MBTA Commuter Rail Schedule Update Released For Wakefield

Press release from the Town of Wakefield:

May 23, 2024 - 10:25am

Note: The Commuter Rail’s initial summer construction plan eliminated the inbound 284 train, making the last morning rush-hour option the 282 train, which leaves Wakefield Station at 7:39 a.m. After advocacy from constituents, municipal leaders (including our Town Administrator’s office), and the legislative delegation, the MBTA will amend the schedule and restore the 284, which leaves Wakefield Station at 8:24 a.m.

This announcement was released by MBTA/Keolis.

The MBTA and Keolis Commuter Services (Keolis), the operating partner for the MBTA Commuter Rail, have announced a temporary schedule change on the Haverhill Line to facilitate important rail replacement work. Until the end of the summer, midday inbound trains will run express between Ballardvale and North Station via the Lowell Line. Passengers between Reading and Wyoming Hill can take MBTA bus 137 for free to Oak Grove or Malden Center for a connection with the Orange Line.

This temporary schedule adjustment will allow crews to replace some of the last jointed rail in the MBTA system with continuous welded rail. This will improve performance and resiliency on the Haverhill Line in conjunction with the recently installed Positive Train Control/Automated Train Control signal system. The project will reduce noise and vibrations experienced by abutters along the line, and the new rail will not need to be replaced again for about 25 years.

Regular inbound train service will operate in the morning, with the last scheduled train departing Reading at 8:18 a.m. Train service from Reading will resume in the evening with the 6:08 p.m. inbound train. Outbound service will not be affected.

An updated full schedule can be found here.

Passengers can stay connected with Commuter Rail by calling customer service at 617-222-3200, following @MBTA_CR_Alerts on X or signing up for T-Alerts at www.mbta.com/alerts.

Keolis Commuter Services operates and maintains the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s commuter rail system, the fifth largest commuter rail operation in North America. KCS is a subsidiary of Keolis North America (KNA), both headquartered in Boston, and employs approximately 2,400 people throughout the region. KCS and KNA are part of Keolis Group, an innovative global leader in transit services with more than a century of passenger transportation experience and operations in 13 countries.

This press release was produced by the Town of Wakefield.The views expressed here are the author’s own.