Framingham/Worcester Line

The Framingham/Worcester Line is a railroad line of the MBTA Commuter Rail system, running west from Boston, Massachusetts to Worcester, Massachusetts, though some trains terminate at Framingham, Massachusetts. The line serves the cities and towns of Boston, Newton, Wellesley, Natick, Framingham, Ashland, Southborough, Westborough, Grafton, and Worcester.

History

Originally built as the Boston and Albany Railroad, the line was later part of the New York Central Railroad system. The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority acquired the tracks from Newton to Back Bay Station^[2] in order to construct the Boston Extension of the Massachusetts Turnpike from the Route 128 circumferential highway to the then-elevated Central Artery in downtown Boston. Construction ran from 1962 to 1964, and reduced the railway to two tracks.

The New York Central was merged into Penn Central Transportation in 1968, which went bankrupt in 1970. Amtrak was created in 1971 to run intercity rail service; since 1975, it has operated the Lake Shore Limited on the Boston-to-Albany tracks.

On January 27, 1973 the MBTA acquired the remainder of the tracks east of Framingham, and subsidized passenger transit between Framingham and Boston. Commuter rail service between Worcester and Framingham was discontinued October 27, 1975, as the state did not subsidize it. The trackage on the western segment was inherited by Conrail in 1976, which returned to profitability in the 1980s. After a corporate breakup in 1999, CSX Transportation became the owner of the Worcester-to-Framingham segment.

In the late 1980s, the Orange Line was rerouted into parallel tracks sharing the Framingham Line's right of way between Back Bay Station and the portal to the Washington Street Tunnel.

MBTA commuter rail service expanded to Worcester on September 26, 1994, with some rush hour trains. 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.

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.^[3]

Ownership and passenger service performance problems

The line was the first or second worst in the MBTA system for several years. 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.^[4]

CSX dispatches (controls signals) on the line from Selkirk, New York.^[5] Conflicts with freight trains, track work, and an increase of passenger load of about 40% since opening, have all been blamed for affecting on-time performance.^[4] New federal speed regulations that went into effect in 2005 were also cited for slow service.^[6] On February 18, 2008, a new schedule went into effect, intended to more accurately reflect the run time on the line.^[7] By August 2009, actual on-time performance was at 82%.^[8]

In September 2009, after several years of negotiations, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts completed an agreement to purchase the tracks from Framingham to Worcester,^[9] with the actual transfer expected in 2011.^[10] Earlier phases of the agreement had allowed the addition of five weekday trains to Worcester,^[11] and concerns over the impact on traffic at-grade crossings in Framingham.^[12]

Accessibility

All stations from Yawkey east and West Natick west are handicapped accessible; the ones in between are not. See also MBTA accessibility.

Station listing

References

External links

• The Framingham/Worcester Line
• B&A Track Charts
• The Boston & Albany Railroad Webpage
• Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district
• Railroad History Database