To my constituents who ride the Framingham/Worcester commuter rail line: Last week, I convened a meeting with officials from the MBTA, officials from Keolis (the new operator of the commuter rail), and fellow legislators who represent communities along the Framingham/Worcester line. The purpose of the meeting was to raise several issues that have been negatively impacting riders – particularly over the past several weeks – including, but not limited to, delays due to heat restrictions and signal problems, staffing levels on trains, and communication problems. The MBTA General Manager committed at the meeting to working on accelerating the timeframe for the de-stressing of the tracks, the current condition of which has been the leading cause of frequent delays along the line recently. Also, Keolis assured legislators that staffing levels would soon increase and that the current limited staff was due to the transition on July 1st of operation of the line from the MBCR to Keolis. Overall, the MBTA and Keolis were receptive to our concerns. However, the MBTA acknowledges that persistent problems will continue to plague the Framingham/Worcester commuter rail line until such time as the entire track is de-stressed and the signals are repaired. We await a new timeline for this work, which I will share when received. I encourage all riders to communicate their concerns directly to MBTA General Manager Scott (bscott@mbta), Secretary of Transportation Davey ([email protected]), and Governor Patrick ([email protected]), as they have direct control of the line. I remain concerned that the MBTA is moving forward with plans to expand service by adding new stations to the Framingham/Worcester line and a new commuter line without considering the impact on current service, e.g. the New Balance station and South Coast line. The new stations will undoubtedly result in schedule changes such as those experienced when Yawkey opened, and the new line will stretch resources needed to maintain service on existing lines. Please continue to reach out to me regarding any issues you face when riding the Framingham/Worcester line so that I can continue to press the MBTA on matters that need to be addressed.
Posted on: Thu, 31 Jul 2014 20:59:51 +0000
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