By Alice Waugh
A number of Lincoln residents have lodged complaints about MBTA’s plan to about eliminate rush-hour express commuter rail stops in Lincoln starting next month, but MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo says the new schedule will go into effect as planned.
Currently, there is an inbound express train stop in Lincoln at 7:50 a.m. and an outbound afternoon express leaving North Station at 5:36 p.m., but as of December 14, those trains will no longer stop in Lincoln. Inbound trains will still stop at 7:34 and 8:15 a.m. and outbound trains will leave North Station at 4:54 and 5:55 p.m., but those trips are several minutes longer. The new schedule can be found here.
In a letter to the MBTA, Lincoln resident Stephanie Smoot noted that parking at other stations on the Fitchburg line such as Acton and Waltham are at or over capacity while Lincoln’s commuter lot is not. “In addition, local roads are already clogged in these areas during rush hour and you would be asking people to drive miles out of their way to use the train. Why would they do that? They will drive straight to work instead.”
In a November 17 press release, the MBTA said that no major changes have been made to the commuter rail schedules for decades, despite ridership changes and infrastructure improvements, and that several other commuter rail line schedules are changing as well.
“With a goal of creating reliable and resilient commuter rail schedules, the MBTA launched a thorough analysis of the schedules on every line. The revised schedules are designed to improve the passenger experience through consistent arrival and departure times and additional express services,” the press release said.
Paul Regan, executive director of the MBTA Advisory Board, looked into the matter after several Lincoln residents including Matthew Minier wrote to him. He reported back to Minier that the MBTA made the schedule changes to reduce delays in service and to balance crowding on trains during rush hours across all of the lines out of North Station.
“In speaking with the MBTA staff, I became aware that there is no perfect schedule and that changes to operations can impact some customers in a negative way,” Regan wrote.
“Thousands of customers from Fitchburg to Belmont will benefit from the changes to the Fitchburg line schedule,” MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo said in an email to the Lincoln Squirrel. “Under the new Fitchburg line schedule, the number of morning rush hour trains arriving in Boston before 9 a.m. is seven (only five arrive before 9 a.m. under the existing schedule). The changes also result in shorter trip times for those who travel longer distances and more seating availability for those who travel shorter distance,” he said.
“Service reliability is of paramount importance to customers and is a critical factor in the MBTA’s effort to attract more riders to the commuter rail system,” Pesaturo said. “By effectively managing existing train sets to benefit the greatest number of customers, the MBTA has developed better and more realistic schedules upon which daily commuters can rely.”
At a meeting of the MBTA’s Management and Control Board, Regan said he had received a commitment from the MBTA’s general manager to “look into the specific instances you and other have raised to see if the proposed schedule can be changed and improved.” The MBTA also apologized for the way the was handled and promised to do more to solicit public input before any changes to the schedule go into effect, Regan added.
Asked if there were any chance of rethinking the schedule change, Pesaturo said that “the new schedule was developed to improve the commuting experience for every user of the Fitchburg line, and no changes to the new schedule are anticipated.” The MBTA revisits all of its commuter rail schedules twice a year; this process will take place again in the spring, “and the MBTA will consider any comments it receives from commuter rail users,” he said.
Residents can offer input online to the MBTA customer feedback site or the MBTA Advisory Board, or by contacting state Sen. Michael Barrett or Rep. Thomas Stanley.
The essence of Keolis’ new Fitchburg Line schedule beginning on December 14: it reduces by one the number of trains in each direction, weekdays and weekends, that stop in Lincoln.
The total number of departures from North Station on weekdays is unchanged; the total number of arrivals is increased by one. On weekends the total number of departures from and arrivals at North Station is reduced by one.
The minimum travel time for a train from Fitchburg stopping at every station is reduced from 92 minutes to 90 minutes. The minimum travel time for a train skipping 10 out of 17 stops is reduced from 80 minutes to 70 minutes.
This is certainly not the improved service that we were promised would result from the three years of track work. And it is all the more bitter a pill if the slight improvement in train speed serves only as an incentive for Keolis to reduce braking by cutting out stops.
Dear Alice — Thanks for this definitive overview. Diana