Extreme Makeover: Newton Edition. Note the carcass of an old platform at left of the tracks. (via Wikipedia)

Ninety-one miles away from Springfield Union Station, officials celebrated a milestone that, on the surface, has little to do with the 413. On November 25, Governor Maura Healey, Newton Congressman Jake Auchincloss, the city’s present and future legislative delegation and Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s General Manager Phil Eng celebrated planned upgrades at the Newtonville station.

No shortage of infrastructure projects in Eastern Mass have have little or no impact on the 413. Yet, this project is different. In addition to making the station accessible, it will restore Newtonville’s second platform. The announcement only pertains to one of three Newton stations in need of this work. However, this begins to address a bottleneck in Worcester to Boston commuter rail traffic. Once corrected, it will clear up space for trains to Springfield and beyond.

“This is going to be modern. This is going to be user-friendly and it’s going to be accessible,” Healey assured last week.

“It is part of our plan to improve the commuter rail to improve public transportation infrastructure to make sure we are doing all we can to support our residents” and businesses, she continued.

The announcement indicated that the contract for work at Newtonville station will go out to bid next year. The state seems to have sufficient funds to complete this project. However, two other stations in Newton, which also need accessibility upgrades and second platforms, still need the same work. The platforms will also reportedly be shorter than the average Worcester Line train to save money.

Right now, only one side platform faces one track at each of Newton’s stations. Trains must switch tracks—and potentially block traffic in the other direction—or skip the city entirely. All other stations on the MBTA’s Worcester Line have platforms that serve at least two tracks. Worcester long had a platform facing only one track. However, as the terminus for commuter rail, this created different challenges. A new platform that will face two tracks opened this year.

Right now, the status quo doesn’t hinder the Lake Shore Limited—currently Amtrak’s only train linking Western Mass and Boston. However, these Newton inefficiencies will almost certainly limit service expansion west of Worcester, to say nothing of commuter rail itself. In other words, the fate of Newton’s stations has very real consequences for realizing Compass Rail, the name the Massachusetts Department of Transportation has given to its East-West rail program.

The Guv and Newtonians platforming a new message. (via Facebook/Mass Governor)

The State House News Service reported that Healey said the project will cost about $50 million. The MBTA did not confirm whether that figure covers the entire project. However, a spokesperson said MBTA funds, including bonding, as well as state and federal monies would finance the project.

“We had action on the local, state and federal level to come together to do something really good for not only residents, but for the economy, and not just here in Newton but across this region,” Healey said Monday.

Among the sources was a $7 million grant Congressman Auchincloss, who represented the Newtonville neighborhood on the City Council. He was among the officials feting the announcement last week.

“This has been a long time coming and I am so grateful for the partnership of Governor Healey and General Manager Eng for making it happen,” he said.

Striking a contrast with the “reality show” of federal picks for the next cabinet, Auchincloss praised Healey’s choices for her administration. This was clearly a hat-tip to Eng, who in less than two years has implemented a plan to eliminate slow zones and challenged the agency to work (somewhat) more efficiently.

Presently, none of Newton’s commuter rail stations on the Worcester Line are accessible to those with disabilities. The project had languished for years and had been subject to half-baked proposals. Their only access is via stairs from overpasses that cross the tracks and the adjacent Massachusetts Turnpike.

When the state extended the Pike from Weston into Boston proper, it followed the old Boston & Albany right-of-way through Newton to South Station. In addition to consuming several city blocks, the process ripped out several stations.

A long, long time ago, in an Auburndale far, far away… The original H.H. Richardson stations were demolished to make way for the Pike. (via Wikipedia)

Only three stations remain in Newton proper: Auburndale, Newtonville and West Newton. While vestiges of a second platform remain at some of these stops, the stations effectively became single platform facilities next to the south track. However, these platforms were never flush with the doors of passenger rail cars.

Correcting accessibility inequity is something anybody can appreciate. Yet, the element of the project that should interest Western Mass is the second platform. While there was no explicit tie to Compass Rail or East-West rail, Healey did mention the federal funds the state has received to expand service to Springfield.

The state plans to complete the procurement process next year with two years of construction to follow. Exact details are not available due to the competitive nature of the labor market in construction. Yet, this would put this project on a fast track compared to East-West rail. That effort faces two years of design and legal minutiae before shovels can dig into anything more substantial than ceremonial dirt piles.

MBTA officials also did not say whether upgrading Auburndale and West Newton would cost the same as Newtonville. Money is not yet allocated for those stations. However, the state has indicated as early as April that Newtonville would go first.

It is probably too early to say whether every commuter train to Framingham or Worcester would stop at the Newton stations post-upgrade. It will make commuter rail more attractive to Newtonians, who gag on some of the worst traffic inside Route 128 despite the existing service and the MBTA Green Line route through Newton’s leafy confines.

The Newton stations are not the only Worcster Line projects of interest to Western Mass. The state is lumbering toward a plan to add a third track between Weston and Framingham. Before the Turnpike, the line was quad-tracked from Back Bay through at least Wellesley. There is no room to add track along Pike—not without the sacrilege of giving the Pike a road diet. There is space where the track dives south into Weston.

Upgrades in the East would help bring more trains into the station–Union Station, that is. (WMP&I)

The addition of a third track through at least Natick will give the MBTA and MassDOT even more breathing room. There could be more flexibility for additional commuter trains, potential branch services and slots for intercity service west of Worcester.

One of the biggest unknowns, however, is what any such westward service will look like. Several upgrades, if realized, could open up many possibilities for the 413. It is generally understood that when East-West rail comes to be later this decade, it will start as service to New Haven via Springfield—the former Inland Route.

However, the longer-term goal is service to Pittsfield, which really means service to Albany. Plus, service that turns north in Springfield toward Greenfield and Northampton is also plausible.

The state has received federal funding to develop service plans. However, residents may begin demanding details about how this all will work. Among the questions are what will projects like MBTA’s upgrades to the Worcester Line do for capacity and what more work will be necessary to look beyond those end-of-decade trains between Boston and Springfield.