Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray today announced the completion of the agreement with CSX Corporation that paves the way for increased commuter rail service expected to begin October 29, 2012 and strengthens the state’s rail freight network to support the region’s economy.
After years of negotiations and multiple phases achieved through the Commonwealth’s historic agreement with CSX, Lieutenant Governor Murray was joined by MassDOT Secretary and CEO Richard Davey and officials from CSX Corporation, one of the nation’s leading transportation companies, to officially accept the “keys” for ownership of the rail tracks and operations along the Framingham/Worcester line on behalf of the Patrick-Murray Administration and Commonwealth.
The finalized agreement between CSX and the Commonwealth provides the Commonwealth ownership of the rail tracks and control of operations along the Framingham/Worcester line, allowing greater opportunities for MassDOT to not only improve service, but also increase service between Boston and Worcester, the state’s first and second largest cities, respectively.
The Commonwealth will immediately increase commuter rail service on the Framingham/Worcester line between Boston and Worcester with the addition of three new inbound and three new outbound trains between the two cities for a total of 31 stops arriving or departing Worcester station. The Lieutenant Governor also announced that MassDOT will add one inbound special express and one outbound special express in the spring of 2013 and will reach the goal of 20 round trips by October 2013.
To learn more about the Patrick-Murray Administration’s investments in rail and the CSX Agreement, visit www.mass.gov/governor/rail. More information is available after the break.
In addition to increased commuter rail service, through the finalized agreement with CSX, the Commonwealth will take control of maintenance of the right of way and begin the dispatching transition so that all Worcester Line trains are dispatched from MBTA facilities, bringing an even greater public focus to improving reliability and on-time performance of the line.
Today also recognized the expansion and modernization of CSX’s intermodal facility in Worcester, which will allow for the relocation of the intermodal container operations now in Boston. CSX’s investment of approximately $100 million in this site created approximately 380 construction jobs, with 85 permanent jobs expected to remain at the yard upon completion of the project. Intermodal containers are large cargo boxes that can travel by ship, rail or truck. The CSX yard in Worcester processes approximately 110,000 intermodal containers annually, and that number is expected to grow to 150,000 annually in the near future and 200,000 annually in the long term. In addition, CSX has completed the development of a new bulk commodity transfer (TRANSFLO) facility on the site of a former automotive terminal in Westborough, enabling those operations to relocate from Boston as well.
If service is expanded and enhanced along the line, demand is expected to increase by 30 percent by 2030. More than one-third of those who currently ride the Framingham/Worcester line, board trains on stations west of Framingham. If all commuters who use this commuter rail line today instead drove cars to work each day, it could increase daily traffic on the Massachusetts Turnpike in Newton and Boston by up to 8 percent.
Since taking office in 2007, improving the state’s transportation infrastructure has been a key priority of the Patrick-Murray Administration. As part of the Massachusetts State Rail Plan, the Administration has strategically invested close to $1 billion in the state’s rail system through competitive grants, public funds and private sector capital. These investments, some ongoing, represent the most significant improvements in the Commonwealth’s rail system as a whole in decades. The existing commuter rail service and the prospect of 20 round-trip trains to Boston has been the major driving force in the realization of more than $500 million of mixed used development now underway or in final planning for downtown Worcester and surrounding neighborhoods. In September, Lieutenant Governor Murray released a progress report titled “Transforming the Rail Network for Economic and Community Development” that provides an extensive overview of accomplishments achieved in Massachusetts as a result of the landmark agreement with CSX. Lieutenant Governor Murray, who worked on the CSX agreement since he was Mayor of Worcester, led negotiations for the agreement on behalf of the Administration with critical support from Governor Deval Patrick, Senator John Kerry and Congressman Jim McGovern.
The finalized CSX compact began with an initial closing in June of 2010, which set the entire project in motion, including the permitting processes and infrastructure work needed to allow for the relocation of CSX operations.
Today marked the second closing, completing the full transaction and allowing for:
- Expanding commuter rail service to the Metrowest/Worcester areas by taking ownership and control of the rail line between Framingham and Worcester.
- Raising the railroad bridge clearances from Westborough to the New York State line to allow, for the first time in state history, the double-stacking of full-size freight containers on trains serving Massachusetts. This will increase freight capacity, reduce costs, and give Massachusetts companies better access to national and global markets.
- Making possible the eventual restoration of commuter rail service to the South Coast by taking ownership of the rail lines that run from Boston to New Bedford and Fall River.
- Relocating the CSX freight rail operations now in Boston at the Beacon Park Yard, to rail yards in Westborough, Worcester and West Springfield. This relocation will allow for the redevelopment of an 80+- acre parcel along the Charles River to serve as a new gateway district for the city.
The full transaction is now complete and in total, the Commonwealth will pay CSX $100 million for:
- 45 miles of the Framingham/Worcester Commuter Rail line between Boston and Worcester
- 37 miles of rail lines running south from Taunton to Fall River and New Bedford
- 8 miles known as the Grand Junction, which runs from Allston, across the Charles River, through Cambridge, Charlestown, Everett and Chelsea
- 2 miles known as the Boston Terminal Running Track which extends from Dorchester to South Boston, including the West First Street Yard
As part of this public-private partnership, CSX is investing about $150 million including the investments at rail yards in Worcester, Westborough and West Springfield to expand and enhance freight services throughout the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth and CSX have also worked together to complete bridge work at 31 locations across the state, from the New York border to Worcester, to raise the clearance to allow for the double-stacking of full-size freight containers. Through this initiative, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation also raised clearances at 14 of those locations (completed on September 19th) by investing $72 million and CSX is completing the work for the remaining sites.
Thank you for the nice words about my report.A peparhs helpful comment concerning taking the railyards off your hands.Harvard University owns those rail yards and the adjacent Massachusetts Turnpike. They bought them a few months after a state study proved Mass. Pike traffic could be moved to the rail bridge to Cambridge, the Grand Junction. Massive environmental destruction has ensued on the Charles a lot of it clearly making room for Mass. Pike traffic one of these years.Harvard certainly looks like it intends to move the Harvard Medical School there. Lots of additional information in other reports on the blog.
Posted by: Nicol | October 14, 2012 at 10:21 PM
Yes, it does at that!
Posted by: Michael Monroe | October 08, 2012 at 11:55 AM
The Grand Junction line also passes through Somerville.
Posted by: Alan | October 04, 2012 at 02:16 PM