Framingham/Worcester Line

MBTA commuter rail service expanded to Worcester on September 26, 1994 with limited rush-hour-only service. Off-peak service was added beginning on December 14, 1996. Worcester Union Station underwent a major renovation in 2000, and in 2006 the city's main bus terminal was co-located at the train station. Infill stations at Ashland, Southborough, Westborough, and Grafton were added in 2000 and 2002.[4] The total cost of the Worcester Commuter Rail Extension Project was $97 million.[7]

CSX freight trains in Beacon Park Yard in Allston in 2010

Empty Beacon Park Yard in 2014

For a variety of reasons, the line had some of the worst on-time performance in the MBTA system for several years. While state agencies including the MBTA owned the line out to Framingham, CSX Transportation owned from Framingham to Worcester and ran frequent freight trains as far east as Beacon Park Yard in Allston. CSX then dispatched (controlled signals) on the line from their operations base in Selkirk, New York, resulting in low priority for passenger trains.[8] Conflicts with freight trains, ongoing track work, and an increase of passenger load of about 40% since opening were all blamed for the poor on-time performance, as were new federal speed regulations that went into effect in 2005.[9]

In 2007, pessimistic that CSX would ever sell the line, the state Executive Office of Transportation began studying alternatives to improve service. Possibilities included adding interlockings or additional tracks to the line, or even running service from Worcester to North Station via Ayer over the Pan Am Railways Worcester Branch (former Worcester, Nashua and Rochester Railroad) and the Fitchburg Line.[10]

In October 2007, only 48.4% of trains ran on time (no more than 1 minute early or 5 minutes late), improving to 69.3% in January 2008 after CSX and MBCR officials began meeting daily.[9] On February 18, 2008, a new schedule went into effect, intended to more accurately reflect the run time on the line.[11] By August 2009, actual on-time performance was at 82%.[12]

In January 2008, the Framingham/Worcester Line became the first in the MBTA system to offer Wi-Fi service aboard the trains. The service was expanded system-wide after a test period, but the Worcester Line was chosen for the pilot phase in part to compensate for low on-time performance, as well as to test the service across the line's varied terrain.[13]

On October 2, 2008, the state government announced an agreement with CSX Transportation for the purchase and upgrade of several of CSX's freight lines in the state. CSX agreed to sell the Framingham-to-Worcester section of the Worcester Line, its lines from Taunton to Fall River and New Bedford for use by the South Coast Rail project, the Grand Junction Branch, and the South Boston Running Track. Other parts of the agreement included plans for double-stack freights west of Worcester and the abandonment of Beacon Park Yard.[14] Weekday Worcester service was increased to twelve round trips on October 27, 2008 under the agreement.[15] The agreement was signed on September 23, 2009, with the Worcester Line transfer then expected in 2011.[16][17]

Low platforms, like this one at West Newton, are not handicapped accessible. They cause slow boarding on a large section of the line, as passengers must climb steps to enter train cars.

Boston Landing station under construction in September 2016

In June 2012, New Balance announced plans to build a new station stop at their new development in Allston-Brighton. Boston Landing was originally to open in 2014, but has since been delayed to 2016.[18][19]

In July 2012, the MBTA announced plans to add additional service on the line as CSX moves freight transload operations from Beacon Park Yard in Allston to a new yard in East Worcester that does not interfere with passenger operations.[20] Three additional weekday Boston-Worcester round trips were added on October 29, 2012 after the October 4 signing of the deed that transferred ownership of the Framingham-Worcester section to the MBTA.[21] A rush-hour express serving Worcester was added on April 29, 2013.[22] The ultimate goal was originally for 20 Worcester round trips by October 2013, up from 12.5 round trips before the service increases; however this was pushed back by delays in the rebuilding of Yawkey station and the delivery of the new MPI HSP46 locomotives and bilevel passenger cars.[23]

By early 2013, Beacon Park was largely vacated except for the locomotive maintenance facility, leaving only occasional freight service east of Framingham. MBCR took over dispatching of the line from CSX in August 2013, meaning that passenger trains are now given full priority over freight trains.[24] The dispatching changeover brings other benefits for passenger service: MBCR has greater flexibility to deal with minor emergencies affecting operations, to communicate directly with train crews, and to dispatch extra trains to cover for a late or stalled train. Blanket heat-related speed restrictions were intended to be eliminated, limiting delays even on hotter summer days.[24]

A series of public comment hearings in 2013 were held to determine schedules. Implementation of the new schedules was delayed because the completion of Yawkey station's rehabilitation and expansion was delayed.[25] The expansion included installation of a second track, crucial to the service expansion. The increase to 20 weekday and 9 weekend round trips to Worcester took place on March 10, 2014.[26][27][28] The MBTA has long been planning to speed travel times on the line by adding a second main track through Beacon Park Yard – the only single-track section of the line.[29] The former second track through the yard was turned into a yard lead with no through service in the 1950s.

In November 2013, MassDOT announced plans to spend $15 million through 2014 and 2015 to improve travel times on the line.[25] Some of the work involves heating and cutting quarter-mile rail segments to eliminate heat kinks. The promised reduction in heat-related speed restrictions has not yet occurred due to the poor condition of the tracks; the work to reduce them started in 2014 with $1.2 million in work between Worcester and Grafton, but will not be complete until 2016.[30]

In early 2014, MassDOT proposed DMU local service for the inner part of the line as part of the "Indigo Line".[31] In September 2014, MassDOT announced plans to build the multimodal West Station in Beacon Park Yard as a transfer point between local DMU service and mainline locomotive-hauled commuter rail service. The $25 million station would have been constructed simultaneously with a $260 million reconfiguration of the Mass Pike through Beacon Park Yard and was planned to open in 2020.[32] Plans for DMU service were cancelled in 2015, and West Station was delayed to 2040.[33]

On May 23, 2016, the MBTA began running a single daily round trip – inbound in the morning rush, outbound in the late evening – with no intermediate stops between Yawkey and Worcester. Branded "HeartToHub", the trips were scheduled for travel times of under one hour between Back Bay and Worcester, slightly faster than the driving time between those two locations.[34]