April 25, 2024 |MBTA, News, State of MA, Transportation

MBTA Implements Commuter Rail, Subway, Bus, and Ferry Service Improvements This Spring

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Spring 2024 schedules on Commuter Rail will take effect on May 20; ferry schedules to take effect in April and May. 

The MBTA is implementing a series of service enhancements across all modes this spring season. These improvements are designed to provide riders with more frequent, reliable, and convenient transportation options across the MBTA’s service areas.

Commuter Rail

Spring service changes go into effect on Commuter Rail lines on May 20 with schedules available soon atmbta.com/CommuterRail.

• Fairmount Line Frequency Increase: With a commitment to improving equity and access in traditionally underserved communities across the Fairmount Line service area, the MBTA will increase the frequency of Fairmount Line trains to every 30 minutes on weekdays and weekends, a significant improvement from the previous 45-minute intervals. The Readville lower platform will also reopen to riders, offering more transfer options for the Franklin, Foxboro, Providence, Stoughton, and Fairmount Lines.
• Reintroduction of Worcester Express Train: Through collaboration with the City of Worcester, the MBTA will reintroduce a weekday morning express train from Worcester, arriving at South Station in downtown Boston at 8:45 AM. The trip will also include stops at Framingham and Lansdowne. 
• Resumed Service at South Attleboro Station: The MBTA will resume train service to and from South Attleboro with three morning inbound and three evening outbound trips. Commuter Rail service at South Attleboro was suspended in February 2021 due to significant deterioration of the pedestrian overpass, which passes over the station’s tracks. In October 2023, construction crews demolished the pedestrian overpass and surrounding infrastructure.
• 2024 CapeFLYER Service: The popular CapeFLYER, offering round-trip service between Boston and Cape Cod, will return for the season on Memorial Day weekend. The service runs on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays until Labor Day with some additional service during holiday weekends. 
• Other Commuter Rail Service Updates: Various schedule adjustments and trip time reductions will be implemented on the Newburyport/Rockport, Lowell, Fitchburg, Haverhill, Franklin, and Providence Lines to improve performance, accommodate Amtrak schedule changes, and align with other service improvements.

Subway

Spring service changes went into effect on subway lines on April 7 with more information available at mbta.com/ServiceChanges.

• Red Line: Weekday morning and evening peak period frequency has improved by about 30 seconds between Alewife and JFK/UMass and by one minute on the Ashmont and Braintree Branches due to faster travel times from improved track conditions, resulting in 24 additional daily trips. 
• Orange Line: The weekday morning and evening peak period frequency has improved by about 30 seconds due to the addition of new trains available for service, resulting in 18 additional daily trips. 
• Blue Line: Weekday evening frequency between 8 PM and 11:30 PM will improve from every 12-13 minutes to every 8-10 minutes due to increased demand, resulting in 22 additional daily trips.
• Green Line: Weekday morning and evening peak period service frequency on all branches. Riders can expect to see improvements of 30 seconds to one minute due to successful hiring of additional Green Line operators and MBTA training school expansion. These changes will result in 82 additional daily trips, providing riders with more options to get to where they need to go; restore frequency decreases that took effect in fall 2022 and some early morning westbound/outbound D Branch service on weekdays and Saturdays; and improve Sunday frequency and weekend capacity on various branches due to more two-car trains in operation.

Bus 

Spring service changes went into effect on bus routes on April 7 with more information available at mbta.com/ServiceChanges.

• Frequency Improvements: Due to historic increases in bus operator hiring, the frequency between buses will improve on Routes 7, 9, 21, 32, 47, 57, 111, 501, SL1, and SL3 during certain times on weekdays and weekends with increased Sunday service on Route 1.
• Schedule Adjustments: Routes 34 and 121 schedules have been updated to improve reliability and more accurately reflect the service that is operating so that riders can rely on published bus schedules. Overall service hours are largely the same, but some frequency has been reduced to offset longer travel times. The Route 116 Sunday morning trip has been replaced with a restructured Route 117 for better consistency, improved schedule legibility, and a better service pattern so that the very early morning trips (before the Blue Line begins operating) will be similar on weekdays and weekends. Departure times were adjusted for 59 bus routes to improve the time between buses and schedule reliability.
• Routing Changes: Routes 83 and 91 were adjusted due to construction in the Central Square area. Route 120 was adjusted to better align with the last Blue Line trains of the day. The MBTA continues its aggressive hiring effort for more bus operators and plans to assign operators to areas experiencing high crowding.

Ferry

As previously announced, spring service changes go into effect on ferry routes in April and May. Ferry schedules are available now at mbta.com/Ferry.

• Increased Service and Scheduling Improvements: The MBTA has planned several improvements to the Lynn, Winthrop/Quincy, and weekend Hingham/Hull ferry services, including additional weekend Lynn ferry trips, resulting in more options for ferry riders.
• Hingham/Hull Ferry Weekend Service: Schedule adjustments have been made this season to Hingham/Hull weekend ferry service, which resumes May 25, to provide better service to riders, including a modification to eliminate an afternoon gap in weekend Hull service and efficiency improvements to the Saturday-only late-night trip from Boston to Hull, among other upgrades.
• Lynn Ferry Weekday Service, New Weekend Service: Lynn ferry weekday service, which starts April 29, will have minor schedule adjustments to better manage ferry movements through the harbor, reduce possible delays due to congested waterways, and to allow for better utilization of dock space. With a commitment to enhancing transportation options to the Lynn community, 11 new weekend trips will also operate this season beginning on Saturday, May 25.
• Winthrop/Quincy Ferry Service Increases: Winthrop/Quincy ferry service begins on April 29 and will provide increased services between Quincy, Winthrop, and the Seaport. Quincy passengers will have an option of a direct Quincy-Boston trip, reducing what was an hour and five-minute trip last year to a 20-minute trip. There will be three additional trips between Winthrop and Boston compared to 2023. 
• As previously announced, East Boston ferry services resumed for the season on April 1.

For more information, visit mbta.com/ServiceChanges or connect with the T on X (the site formerly known as Twitter) @MBTA and @MBTA_CR, Facebook /TheMBTA, Instagram @theMBTA, Threads @thembta, or TikTok @thembta. 

The above press release was submitted to us by the MBTA.