BOSTON — New equipment for the commuter rail fleet is among the major projects planned under the 2026-30 Capital Improvement Plan approved on Tuesday, May 20, by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority board.
The plan, which calls for $9.8 billion in capital expenditures over the next five fiscal years, includes more than 660 projects, the agency says.
Along with replacing the oldest commuter rail locomotives and adding more bi-level coaches, major projects in the plan include:
— Upgrades to power systems on the rapid transit subway lines to improve reliability;
— New rolling stock and signal upgrades for the Red and Orange lines.
— A new Green Line Train Projection System to prevent train-to-train collisions;
— Infrastructure work for “decarbonized” service on the commuter Fairmount Line, where operations using battery-electric trainsets are planned [see “MBTA approves plan …,” Trains News Wire, July 25, 2024], and planning and design work for decarbonized service on the Newburyport-Rockport Line.
The plan is “the framework that guides how the T makes critical investments in the system, establishing a foundation for stabilizing and improving service today as we build a system for future generations of riders,” MBTA CEO Phillip Eng said in a press release. “I am grateful to the Board for their continued support, and I thank the public for taking the time to provide invaluable feedback on the capital investments they’d like to see the MBTA prioritize. While the CIP needs to be balanced within the available funding at this time, we will always be nimble and ensure that we can deliver projects and meaningful results.”
Said state Transportation Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt, ““This plan includes historic levels of funding to modernize our fleet, maintain and improve infrastructure, expand accessibility, and advance both our climate and equity goals. We’re especially proud of how this plan was developed — with input from riders, the support of our legislative partners, and the dedicated work of MBTA employees.”
The full Capital Improvement Plan is available here.
Thinking back to my small train days, if MBTA put electromagnets on the front and back of each Green Line streetcar, set to matching N or S poles; they’d deflect instead of snap together. /s
For the love of all that is holy string catenary and challenge Rotem to make a powercar version of their multilevel a la Bomber’s Multilevel 3.