The Commuter Rail Bandwagon

Kind of lost in the shuffle recently was the federal government's investment in building a new commuter rail parking lot in Leominster. It's all part of the (hopeful) plan to speed up service to Boston from the current 90 minutes to an hour.

The Leominster lot, currently about 140 spots, fills up quickly. For a lot of Fitchburg residents, it's actually a barely quicker commuter to hop on in Leominster and drive back to Fitchburg, because the driving time makes up for the additional train time to downtown Fitchburg. However, that Fitchburg parking garage is awfully nice on snowy days.

In any case, this is good news for Fitchburg and the city. It's another sign that there is a growing commitment to better rail service in the region. The state seems to be slowly moving toward making an investment, and the federal government having a stake in the issue is only good news (and would the feds drop $4.5 million on a parking garage if they didn't think rail use was going increase?).

Throw into the mix Stephen DiNatale's desire to see commuter rail improved.

When asked what he thought would be important to work on if elected state representative this fall, DiNatale's first issue was the commuter rail. He notes there has been no investment in the Fitchburg line in 30 years, and that it's vital to improving downtown and the entire city.

DiNatale said while the long-term work on speeding up service is done, other changes should be made. He said cars should be upgraded and kept in good shape -- little things like air-conditioned cars on hot days, which isn't always the case. When asked about moving the "express" train from 4:40 p.m. to after 5 p.m., DiNatale said that is an obvious area of investigation.

"If we’re successful in achieving (quicker service), that creates great economic stability for the region," DiNatale said. "One of our plusses is the housing. We’ve got great housing out here and it's extremely affordable. If you can to Boston in a hour, you can get a palatial estate."

It's going to take a while. DiNatale said it's likely a 10-year plan, but also said he thinks that's too long and wants to quicken the process. Perhaps the city should consider a 10-year plan for downtown -- creating new housing, making Riverfront Park a viable, well-used greenspace, and luring new retail to the area -- over the next decade, with the long view of bringing all those pieces together by 2016 and making downtown Fitchburg a vibrant, active core once again.