Бостон-Фитчбург теміржол желісінің тарихы мен дамуы

MBTA Commuter Rail line

The Fitchburg Line is a branch of the MBTA Commuter Rail system which runs from Boston's North Station to Wachusett station in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. The line is along the tracks of the former Fitchburg Railroad, which was built across northern Massachusetts, United States, in the 1840s. Winter weekend service includes a specially equipped seasonal "ski train" to Wachusett Mountain. At long, the Fitchburg Line is the second longest line in the system (and was the longest until the Providence/Stoughton Line's 2010 extension to T. F. Green Airport and later to Wickford Junction), and ranked as one of the worst lines in terms of on time performance. The Fitchburg Line had the oldest infrastructure in the system, and commuter trains must share trackage with freight trains on the outer segment of the line. A $150 million project completed in 2017 included adding nine miles of double track, an extension to Wachusett, rebuilding two stations, and building a new layover yard. Only ten of the line's nineteen stations, including both terminals, are fully handicapped accessible – the lowest proportion of any MBTA Commuter Rail line. The Boston and Maine Railroad leased the Fitchburg Railroad in 1900 and bought it outright in 1919. In 1948, The Master Highway Plan for the Boston Metropolitan Area proposed the construction of eight radial expressways around Boston connecting to the Inner Belt, Interstate 695. A section of the Northwest Expressway, carrying a concurrency of Route 2 and Route 3, was to run along the Fitchburg right of way from Union Square in Somerville to Sherman Street in North Cambridge. This expressway would have taken up some or all of the trackbed, which was then four tracks wide in that section. After successful highway revolts, Governor Francis W. Sargent placed a hold on all highway construction inside Route 128 in 1970. Following a study, Sargent permanently canceled the 1948 plans in 1972, thus also securing the corridor's future for railroad use. In January 1958, passenger service on the Fitchburg Division was cut back from the B&M's western terminal in Troy, New York to Williamstown; branch line service to Bellows Falls, Vermont, (with connections for Montreal) and Maynard was discontinued that May, while Main Line service was further truncated to Greenfield in December. All service west of Fitchburg was dropped on 23 April 1960.

When the newly formed MBTA began subsidizing the Boston & Maine Railroad's intrastate service on January 18, 1965, service was only kept to communities in the MBTA's limited funding district. All service on the Fitchburg Line west of West Concord was cut, as was the low ridership stop at Riverview; several other northside lines were cut or run at reduced service levels as well. On March 1, 1975, the line was cut back to , dropping stops at Ayer, , and Two lightly used stops in Waltham – and – closed in June 1978. Gardner service was ended on January 1, 1987, when Amtrak took over the MBTA contract, due to a dispute between Amtrak and Guilford; the MBTA only owned the trackage to Fitchburg. The train used includes a car equipped with ski racks; a shuttle bus to Wachusett Mountain connects at Wachusett station. In 2001, the MBTA began taking public comment for the decadal update to its Program for Mass Transportation. Following response from legislators from communities along the line, the MBTA initiated a study of potential improvements to the line, including not only westward extension but also station improvements and travel time reductions. The 2004 edition of the Program for Mass Transportation found that restoration of service all the way to Gardner, much less Athol, was deemed impractical for several reasons. Gardner is 64 mile (103 km) and Athol 81 mile (130 km) by rail from North Station – outside normal commuting distances. Instead, a 4 mile extension to a previously considered station in West Fitchburg was recommended. The Fitchburg Commuter Rail Line Service Expansion Study was released in February 2005, drawing off the PMT conclusions. Recommended short range improvements included station consolidation, track upgrades, and station improvements; longer term projects included double tracking, increased service frequency, and an extension to Wachusett or Gardner. The report priced out $55 million in infrastructure upgrades including double tracking through downtown Waltham and from South Acton to Willows, signal improvements, rebuilding Littleton/Route 495 station, and grade crossing modifications. An extension to Wachusett was to cost $39 million, with Gardner costing an additional $50 million. As an immediate change, the MBTA began running express trains on the line. Few of these expanded alternatives were ultimately pursued. The MBTA applied for a federal Small Starts grant in September 2005, and the Montachusett Regional Transit Authority filed a scoping package in April 2007 that began the analysis of construction alternatives. The Fitchburg Commuter Rail Line Improvements Project Alternatives Analysis was released in September 2007 and outlined six options: no build with the addition of some continuously welded rail to the line, a $30 million baseline with a new layover facility, and three build options ranging from $150 million to $239 million. Build Alternative 1, costing $150 million, was chosen. In January 2023, MassDOT announced that the total price for corridor track upgrades would cost between $1.044 billion to $2.187 billion and would take three years to construct. The line is currently planned for diesel service provided by either Amtrak or MassDOT with five round trips per day; there is currently no timeline for service implementation.

