MBTA Commuter Rail

Lines The system consists of twelve lines – four of which have branches – radiating from downtown Boston. Eight "southside" lines terminate at South Station, with four (Framingham/Worcester, Needham, Franklin/Foxboro, and Providence/Stoughton) also running through Back Bay station. Four "northside" lines terminate at North Station. The lines vary in length from the Fairmount Line to the Providence/Stoughton Line, with typical lengths in the range. Private companies also operate freight service over much of the system (see ). Stations , there are 143 active stations – 56 northside and 87 southside. Five additional stations (, , , , and ) are indefinitely closed due to service cuts during the COVID-19 pandemic. Standard MBTA platforms are about long – enough for a nine-car train – and a minimum of wide for side platforms and wide for island platforms. 122 active stations are accessible, including all terminals and all stations with rapid transit connections; 21 are not. Operations The MBTA Commuter Rail system is operated by Keolis Commuter Services – a subsidiary of French company Keolis – under contract to the MBTA. The MBTA owns all passenger equipment and most stations. All MBTA commuter rail service is provided by push-pull trains powered by diesel locomotives (see ). Maximum speed for trains is , though some lines have lower limits. The entire system is signalled and operates with Positive Train Control using the Advanced Civil Speed Enforcement System. All lines have cab signals for automatic train control. The MBTA is a member of the Northeast Operating Rules Advisory Committee (NORAC) and uses its operating rules. Most portions of the system operate under NORAC rules 261 and 562, which allow bidirectional train movements on every track (such as an express train passing a local train in the same direction). No freight operates on the Needham Line, the Northeast Corridor between Readville and Back Bay, the Old Colony mainline between Boston and the Greenbush Line junction in Braintree, the Kingston Line, and most of the Greenbush Line. CSX also operates on most northside lines; prior to its 2022 purchase by CSX, Pan Am Railways operated over these lines. The Berkshire and Eastern Railroad (formerly Pan Am Southern) operates over the Fitchburg Line west of Ayer. Their combined Freight Main Line between Mechanicville, New York, and Mattawamkeag, Maine, shares tracks with sections of the Fitchburg, Lowell, and Haverhill lines. No freight service is operated over the Newburyport/Rockport Line north of . Fares can be purchased on the MBTA mTicket app, at automatic vending machines located at major stations, from businesses near some stations, or from conductors on board trains. Discounted passes include monthly passes (with or without free transfer to other MBTA services), "flex passes" valid for five 24-hour periods, and $10 passes offering unlimited travel on a single weekend. As with other MBTA services, discounted fares and passes are available for several groups including disabled passengers, passengers over age 65, and students attending certain schools. Foxboro special event services and the CapeFlyer have separate fares; regular MBTA fares and passes are not valid. Fare gates have been installed at North Station and South Station, with plans for installation at Back Bay and Ruggles. The second-generation MBTA fare collection system will standardize fare media across modes, including commuter rail. == History ==

Early history Eight intercity mainlines radiating from Boston opened between 1834 and 1855: the Boston and Worcester Railroad (B&W) in 1834–35, Boston and Providence Railroad (B&P) in 1834–35, Boston and Lowell Railroad (B&L) in 1835, Eastern Railroad in 1838–1840, Fitchburg Railroad in 1843–45, Boston and Maine Railroad (B&M) in 1845, Old Colony Railroad and Fall River Railroad in 1845–46, and Norfolk County Railroad in 1849–55. Commuter rail service allowing suburban residents to work in Boston began with the B&W in 1834; by the 1860s, commuting was possible on the eight mainlines and a number of branch lines. Despite a study to electrify the mainline to plus the Highland branch, the NYC only electrified the short Lower Falls Branch. Quadruple-tracking and electrification of part of the ex-Eastern Railroad was planned by the B&M around 1910 when it was briefly under control of the New Haven, but this fell through when they separated. The New Haven experimentally increased Old Colony Division service for several years in the 1950s, but new management soon sought to reduce costs. Subsidies began for six lines on January 18; all out-of-district service to , , , , and was discontinued except for the single Dover, Concord, and Newburyport round trips. Agreements were reached to restore most out-of-district service; after delays due to a lawsuit by the competing Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway, full service returned to , Lowell, Ipswich, and Rockport on June 28. In 1969, the B&M averaged 24,000 weekday passengers, with a yearly deficit of $3.2 million (equivalent to million in ). The single daily trip on the Central Mass Branch ended on January 26, 1971. in 1968 On July 28, 1965, the MBTA signed an agreement with the New Haven Railroad to purchase of the former Old Colony mainline from Fort Point Channel to South Braintree in order to