BOSTON – Train service between Providence and Boston would be eliminated after 7 p.m. on weekdays and entirely on weekends starting as soon as July under a drastic set of cutbacks being considered by the cash-strapped Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, according to a report published today.
The Bay State transit agency, which operates the Providence-Boston commuter rail line, would be forced to cut a total of 51.9 million passenger trips on its trains, subway lines and buses to close a projected $160 million budget deficit for the fiscal year that starts July 1, The Boston Globe reported.
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The agency also would need to increase fare prices by enough to raise an additional $85 million per year. Although the document does not give a dollar figure for how much fares would be increased, MBTA general manager Daniel Grabauskas has estimated they would need to go up by 25 to 30 percent, the paper said.
The dire scenario is outlined in an internal budget document circulating among transportation officials in Boston, according to The Globe. The newspaper said it obtained the document, but did not publish a copy on its Web site.
MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo told Providence Business News the agency had no comment on the Globe report.
Mass. Gov. Deval L. Patrick recently proposed raising the Bay State’s gas tax by 19 cents per gallon, which would make it the highest in the nation, to close the state’s chronic transportation funding gap. Patrick’s plan would direct about one-third of the additional gas tax revenue to the MBTA to prevent cuts and fare increases.
However, lawmakers have reacted coolly to Patrick’s proposal, and The Globe suggested the highest increase they would agree to is 9 cents per gallon, less than half of what the governor wants.
Legislative leaders on Beacon Hill are also ironing out the final details of a state transportation policy overhaul that both chambers passed in recent weeks. The gas tax increase is not part of that package.
The MBTA’s commuter rail service, which set ridership records last year as gas prices soared, is a popular option for professionals – and those who work late on weekdays would lose the option of taking the train home under the cuts the agency is considering, The Globe noted.
In addition to the elimination of weeknight and weekend trains on all rail lines, the MBTA also would need to reduce by half the number of trains it runs between 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., according to The Globe. The agency estimates it would be cutting a total of 5.7 million commuter rail trips annually.
The MBTA expanded service on the Providence-Boston commuter rail line in 2006 with the addition of weekend trips. It also increased weekday service at the time.
The agency currently runs six train trips between the two capital cities after 7 p.m. on weeknights and 18 trips on weekends, according to the current timetable.
Rhode Island is in the process of constructing a new Intermodal Train Station in Warwick that would add an additional stop to the rail line. It is expected to be completed by the end of next year.
Last week, officials in Massachusetts selected three options to study further for a proposed expansion of commuter rail service to Fall River and New Bedford, which Patrick has promised to make a reality by 2016. His administration maintains that the South Coast rail project will go forward despite the budget problems facing the MBTA and the state.
In addition to the commuter rail cuts, the MBTA also would get rid of six stops on its subway’s Green Line and some bus lines; reduce subway and bus service by 50 percent on weeknights and weekends; and lay off 805 employees, The Globe reported.
For more information on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, visit MBTA.com.
