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Dive Brief:

• The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority last week approved a $54 million plan to bring battery-electric trains to the Fairmount Commuter Rail Line, which serves an environmental justice community.
• The battery-electric trains will replace diesel-powered trains. The MBTA estimates that the new trains will save 1.6 million gallons of diesel fuel and mitigate 17,700 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually compared to diesel trains.
• “There have been discussions about electrifying our rail network for many years. This agreement is a gamechanger that will benefit generations of passengers, beginning first on the Fairmount Line,” said MBTA General Manager and CEO Phillip Eng in a statement.

Dive Insight:

The MBTA, which serves the greater Boston region, currently operates all commuter line trains with diesel locomotives. The transit agency explored electrification of one or more commuter lines as part of its “Rail Vision” plan, which it undertook in 2018 and 2019. The Rail Vision report, issued in February 2020, envisioned electrification using overhead catenary wires, which would have been a multimillion-dollar endeavor. Soon after the report proposed such improvements, the COVID-19 pandemic sent ridership plummeting.

But by May 2023, ridership on the Fairmount Line recovered to 130% of pre-pandemic levels. Keolis Commuter Services, which operates MBTA’s commuter rail system, proposed to the MBTA in December the idea to implement battery-electric trains, eliminating the need for construction of new overhead wires. Where these wires exist, such as at South Station, the battery-electric trains will recharge for the 9.2-mile run to Readville, Massachusetts. The MBTA’s battery-electric trains are expected to arrive in early 2028 and would run every 20 minutes, compared with the current half-hourly schedule.

Boston isn’t the only U.S. city electrifying its trains. Chicago’s Metra commuter railroad ordered eight two-car battery-powered trainsets from Stadler U.S. in February to begin electrifying its fleet.