FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — After a five-month delay, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is scheduled to begin a pilot program of commuter rail service to Foxborough on Oct. 21.
The 11-month trial, approved last November, was originally slated to begin in May [see “MBTA to begin Foxborough service on trial basis,” Trains News Wire, Nov. 30, 2018], but was delayed because track renovations took longer than expected, the Foxborough Patch website reports.
There will be 10 round trips daily between Foxborough and Boston’s South Station, with one-way fares of $8.75, but $4.25 discount tickets will be available for some reverse-commute trips — those to Foxborough in the morning and Boston in the afternoon.
Previously, the only MBTA service to the Foxborough station has been for New England Patriots games and other events at Gillette Stadium. The Sun-Chronicle reports the success of the pilot program will be based on an average of 210 passengers boarding in Foxborough daily, with no interruptions in other service.
ROBERT – Sorry I can’t agree with you on this one. I can’t react to your comments on MBTA mismanagement, as I haven’t lived in Massachusetts for fifty years. But your comment on consolidating lines is really off kilter and I believe wrong. In the United States a suburban train station is a park-ride. Consolidating stations and expanding the remaining park-rides is just plain foolish. It means spending more money on parking lots and increasing the auto traffic congestion at each one. Sorry ROBERT, you’ve missed the boat on this one.
The infrastructure is there. Use it.
You’re entitled to your opinion Charles.
The station at Foxborough consists of a long platform located on the far side of the gigantic parking lot at Gillette Stadium. The station will use a 500-car section of the lot. This service hopes to attract reverse commuters coming from Boston to jobs at the stadium and its adjacent shopping mall and hotel.
MBTA trains are pretty long (up to 10 cars) and full in the rush hour. I understand this service is partly in response to station parking lots on other lines being over-capacity already.
Another bad decision by the MBTA but it is not surprising from an agency that is known for bad decisions. They should be abandoning service on some of its multitude of branches and running more and longer trains from the main lines. Parking lots should be expanded to accommodate additional parking. Fewer branches means fewer expenses with minimal loss of ridership. MBTA remains the most incompetent transit agency.