Banker & Tradesman file photo

Lynn has its train back, after over a year without following the MBTA’s closure of its downtown commuter rail station in October 2022 due to growing safety concerns.

Local and state officials intervened and successfully forced the MBTA to add a shuttle bus from downtown Lynn to the Swampscott commuter rail stop accelerate work on the temporary station. When the previous T leadership closed Lynn’s station last year, no timeline on a potential replacement station had been offered, saying a brand-new station wasn’t likely to be ready until 2030.

The temporary downtown Lynn station had initially been expected to open in April 2024, the T had said over the summer, but agency staff, construction crews and the T’s contracted commuter rail operator Keolis worked to be able to open the facility nine months ahead of that estimate.

“Congratulations to the MBTA team for starting this project and finishing it so quickly and efficiently,” state Transportation Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt said in a statement. “The work on this project shows the MBTA can deliver quality work for residents in ‘gateway cities,’ can get work done ahead of schedule, and continue to make investments which will give thousands of more people easy access the MBTA system.”

New schedules show Lynn residents, including those in the several new market-rate apartment buildings that sprouted up in the city’s downtown in recent years, will be able to get to downtown Boston in around 20 minutes on trains that will arrive every 30 minutes during the week and hourly on weekends.

In a press release, an MBTA spokesperson credited new MBTA General Manager Phil Eng with pushing a new construction plan and temporary station design forward.

“The MBTA is proud to be a vital partner to Lynn’s bright economic future and the community’s local businesses and residents,” Eng said in a statement. “By ensuring Lynn is connected to Boston and other major cities, it increases job opportunities, access to essential services, and the vibrancy of its downtown area. Through the acceleration of bringing service back to Lynn, we are reconnecting communities and the public we serve, and I thank the MBTA team, contractor crews, and our partners at Keolis for their hard work.”