Electrification of the MBTA’s commuter rail lines has been a long-held dream for developers, riders and transit advocates, alike. And Boston residents could be first in line for a preview of what it could look like.
The dream of frequent, electrified suburban trains in Greater Boston has long seemed perennially on the horizon. Could this time be different? Indications are, yes. And housing developers should start keeping an eye on the project.
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.
Newton city councilors are facing pressure to scale back plans to rezone the community’s 13 commercial nodes for more multifamily development to comply with the state’s MBTA Communities law, but one of the mooted suggestions could come at a cost: plans to revamp its commuter rail stations.
The state’s new plan to reduce its carbon emissions is missing two key and common-sense items: commuter rail electrification and a regional approach to flooding from storms and extreme heat.
Several MBTA commuter rail lines are getting more rush-hour service as data mounts that commute problems are a leading cause of Boston-area workers reluctance to return to the office full-time.
Around 50 percent of the Cape and Islands’ workers travel over the bridges to come to work, Rep. Dylan Fernandes said: “Anything we can do to have fewer cars on the Cape gives residents more transportation options to choose from.”
A year after MBTA officials closed the Lynn commuter rail station without a plan for a temporary station in place, construction is due to start on platforms that will resume rail service to the city.
Data shows Boston commuters ditched the drive for mass transit this summer. Massachusetts can learn from the experience and try to make those choices permanent.
Before the pandemic, traffic congestion cost the region’s economy over $4 billion in lost productivity – and it’s only gotten worse. But there is an alternative, if the Healey administration and the legislature seize the moment.
As many in the Boston area await an infrastructure project that would replace an I-90 viaduct through Allston and increase public transit access in the area, members of the MetroWest delegation warned on Wednesday that the project will need to be done with care to not disrupt commuters who live west of the city.
The eastern Massachusetts commuter rail network and its hundreds of thousands of riders would no longer be the responsibility of the MBTA under safety and management reforms targeted by the House’s transportation chief.
One project among many up for federal infrastructure dollars is revealing that state and Congressional leaders are not always on the same page when it comes to what makes a state application competitive.
A big bump in commuter rail ridership shows what’s possible with a better-resourced MBTA and a regional rail system ready to support more transit-oriented housing construction.
Gov. Charlie Baker is asking the state legislature to direct the T to pursue a new technology to electrify the MBTA’s commuter rail system.
Senators will try to convince their House colleagues the time is right to make another pass at mandating a low-income fare program at the MBTA, reviving the specter of a gubernatorial veto during the coming late-session flurry.
Ridership on the MBTA’s commuter rail system, sometimes seen during the pandemic as a barometer for downtown Boston office utilization, has risen steadily this spring, the system’s leader said last week.
One out of every five Boston residents lives within a 10-minute walk of the MBTA’s Fairmont Line and mayoral candidate John Barros called Tuesday for the T to use federal money to make the line more reliable, run more frequently and fully integrate it into the T’s subway system.
Commuter rail riders will feel the pinch of reduced weekend schedules later this month.
