News & Reviews News Wire MBTA board approves land purchase for new commuter rail yard

MBTA board approves land purchase for new commuter rail yard

By Trains Staff | December 16, 2022

| Last updated on February 10, 2024

Widett Circle location is just a mile from South Station

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Diagram of rail yard
A concept for the proposed commuter rail layover facility at Widett Circle. MBTA

BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has received the go-ahead to buy 24 acres of land at Boston’s Widett Circle for a commuter rail layover facility, which would ease capacity issues at existing yards and at nearby South Station.

The Boston Herald reports the MBTA Board of Directors approved the purchase Thursday, allowing the agency to begin negotiations for the land. Creating of the new facility for midday and overnight storage would lesson congestion on commuter rail’s Fairmount Line, the MBTA says, by eliminating a significant number of deadhead moves.

“This has been decades of interest by the MBTA and the (Mass)DOT and state for this facility,” MBTA Chief Administrative Officer David Panagore said, according to the Herald. “This facility will provide mid-day layover facilities for our current operations and really unlocks all of our future needs and future discussions.”

The Widett Circle site, long a site for food processing and cold storage facilities, was viewed as a potential stadium site in Boston’s unsuccessful bid for the 2024 Olympics and since has been viewed as a prime spot for redevelopment, the Boston Globe reports. The location is about a mile from South Station and adjacent to the MBTA’s Southampton Street Yard.

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