construct a new rapid transit line along the corridor. The line was expected to be completed within two years. The agreement also provided for the MBTA to subsidize commuter service on the railroad's remaining commuter rail lines for $1.2 million (equivalent to million in ) annually. Subsidies for the Needham, Millis, Dedham, and Franklin lines began on April 24, 1966, as the New Haven had Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) permission to discontinue them otherwise. Three out-of-district stations were cut, while Franklin subsidized its station. The Millis and Dedham lines were discontinued on April 21, 1967. Amtrak took over most intercity passenger service in the US on May 1, 1971, including New York–Boston trains. State subsidies were increased back to 75% in June 1976 to prevent further cuts. Federal subsidies allowed MBTA subsidies to Penn Central to remain the same until March 1977, when a large increase was expected. Since it owned the tracks and equipment, the MBTA bid out the operating contract, which was won by the B&M. The B&M began operating the southside lines on March 15, 1977; for the first time, all Boston commuter service was operated by one entity. Service to Haverhill resumed on December 17, 1979, and to and on January 13, 1980. Federally-funded experimental service to Nashua, Manchester, and Concord, New Hampshire ran from January 28, 1980, to March 1, 1981. Another bridge fire between Beverly and Salem on November 16, 1984, isolated part of the Ipswich/Rockport Line from the rest of the system. The Franklin Line was extended to in 1988; infill stations in that era included in 1988 to serve Boston Red Sox games at Fenway Park, and in 1990. The opening of South Attleboro was delayed by the MAAB because of the MBTA's refusal to build full-length high-level platforms. South Station was made accessible in the late 1980s, Back Bay during the Southwest Corridor project, and North Station in the early 1990s, providing accessibility at the main downtown Boston stations. In 1991, the state agreed to build a set of transit projects as part of the settlement of a lawsuit by the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) over auto emissions from the Central Artery/Tunnel Project (Big Dig). Among these project were extensions of the Framingham Line to Worcester and the Ipswich/Rockport Line to Newburyport, restoration of the Old Colony Lines (Middleborough/Lakeville Line and Plymouth/Kingston Line), and addition of 20,000 park and ride spaces outside the urban core. Peak-hour service to Worcester began in 1994, followed by off-peak and weekend service; four intermediate stations were added in 2000 and 2002. Service on the Old Colony Lines began in 1997. and opened in 1998. Two tenders were submitted in 2003, one from GTI and another from the newly formed Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Company (MBCR), a partnership between Connex (later Veolia), Bombardier Transportation and Alternate Concepts, Inc. MBCR won the contract, and took over the MBTA Commuter Rail operation from Amtrak in July 2003. The MBCR contract originally expired in July 2008 but had an additional five-year option; it was later extended three years to July 2011 and then another two to July 2013. After concerns about on-time performance, the 2011 extension increased the fine for late trains from $100 to $300. The MBTA considered running the service directly rather than contracting it out, but this "public option" was rejected in 2012. In August 2012, MBCR and Keolis were the two bidders for the contract. On January 8, 2014, the MBTA awarded Keolis the contract for $2.68 billion over eight years, with the possibility of two two-year extensions that could bring the total price to $4.3 billion. Keolis took over the operations on July 1, 2014. Keolis lost $29.3 million in its first year of operation. In June 2020, the MBTA extended the contract through at least 2025. Free Wi-Fi internet service was piloted in January 2008 on the Worcester Line, where 45 coaches were fitted with routers which connected to cellular data networks. This was the first Wi-Fi available on a commuter rail service in the United States. The program was considered successful; in December 2008, the MBTA announced that Wi-Fi would be available on all trains by mid-2009. In July 2014, the MBTA announced that a private company would be building a new network by 2016 to replace the 2008-built network. The MBTA would not pay for the new network; the company would have a two-tier model with a fee for higher bandwidth. The MBTA canceled the plan in August 2017 due to local opposition to the erection of 320 monopoles, each tall, as well as the need to focus on more critical projects like the Green Line Extension. By that time, the 2008-built system was largely unusable to the decommissioning of 3G networks. Mobile ticketing was introduced on the northside lines on November 12, 2012, and on the southside lines on November 28. Positive Train Control was implemented on the entire system per a federal mandate, which required installation by the end of 2018 with the possibility of a two-year extension. Construction began in 2017. Most of the southside lines already had cab signals for automatic train control (ATC) prior to PTC implementation, but the northside lines did not. Cab signals on the southside were completed in 