BOSTON — A Massachusetts Senate committee has announced an investigation into the early operating issues on the South Coast Rail project that opened last month, saying responses to date “lacked specific assurances to riders and the public at large.”
The Bedford (Mass.) Standard-Times reports that Sen. Mark Montigny (D-New Bedford), chair of the Senate Committee on Post Audit and Oversight, is requesting information from Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority CEO Phillip Eng , as well as Keolis, the MBTA’s contract operator for commuter rail.
The MBTA and Keolis have cited a shortage of qualified operating crews for the 37-mile South Coast Rail extension that opened on March 24 for train delays and cancellations, as well as the substitution of buses for trains on some weekend trips. [See “After first-month issues, MBTA extends …,” Trains News Wire, April 26, 2025].
Montigny has set a 5 p.m. deadline on Friday, May 2, for answers to 15 questions. They include “When and how did Keolis confirm its readiness to operate the Fall River/Bedford line, including adequate staff, prior to March 24?” and “When will the weekend commuter rail service fully resume with adequate, qualified staff to safely operate the Fall River/New Bedford line?”
Referring to reports that some shuttle buses have failed to appear when replacing trains, Montigny said that stranding passengers is an “unacceptable error that presents a potential safety issue … in addition to the obvious inconvenience inflicted upon all passengers.”
Charles, you may remember that the MBTA said they would not renew the contract with Keolis after their first year with the original contract. About a year after that the “T” and Keolis kissed and made up. Amtrak had the contract for years, and I don’t remember if the service was better or not. Wouldn’t the year of testing all the infrastructure of the line given them enough time to train all the peeps as well? Typical of a state-run entity. Employees stealing wire for scrap and embezzlement of millions only adds to the problems. I suppose this is normal operating procedure for whatever commuter rail system we could speak of.
Now I’ll make my third post of the AM. (After all, I may be one of the few SE Mass natives, me and Ed Lecouyer, who post on these pages.) If the train ever runs, will there be any riders? I’d like the see the comparables of commuter rail at these distances. For example, how much of the catastrophic drop of METRA ridership is from the far-off fringes such as Kenosha or Harvard or McHenry or Geneva. And that’s before we get into the demographics, such as how many residents of traditionally lower-income, minority (Afro-Portuguese and now Brazilian) residents of the South Coast commute to Quincy or Boston each day.
Contrary to what some readers might think, eastern Massachusetts isn’t all that compact. The train’s indirect route, the required transfer at East Taunton on some schedules, and the lack of access to Back Bay Station, don’t help. The train schleps through four counties (Bristol, Plymouth, Norfolk and Suffolk). As an indication of the distances, Middleborough is the second largest, by area, of the 351 cities and towns (second to Plymouth).
As a SE Mass native, I wish this service good luck and heavy patronage. Would I stake money on it? Perhaps not.
While I am a SE Mass native, I have no first hand experience on this topic – having moved out-of-state many years ago. I wish the new South Coast rail service the best of luck.
This is disgusting. Heads need to roll at both MBTA and Keolis. How man y years of development and how many dollars have been poured into a train that doesn’t even run?
And what happens if MBTA dumps Keolis. Keolis has the contract because no one else will do that job for that price. The next contract operator will charge more, money that MBTA doesn’t have.