In November 2007, following the completion of five years of conceptual studies, the MBTA announced $150 million in projects to significantly upgrade the Fitchburg Line. The project focuses on reducing travel times, increasing service frequency, and improving on time performance. With the addition of several smaller funding sources, the improvements ultimately became a $306 million project with five major components:

The first work completed was the addition of CPF 43, a new interlocking located at Derby Curve in Leominster. Financed by $10.2 million in ARRA funds, the work was intended to "provide commuter rail operational flexibility and to minimize conflicts with freight". CPF 43 includes a universal crossover between the two mainline tracks, plus a new connection to a siding with of space for maintenance of way equipment storage and 1000 feet to connect to existing freight customers. Construction work began in October 2009 and finished by the end of 2011. The $7.7 million project, which was funded by the FTA through earmarks and formula funding, includes a covered busway and charging stations for electric cars. The garage opened on May 20, 2014. Construction of full length high level accessible platforms was considered as part of the project, but the platforms would have cost an additional $18 million and created clearance issues with passing Pan Am freight trains. The freight trains, which are slightly wider than standard passenger cars, frequently impact the mini high platforms and would cause severe damage to full length platforms.

$43 million ($40 million in ARRA funds and $3 million from the state Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development) provided for the restoration of of double track from Central Street in West Acton to Willows Junction in Ayer. The double tracking work, including 8 grade crossing replacements and a new interlocking just east of Littleton station, was completed in November 2014.

The largest piece of the project, funded by a total of $172 million in state money and Federal Transit Administration "Small Starts" funding, involved incremental improvements to existing infrastructure. Work started in 2012 and was largely completed by the end of 2015. Funded by the same grant was a new layover yard in Westminster, just west of the new station, which replaced a smaller yard in East Fitchburg. The town of Westminster opposed the project due to noise pollution issues, and filed complaints about the MBTA alleging that proper permits had not been obtained and that the agency had misled the town about construction delays. Construction was eventually allowed to proceed; the layover yard opened on November 21, 2016, along with full service to Wachusett station.

Substantially reduced schedules were in effect from March 16 to June 23, 2020. On December 14, reduced schedules went into effect due to limited employee availability. Again based on the existing Saturday service, these temporary schedules did not include service to Hastings and four other stations. That day, the MBTA Board voted to enact a more limited set of cuts, including indefinitely closing Hastings, Silver Hill, and three of the other four stations. On January 23, 2021, reduced schedules went into place with no weekend service on seven lines, including the Fitchburg Line. Upon resumption on May 3, weekday service on the line was changed to a regional rail model with hourly service all day. Weekend service on the Fitchburg Line and the six other lines resumed on July 3, 2021. as of May 2022, the line has 15 Boston–Wachusett round trips and two Boston–Littleton round trips on weekdays, with eight Boston–Wachusett round trips on weekends. By October 2022, the line had 4,829 daily riders – 52% of pre COVID ridership. In June 2022, the MBTA indicated plans to begin short turn service on 30 minute headways between Boston and Brandeis/Roberts or Lincoln by 2024. A tail track to support this service, estimated to cost $6–7 million, is in planning. On September 11, 2023, flash floods in Leominster washed out an embankment near North Leominster station. Service between Shirley and Wachusett was replaced with buses until September 19.

The MBTA has unsuccessfully attempted to sell air rights for development over the tracks along Somerville Ave, near Porter station. Air rights development has also been proposed along with a new commuter rail station for the tracks near Alewife station. The city of Cambridge wants to put a pedestrian and bicycle bridge over the tracks in this area to connect the two relatively isolated areas on either side, known as the Alewife Triangle part of North Cambridge and the Quadrangle in Cambridge Highlands.

The MBTA owns all track between Boston and Fitchburg. Pan Am Railways owns the track between Fitchburg and Wachusett, and the rest of the former Fitchburg Railroad all the way to Rotterdam, New York as part of their main line between Rotterdam and Mattawamkeag, Maine. From Fitchburg to the old Stony Brook Railroad (which joins at Willows, east of Ayer), Pan Am runs both through freights to Lowell and beyond and Fitchburg based locals; there is no regular freight service on the line east of Willows. The Walden Street Cattle Pass crosses beneath the Walden Street bridge in Cambridge, adjacent to the tracks; it was last used in the 1920s. The Union Square Branch of the Green Line Extension shares the right of way of the Fitchburg Line from the Inner Belt area to Union Square station. The station opened on March 21, 2022. A portion of the Mass Central Rail Trail is planned to parallel the Fitchburg Line from Linden Street in Waltham to Brighton Street in Belmont, using the abandoned Central Massachusetts Railroad right of way.