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The MBTA is struggling to deliver satisfactory service within its core area, but lawmakers are poised to ask the transit authority to study more expansion.
The budget recommended Sunday by a House-Senate conference committee requires the Massachusetts Department of Transportation to conduct a feasibility study of extending the Blue Line to Lynn. The Blue Line currently terminates at Wonderland Station in Revere, which is separated from Lynn by Saugus. Lynn is currently served by buses to Wonderland and downtown Boston, and a heavily-used commuter rail line to North Station.
As Banker & Tradesman has reported, Lynn is one of several Gateway Cities attracting significant attention from multifamily developers and from homebuyers.
The results of the study would be due by March 31, 2020, and would look at the capital and operating costs associated with the expansion. Analysts would also explore projected ridership levels, environmental impacts, and potential economic, social and cultural benefits in the North Shore.
The MBTA is at the early stages of an ambitious commuter rail expansion to the South Coast and is building an extension of the T’s Green Line into Somerville, but the authority is mired in controversy as it tries to bring its core service up to acceptable levels and accelerate spending on capital improvements.
