The MBTA’s new Yawkey Commuter Rail Station opened yesterday.

The rail station, which serves Fenway Park and the Longwood Medical area, is fully accessible and allows for increased service along the Worcester/Framingham line. With the station’s new schedule, inbound departures from Worcester to Boston increase from 17 to 20 trains per day, and outbound departures from Boston to Worcester will also increase, from 16 to 20 trains per day. The service will also offer more peak and off-peak trains.

"The opening of Yawkey Station is the culmination of many years of cooperation and partnership to increase access to accessible, convenient and efficient public transportation between Worcester and Fenway," Gov. Deval Patrick said in a statement. "This project shows that our growth strategy is real, not rhetorical.  We must use public investment – of time, money and ideas – to stimulate growth and build opportunity for our residents.

During construction, the tracks at Yawkey Commuter Rail Station were realigned to allow for double-track capacity, to allow for expanded Framingham/Worcester Line service. Yawkey Commuter Rail station now has two fully accessible, full-length train platforms, four new elevators and an accessibility ramp. The main entrance is on the new Yawkey Way Extension, which provides vehicular and pedestrian access off of Brookline Avenue through an area that had been used for Red Sox parking. New access to Maitland Street and Beacon Street was created, as well as a bike share station and new waiting areas with canopies and windscreens.

At the station’s grand opening, Patrick was joined by MassDOT secretary and CEO Richard Davey, Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Timothy Murray, Red Sox president and CEO Larry Lucchino and MASCO President Marilyn Swartz-Lloyd.