2020. Temporary bus replacements for several lines took place between 2017 and 2022 during PTC and ATC construction and testing. After several years of construction and negotiations, ownership of the line was transferred to the commonwealth on October 4, 2012, with increased service on the outer section of the line beginning several weeks later. • As Big Dig mitigation, MBTA rebuilt existing stations and added 4 new stations along the Fairmount Line. The first of these, Talbot Avenue, opened on November 12, 2012, followed by Newmarket and Four Corners/Geneva on July 1, 2013. Blue Hill Avenue station was opened on February 25, 2019, after many delays. • Service along the Providence/Stoughton Line was extended further south to T. F. Green Airport in Warwick, Rhode Island in December 2010 and to Wickford Junction in North Kingston in April 2012. This represents the first commuter service in Rhode Island south of Providence since 1981. COVID-19 pandemic Weekday service was substantially cut on March 17, 2020, due to reduced ridership during the COVID-19 pandemic. On June 22, service was increased to 85% of normal weekday levels. Changes effective November 2 reduced peak service and increased off-peak service, providing more consistent midday headways on some lines; Foxboro pilot service was suspended. In November 2020, as part of service cuts during the pandemic, the MBTA proposed to close six low-ridership stations. On December 14, the MBTA Board voted to enact a more limited set of cuts, including indefinitely closing five stations. That day, temporary reduced schedules were again put into place, with four of the five stations (, , , and ) not served. On January 23, 2021, reduced schedules based on the December 14 vote went into place, with no weekend service on seven lines. Service changes on April 5, 2021, increased midday service on most lines as part of a transition to a regional rail model. Weekend service on the seven lines resumed on July 3, 2021. Ridership dropped substantially during the COVID-19 pandemic, with daily boardings just 12,800 during the first quarter of 2021. Ridership rose to 47,100 average weekday boardings in the first quarter of 2022, and 85,000 (69% of 2018 ridership) in October 2022. The service was made permanent effective October 2, 2023. Silver Hill station reopened on November 18, 2024. In April 2024, the MBTA extended the Keolis contract by one year to June 30, 2027, at which time a successor contract will take effect. In December 2024, the MBTA indicated that the next contract might be split into separate contracts for train maintenance, infrastructure maintenance, operations, and dispatching. The MBTA announced three shortlisted firms, including a consortium of Keolis and Alstom, in December 2025. The agency issued a request for proposals at that time, with the intention of selecting the next operator by the end of 2026. The South Coast Rail project extended service to the South Coast cities of Taunton, Fall River, and New Bedford. A full planning process was held from 1990 until its suspension in 2002. Planning restarted in 2007, with environmental documentation completed in August 2013. Plans were modified into two phases in 2017 due to an increase in costs. Phase I construction to run diesel service as an extension of the Middleborough/Lakeville Line via the Middleboro Secondary took place from 2020 to 2024. Service began on March 24, 2025. == Rolling stock ==

All MBTA commuter rail service is provided by push-pull trains powered by diesel locomotives with a cab car on the opposite end. The locomotive is usually on the end facing away from Boston so that diesel exhaust does not enter the passenger concourses at North Station and South Station. Trains typically have four to eight coaches (with six the most common) and seat between 400 and 1,400 passengers. Approximately 66 trainsets are needed for weekday service. The primary heavy maintenance facility is the MBTA Commuter Rail Maintenance Facility, located in the Inner Belt District in Somerville. It is also used for midday and overnight storage of trains on the northside lines. Southampton Street Yard and the Readville Interim Layover facility are used for light maintenance and layover service. Various other layover facilities are used for midday and overnight storage; most are located near the outer ends of the lines. Some maintenance and storage of MBTA equipment is contracted out to the Seaview Transportation Company in North Kingstown, Rhode Island. Several additional yards are under construction or planned. Two layovers are under construction for South Coast Rail, with service planned for mid-2025, and the Haverhill Line layover at is proposed for relocation later in the 2020s. A new midday layover yard at the former Beacon Park Yard is planned to be constructed by 2032 as part of the realignment of I-90. A large midday and overnight layover yard, which would support expanded service including regional rail and electrification, is planned at Widett Circle near South Station. The MBTA also plans to construct a southside maintenance and layover facility at , replacing the existing layover yard there, as the Grand Junction Branch will be closed for several years during the I-90 project. Locomotive fleet , the MBTA owned 109 locomotives. Of these, 98 were in active passenger service. Two were undergoing