BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has extended the contract of Keolis Commuter Services, which operates the agency’s commuter trains, by one year to mid-2027, the CommonWealth Beacon reports.
The agency said the extension allows time to develop a new contract arrangement for its future operator that would help provide private-sector funding to help electrify and increase service on the system, and to sort through 20 responses it received to a Request for Information issued last month on that potential new contract.
“The current contract model that we’ve always had is not designed to accommodate that kind of significant capital investment in partnership with the operator,” Michael Muller, the MBTA’s executive director of commuter rail, told the agency’s board.
Keolis has operated the MBTA commuter system since 2014 and is currently doing so under a four-year extension that runs through June 30, 2026. The additional year of the contract will be worth $407 million.
