Framingham/Worcester Commuter Rail Line
To my constituents who ride the Framingham/Worcester Commuter Rail Line:
I am writing to provide an update on a meeting I hosted with Keolis and the MBTA in September, regarding the poor performance of the Framingham/Worcester Line. As many of you know, I have had regular meetings with the operators of the commuter rail during my time in the legislature in an effort to improve on-time performance. Over the years, these meetings have focused on specific problems that were causing the poor performance at the time, e.g. signal replacement, track replacement, locomotive replacement, etc. It has been a very frustrating experience, as every time one issue was addressed, a new problem seemed to surface.
Below you will find information provided by the MBTA and Keolis at the meeting that summarizes the work that had been done over the past year, the “on time performance” record of the Framingham/Worcester line and a list of work that remains to be done. None of this is very encouraging. While on time performance may improve for a time when the issues identified below are addressed, it is clear to me that long term improvement in “on time performance” will only happen if the Commonwealth commits to supporting a 21st century transportation system which would include some substantial capital investments in the commuter rail. One small example of this would be purchasing enough equipment to have constant removal of leaves from the tracks in the fall, as is the norm in Europe - the MBTA currently moves their limited equipment among the different lines, which is a far from adequate response to this well-known problem.
However, I am encouraged by the fact that the Baker administration has announced plans to form a commission to study the future of transportation in Massachusetts and how it will be funded. This plan is in response to a report from the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, which contains a good summary of what the Commonwealth has done for the past 10 years in this area. For a copy of this report, please click here.
I intend to follow the work of this commission closely and support its recommendations for long term solutions. And I will keep you updated as this commission moves forward. Please continue to reach out to me with your concerns on this or any other matters.
I am writing to provide an update on a meeting I hosted with Keolis and the MBTA in September, regarding the poor performance of the Framingham/Worcester Line. As many of you know, I have had regular meetings with the operators of the commuter rail during my time in the legislature in an effort to improve on-time performance. Over the years, these meetings have focused on specific problems that were causing the poor performance at the time, e.g. signal replacement, track replacement, locomotive replacement, etc. It has been a very frustrating experience, as every time one issue was addressed, a new problem seemed to surface.
Below you will find information provided by the MBTA and Keolis at the meeting that summarizes the work that had been done over the past year, the “on time performance” record of the Framingham/Worcester line and a list of work that remains to be done. None of this is very encouraging. While on time performance may improve for a time when the issues identified below are addressed, it is clear to me that long term improvement in “on time performance” will only happen if the Commonwealth commits to supporting a 21st century transportation system which would include some substantial capital investments in the commuter rail. One small example of this would be purchasing enough equipment to have constant removal of leaves from the tracks in the fall, as is the norm in Europe - the MBTA currently moves their limited equipment among the different lines, which is a far from adequate response to this well-known problem.
However, I am encouraged by the fact that the Baker administration has announced plans to form a commission to study the future of transportation in Massachusetts and how it will be funded. This plan is in response to a report from the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, which contains a good summary of what the Commonwealth has done for the past 10 years in this area. For a copy of this report, please click here.
I intend to follow the work of this commission closely and support its recommendations for long term solutions. And I will keep you updated as this commission moves forward. Please continue to reach out to me with your concerns on this or any other matters.