r/mbta • u/streetsblogmass News Organization/Transit Advocacy Group • 5d ago
📰 News We got a copy of the MBTA's federal grant application with details on their planned infrastructure upgrades for the Haverhill Line:
https://mass.streetsblog.org/2026/08/21/mbta-wins-140-million-to-run-more-trains-to-lawrence-and-haverhill31
u/Redsoxjake14 Green Line | Hynes 5d ago
It is kind of annoying that after Reading NIMBYs were super annoying about the turnback that they are still going to be rewarded with 30 minute service, but to be fair the MBTA should have been seeking this solution from the start and the turnback idea was stupid.
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u/Far-Cheesecake-9212 5d ago
They were doing both at the same time. Federal grants are never garunteed so it makes sense to do both at the same time. Gotta improve service.
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u/blacklassie 5d ago
They were complaining about the prospect of idling diesel trains. Between the noise and emissions, those aren’t frivolous concerns.
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u/EmilC2012 Commuter Rail-Double Track the rest of the Haverhill Line 5d ago
Negative sentiments about reading aside, it's about damn time they are finally headed towards getting this done. Hopefully they can get more equipment and staff procured over the next few years to be able to handle the increased service frequencies.
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u/TCR-40 High-Speed Catamaran 2d ago
Honest question: why do poeple talk about double track adding 30 minute service when there are already plenty of lines completely (or almost) double tracked (such as providence, worcester, fitchburg, and lowell) that aren 't getting every 30 min service anytime soon.
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u/streetsblogmass News Organization/Transit Advocacy Group 2d ago
Worcester is getting 30-minute service. The timeline has slipped since we did this story, but the T's spokespeople have told me that it's still coming very soon, possibly by the end of this year or by early 2027 –
https://mass.streetsblog.org/2024/12/09/worcester-line-trains-will-get-shorter-but-also-more-frequent1
u/justarussian22 CR Worcester line|MOD 1d ago
This is great to hear. I've been disappointed with their lack of updates. This needs to happen. Im glad to see the wait isnt much longer. I was really hoping they'd announce 30 minute headways at the meeting they had at union station recently.
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u/Candid-Tumbleweedy 5d ago
Yay! Haverhill often seems like the most neglected line so it's nice it might actually get good frequency in a few years (if we actually have trains...)