Boston MA...South Station Renovations...

Seeing that South Station is finally going to expand is great news… Right? As a commuter that travels in and out of South Station 4 to 5 times a week I can say… It is a nightmare! Between the mass amount of people getting off the train in the mornings and then others trying to board a different train right next to this one, it just makes for a huge mess. It takes on average 10 minutes to get off the train and though the crowd to even enter the building of South Station during peak travel hours. Every commuter will agree that South Station needs serious renovations.

However the downsides seem to be great. I travel the Franklin line everyday, we had repairs all summer long which lead to serious delays each and everyday. This in plain English.. Sucked! No matter what time I took the train in to Boston I was late. The construction is going to pose for delays, massively crowded terminal tracks, and huge headaches for commuters. Yes I understand that the end result will be worth it but how long will the construction last? We all know that Boston generally takes there sweet time doing things, look at the big dig! I think that many of commuters like myself have so many questions about this project and this includes the money issues as well. Yes I do understand that it is grant money we are using but when push comes to shove is this said “grant” money going to be enough to finish the project? If not where is the extra money going to come from?

I guess seeing that we are facing possible fare hikes and now a huge over haul of South Station I fear some kind of serious debt brewing to the already huge deficit that needs to be paid... If more money is needed I just hope it is the city that is required to cover it and not the MBTA/MBCR….

Moderator's Note: Moved to the MBTA Rail Operations forum, since it seems to be more directed at their operations than those of Amtrak.

Most of the construction for expanding South Station should have little impact on current operations. Only when they have to cut in the switches to access the new tracks will they have to shut down the station, and even then they'll probably do the work in a series of blitzes during weekends when the reduced traffic will allow them to close only part of the station, or use Back Bay as a temporary terminus.

I think that any renovations or expansion of South Station are still several years in the future. The Feds granted money to study expansion, but realistically that means actual construction won't happen for a long time.