An MBTA commuter rail train waits at a station in 2019. Photo by Paul Morris | Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0

Commuter rail trains will run less frequently on many lines during the morning and evening peaks and more frequently in the middle of the day starting in November under a schedule change the MBTA unveiled Monday.

With ridership remaining low during the COVID-19 pandemic, officials aim to “level out” service onto a more consistent schedule. Under previous schedules, gaps between trains ranged between 20 minutes and 120 minutes, but the new fall plan will mostly avoid those large variations.

The update takes effect Nov. 2, increasing the number running on any given weekday from 505 to 544. More than 80 percent of the additional trains will run to Fairmont, Brockton or Lynn, areas that have seen comparably high ridership during the pandemic.

Two pilots the MBTA had been running will also end with the start of the fall schedule.

A late-night service pilot to the South Shore in place since last fall will end, though T officials said in a Monday press release that they would consider reviving it “when ridership and large events in Boston return.” Another year-old program offering weekday service to Foxboro will also pause until spring 2021.

A pilot program adding weekday service on the Fairmount Line will be expanded with another two daily trips to ensure trains run every 45 minutes.