(The following report by Galen Moore appeared at BostonNow.com on November 20.)
BOSTON — Fed-up MetroWest commuters could end up boycotting the fare box if the Commuter Rail does not immediately take steps to run trains on schedule, a group of area legislators said.
In a letter to MBTA General Manager Daniel A. Grabauskas, state Rep. Alice Hanlon Peisch and 11 other state legislators asked the T to immediately change schedules to accurately reflect arrival and departure times on the Worcester-Framingham line.
“Recent conversations with Massachusetts Bay Commuter Rail [MBCR] and CSX officials confirm that the current train schedules for the Framingham/Worcester Rail Line are not realistic,” the letter states.
In October, 48.4 percent of the historically poor-performing Worcester-Framingham trains ran on time compared with 62.8 percent for all lines in South Station, according to MBCR statistics.
Officials said some of those delays are caused by interference from CSX, the freight company that owns the track.
“The T has started to look at the possibility of making changes to the
[Worcester]/Framingham Line schedule,” spokesman Joe Pesaturo said. “But…a new schedule would also be subject to CSX dispatching and operational issues such as speed restrictions, track work [and] disabled freight trains.”