MBTA Reveals Its Plans For ‘Phase 1’ of New Widett Circle Rail Yard
The T aims to begin construction early next year on a rail yard that can support its new fleet of electrified trains at Widett Circle, a 24-acre former food distribution center next to Interstate 93 in South Boston.
The T bought Widett Circle for $255 million in early 2023 in its quest to obtain more overnight train storage, which the agency describes as a necessary component of its plans to acquire more trains and increase commuter rail service.
In a public hearing on Wednesday evening at the State Transportation Building in downtown Boston, MBTA staff revealed that they are now ready to begin construction on the first phase of a new rail yard for the site.
The work will demolish several of the former warehouse buildings, relocate utilities, and add fill to raise the ground elevation of the site (which used to be the middle of Boston’s South Bay) and protect it from rising sea levels.
Once that site work is complete, the T will install six new storage tracks in the center of the site, each of which would be long enough to store a 9-car trainset.
Those tracks will also have overhead catenary structures that can recharge new battery-powered trains. The T is currently negotiating to lease 7 four-car battery-powered trains that would run on the Fairmount Line by the early 2030s; the agency is also shopping for 10 new battery-electric train engines that would run on the electrified Providence Line.
Alistair Sawers, the MBTA’s Director of Rail Modernization, explained that the new layover tracks at Widett would also store older diesel trains.
“The aspirations for regional rail do require more equipment,” said Sawers. “The legacy fleet is approaching expiration… The current procurement contains options for additional equipment. Should we exercise those, and find the funding, those will require additional layover for a net increase in the fleet.”
Sawers also told StreetsblogMASS that the new facilities at Widett Circle would not replace the T’s dormant plans for a large new South Side Maintenance Facility near Readville.
“This (at Widett) is a layover facility, so it’s separate,” said Sawers. “There is a longer discussion to be had about the South Side Maintenance Facility as it was previously specced. It needs repurposing for the new electric fleet. We are changing plans but the need remains to maintain BEMUs (battery electric multiple units) and diesel.”
The T hopes to solicit construction bids for the Phase 1 project later this fall, and begin construction in March. Construction is expected to take two years, followed by several months of testing and commissioning the new tracks.
The T is also doing preliminary design for a second phase of work that would add 12 more layover tracks and a train inspection pit. A third phase would build out more tracks on the rest of its Widett Circle property.
However, staff at Wednesday’s meeting noted that the Legislature and the Healey administration have not yet committed any construction funding for those future phases, so they currently have no determined schedule for completion.
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