rebuild, eight awaiting repairs, and three retired or out of service. All passenger locomotives are equipped with head end power. Rebuilding of 37 F40PH-2C and F40PHM-2C locomotives to F40PH-3C class by MotivePower (MPI) began in 2017; other older locomotives are also being rebuilt by MPI or in-house. , the MBTA plans to acquire 10 new battery-electric locomotives for electrified Providence Line service, and another 10 new diesel locomotives compliant with EPA Tier 4 emissions regulations for service on other lines, with options for an additional 50 locomotives of either type. Coach fleet , the MBTA owned 506 coaches. Of these, 443 were in active service, three being repaired or overhauled, and 63 stored pending disposition or reuse. Three converted coaches — a bike car and two cafe cars — are reserved for the CapeFLYER. The contract was later modified to 83 coaches, of which 43 are cab cars. In May 2024, the MBTA exercised an option order for 41 additional trailer coaches at a cost of $203 million, with deliveries to begin in mid-2026. An $165 million option for 39 additional coaches (29 trailers and 10 cab cars), which would allow the retirement of all remaining single-level equipment, was exercised in November 2024 with deliveries to begin in 2027. Retired equipment As the MBTA assumed control of the commuter rail during the 1970s, it inherited various equipment from predecessor railroads. The 1976 purchase of B&M and Penn Central equipment included 94 Budd Rail Diesel Cars (RDCs) – 86 from the B&M and eight from Penn Central – plus 116 Penn Central coaches and 25 Penn Central E8 and GP9 diesel locomotives. Although the MBTA purchased some new equipment in 1978–1980, large locomotive and coach fleets were not purchased until the late 1980s, so the first decade of combined operations used a variety of secondhand equipment in addition to that acquired in 1976: • Four ALCO PA locomotives leased from the Delaware and Hudson Railway in 1978 • 48 coaches leased from GO Transit in 1978–1980. 51 coaches (some of which were in the previous group) were leased in 1984–85. • 19 EMD GP7 locomotives leased from the B&M in 1978–1982 • 24 RDCs acquired or leased from MARC, SEPTA, and New Jersey Transit between 1983 and 1987 • 11 EMD GP9 locomotives acquired from the Burlington Northern Railroad and SEMTA in 1983–1986 • One EMD SW9 locomotive acquired from the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad in 1984 Most of the secondhand and inherited equipment was retired between 1979 and 1989. 33 ex-B&M RDCs were converted to locomotive-hauled coaches (designated BTC-2 and CTC-2) in 1980 and 1982; they were retired by 1989. This left all MBTA service operated by locomotives and coaches purchased new by the MBTA. At several points since, the MBTA or its contract operator has temporarily leased locomotives when needed. Some passenger equipment acquired new by the MBTA has been retired: • 18 EMD F40PH locomotives (1000–1017), built 1978–1980 and last ran in 2015 • 19 EMD FP10 locomotives (1100–1114 and 1150–1153), rebuilt 1979 from Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad locomotives and last ran in 1991 == Capital projects ==

The following improvement projects are actively being pursued by the MBTA and are at various stages of construction, planning, or funding. Regional Rail Modernization Program The Regional Rail Modernization Program is a phased initiative by the MBTA to transition the commuter rail system from diesel-powered, peak-oriented service to an electrified regional rail network with frequent all-day service. The program was formally initiated in early 2025 following several years of planning, with initial phases focused on near-term improvements to existing diesel operations. Regional rail concepts were first proposed in the late 2010s after the cancellation of the Indigo Line project (a proposed hybrid rail network) in 2015. Between 2018 and 2019, the MBTA conducted the Rail Vision study to evaluate regional rail alternatives, drawing on domestic and international examples. In 2019, the concept was formally endorsed by the now-defunct Fiscal and Management Control Board, and the MBTA engaged Network Rail Consulting to assist with planning. Several proposed electrification pilots were ultimately cancelled. By 2022, rising costs led the MBTA to consider battery electric multiple units (BEMUs) with limited catenary infrastructure for charging, as a cost-saving measure. By early 2024, a public-private partnership model was also adopted as the preferred framework for delivering future regional rail projects. In July 2024, the MBTA approved a $54 million pilot proposal from Keolis to electrify the Fairmount Line using BEMUs, with 20-minute headways planned by 2028. As of 2025, planned improvements to all other commuter rail lines are limited to diesel service upgrades—including new turnback tracks, track replacement, and increased service frequency—with electrification deferred to a long-term future phase. The MBTA announced in February 2026 that it plans to acquire 10 battery-electric locomotives for electrified Providence Line service as part of a larger planned locomotive order. • A new island platform at Worcester Union Station was opened on July 1, 2024, with the project expected to be fully complete in August 2025. • Design work for reconstruction of South Attleboro station for