Weekend Service Suspension Coming This Summer for Commuter Rail

Improvement projects on the Fitchburg line will result in weekend service suspensions along the commuter rail this summer.

According to the latest schedules, service to Concord will be affected beginning the weekend of Aug. 3 through late November.

Excluding Labor Day weekend, when the trains will run as usual, there will be neither train service nor alternate bus service west of the Brandeis/Roberts stop for the other 16 weekends during that four-month span.

Service suspensions west of Concord—from the Littleton/Route 495 stop out to Fitchburg—are scheduled to begin in June. Trains will originate and terminate at South Acton during that time.

The weekend track outages are required as the result of ongoing MBTA improvement projects on the line, according to a press release from the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Company (MBCR).

According to the MBTA website, the commuter rail improvement project is a corridor-wide series of projects meant to enhance safety and reduce transit times along the 50-mile rail line.

Among the benefits envisioned include:

• Modernized infrastructure allowing 80 mph travel speeds
• Increasing service reliability from 83 percent to 95 percent on-time performance
• Replacement or repair of eight bridge structures
• Reduced operating and maintenance cost while attracting new riders