(The following article by Kimberly B. Caisse appeared in the Townsend Times on May 28.)
LEOMINSTER, Mass. — More than 50 commuter-train riders and area politicians met with state transportation officials last Thursday night to demand they speed up service into Boston and add more Fitchburg-bound trains.
It currently takes roughly an hour-and-a-half for the commuter train to travel from downtown Fitchburg to North Station in Boston, local officials and many commuters said. They were speaking during the public hearing held at the Four Points Sheraton in Leominster as part of a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) study of ways to improve the Fitchburg-line service.
“An hour and 40 minutes just isn’t good time,” said Fitchburg Mayor Dan Mylott. “We need to get it down to 55 minutes.”
Mohammed Kahn, administrator of Montachusett Regional Planning Commission (MRPC), added, “We have the longest, farthest service to Boston.”
Fitchburg and Leominster riders “pay the most amount of money for the longest ride,” said Jason Welton, a former Shirley resident who now lives in Leominster.
Two of the ideas offered as potential service improvements would impact commuter-train users in Nashoba Valley. One idea is to consolidate some train stops between Shirley and South Acton into one regional train station with a parking garage, according to Kahn. The other suggestion is to add express-train service between Fitchburg and North Station in Boston.
The MRPC also thinks that adding more train service to and from Fitchburg, increasing parking spaces at all stations in the short-term, extending service to Gardner, and investing in better tracks are ways to improve service along the Fitchburg commuter rail line.
In addition, the MRPC has determined that rail-line service for commuters from Nashoba Valley towns — Ayer, Groton, Harvard, Pepperell, Shirley, and Townsend — would improve with “practically the same” changes supported by Fitchburg and Leominster area planners.
Nashoba Valley commuters want train service available as an alternative mode of transportation, more and earlier train service, express-train service, a regional commuter rail station, more parking, and double tracks between the South Acton and Ayer stops, Kahn outlined in his presentation.
“You can attract better ridership by adopting some of the things mentioned here today,” said Welton, who sometimes takes the train to get to his job in Boston’s Financial District. “You could probably double the ridership.”
He suggested that MBTA officials consider consolidating the Shirley, Ayer, Littleton, Acton, West Concord, and Concord center stops into a regional train station.
But his brother, Phillip Welton, who lives in Fitchburg, cautioned that consolidating those stations into one facility would have a tremendous impact on Nashoba Valley train users. Besides, getting more trains in service is a more critical issue, he added.
“I would love to see [more reverse-commute service] happen,” Phillip Welton said. “But everyone in this room would agree that we need more trains going the other way.”
Commuters said they are very limited in their choices for morning and evening commute times. They also said they feel stuck in Boston during the afternoon because of the few times the trains go past the South Acton station. (Service past South Acton ends with the 1:20 p.m. train out of North Station and resumes with the 4:50 p.m. train.)
Ayer Selectman Frank Maxant said the commuter rail is an important economic driver in the town, and a service station and dry cleaners are among the businesses located near the Ayer station to cater to the daily train users.
When officials consider consolidating stations and other service changes, “I think we should be very careful about keeping Ayer in the mix,” he said.
Another commuter called on MBTA officials to show “a good faith effort” by adding an express train soon. “One sign of good faith would be to give us an express train: one in the morning; one in the evening,” she said.
A transportation expert coordinating the MBTA’s study indicated in an interview after the hearing that train users could see express-train service long before the stops from Shirley to Concord would be consolidated into a regional station.
“It’s typically not how you do it,” said William Steffens, an associate and general manager at McMahon Associates of Boston, about consolidating stops. “How you typically do it is add express service.”
Steffens said he liked the idea offered by one commuter that the express service could start east of I-495. But another regular-service train would have to immediately follow to pick up passengers waiting at stops after that point, he added.
The MBTA is currently planning to update its entire commuter-rail fleet with double-decker train cars to increase its capacity to shuttle more users to and from Boston, said Ronald Morgon, project manager of the MBTA’s planning department. However, there is no timeline for when those new cars will be purchased, he added.
Steffens explained that he and the MBTA are in the preliminary phase of their study, and he expects it will take nine months to complete. During that time, Steffens said he will add recommendations made by commuters and politicians into study documents, and several more public hearings will be held.
The commuters asked to be updated throughout the course of the study through e-mail messages or face-to-face meetings with MBTA officials.
In the meantime, fares on the Fitchburg commuter rail line are scheduled to go up 25 percent next year. Currently, Ayer and Shirley station riders pay $5 each way; Littleton station riders pay $4.50; and South Acton riders by $4.25.