accessibility was completed in April 2022, though construction work has not been funded. The station was temporarily closed on February 26, 2021, due to structural deterioration; limited service resumed on May 20, 2024. • Reconstruction of is planned. The station was temporarily closed in October 2022 due to structural deterioration; interim platforms opened in December 2023. • Reconstruction of , , and for accessibility and increased capacity are planned. • In 2024, the MBTA tested a temporary freestanding accessible platform design at Beverly Depot. These platforms do not require alterations to the existing platforms, thus skirting federal rules requiring full accessibility renovations when stations are modified, and were intended to provide interim accessibility at lower cost pending full reconstruction. Construction of interim platforms at four stations began in 2024 and was completed in 2025. Eight more stations are planned to receive the platforms; the second group will be , , , , and . == Previous proposals ==

These projects stem from past expansion and improvement studies, as well as service proposals from various constituencies, but none have been advanced or approved by the MBTA. Extension studies Two extensions of existing lines have been studied in the 2020s: • Extension of the Middleborough/Lakeville Line to Buzzards Bay or Sagamore (both in Bourne) to serve Cape Cod was studied in 1997, and extension to Buzzards Bay was again studied in 2007. The extension was again proposed after the 2013 introduction of the CapeFLYER. The town of Bourne voted in 2015 to join the MBTA district. MassDOT began planning a possible commuter rail trial service in October 2015. The proposed service, which was to have shuttle trains between Bourne and operated by Massachusetts Coastal Railroad, was rejected by the MBTA Fiscal Management and Control Board in April 2016. Middleborough station, which replaced Middleborough/Lakeville in 2025 when South Coast Rail service began, was built with space for a potential future platform for shuttle trains. A 2021 study analyzed two alternatives for service to Buzzards Bay or Bourne station. Middleborough–Buzzards Bay shuttle service with 7 daily round trips was expected to have 1,710 total daily boardings, while Middleborough–Bourne service with 10 daily round trips (including two off-peak Boston–Bourne round trips) was expected to have 2,540 total daily boardings. • Extension of the Lowell Line to Manchester and Nashua, New Hampshire has been proposed since the 1980–81 pilot service. The extension has been a politically contentious issue at the state level in New Hampshire, with Democratic politicians supporting the service and Republican politicians opposing it. A 2014 alternatives analysis recommended several possible services, including commuter rail to Nashua or Manchester or intercity rail to Concord, for further evaluation. Engineering and design work for commuter service to Manchester began in late 2020, and was completed in February 2023. Several other extensions of existing lines and restoration of service to disused lines have been studied in the past: • Extension of the Providence/Stoughton Line to Westerly, Rhode Island (studied in 2001 and 2017) • Extension of the Franklin Line to Milford (studied in 1997) • Restoration of service on the Millis Branch to (studied in 1998) • Restoration of service on the Milford Branch to Milford (studied in 1990 and 1997) • Restoration of service on the Fitchburg Secondary to Marlborough (studied in 1990) • Rerouting of some Framingham/Worcester Line service to North Station via the Grand Junction Branch (studied in 2012) • Restoration of service on the Central Mass Branch to Berlin/I-495 (studied in 1996) • Restoration of service on the Lexington Branch to (studied in 1985) • Extension of the Fitchburg Line to (studied in 2005) • Extension of the Haverhill Line to Plaistow, New Hampshire (studied in 2015) • Extension of the Newburyport/Rockport Line to Portsmouth, New Hampshire (studied in 1988 and 1999) • Restoration of service on the Peabody Branch between and Danvers (studied in 2004) • Restoration of service on the Manchester and Lawrence Branch between Lawrence, Massachusetts and Manchester, New Hampshire (studied in 2009) • Restoration of service on the Dighton and Somerset Railroad between Stoughton and East Taunton (studied in 1988, 1990, 1995, 2007 and 2009) • Extension of the Fall River/New Bedford Line to downtown Fall River near Battleship Cove (studied in 2008 and 2013) Infill stations Several infill stations on existing lines are proposed: • West Station is a proposed Framingham/Worcester Line station to serve the Beacon Park Yard redevelopment. • South Salem station is a proposed Newburyport/Rockport Line station near Salem State University. North–South Rail Link No direct connection exists between the two downtown commuter rail terminals; passengers must use the MBTA subway or other modes to transfer between the two halves of the system. (For non-revenue transfers of equipment, the MBTA and Amtrak use the Grand Junction Branch.) The proposed North–South Rail Link would add a new rail tunnel under downtown Boston to allow through-running service, with new underground stations at South Station, North Station, and possibly a new Central Station. A feasibility study was conducted in 2018. == See also ==