urged staff to return before the board in two weeks for a discussion of how the T can help achieve the first phase of overhaul targeted at the three lines.
The MBTA in recent months has been dealing with impacts of COVID-19 on its ridership and workforce, and locked in a months-long battle with opponents of the service cuts it has implemented in the face of substantially fewer people using its transit services.
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