BOSTON — Bills have been introduced in both houses of the Massachusetts legislature that would require electrification of Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority commuter rail lines by the end of 2035, the Boston Herald reports.
The bills include an ambitious goal of electrifying by Dec. 31, 2024, three segments that serve what are defined as environmental justice populations — the Newburyport/Rockport line between North Station and Beverly; the Fairmount line from South Station to Readville; and the entire Providence/Stoughton line.
Those same three lines were given electrification priority when the MBTA’s former oversight body, the Fiscal and Management Control Board, voted for an electrification plan in 2019 [see “MBTA board votes for electrification …,” Trains News Wire, Nov. 5, 2019]. That plan has mostly been forgotten in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and major issues with the MBTA’s rapid-transit-operations.
The newspaper quotes state Sen. Brendan Crighton, who filed his house’s version of the proposed bill, as saying “I think we need to meet this urgency. We need to get moving on this as quickly as possible. We can no longer afford to wait.” He noted the availability of federal funding under the Bipartisan Infrastructure bill and the state’s new governor, Maura Healey.
A spokeswoman for Healey noted the governor has “called for electrifying public transportation so that all modes operate on 100% clean power by 2040” and said Healey “will review any legislation that reaches her desk.”
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