Boston's Commuter Rail Network Evolution

From its beginning in 1965, Boston's commuter rail network has grown to 141 stations, spanning 398 miles (641 kilometers). This animated video takes you through the timeline of when new stations were opened, forming the MBTA commuter rail network that we know today.
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☑️ Video Criteria:
- Population given is the sum of all counties and independent cities with stations in them.
- Future extensions are shown only if a construction tender has been awarded for their completion, at the time of video publication. If a construction tender has been issued for a project not included in the video, feel free to leave a comment, and we'll add it to our list to update.
- If you find an error, feel free to let us know in the comments. Please include links to any sources that will help us correct the error. Note: comments with links might take up to 24 hours to appear due to KZbin anti-spam policies.
📸 Image Credits:
- Pi.1415926535 - Own work, CC BY 3.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
- Michael Hicks - Flickr: img_3106, CC BY 2.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
- Pi.1415926535 - Own work, CC BY 3.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
- John Phelan - Own work, CC BY 3.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
🖼 Thumbnail designed by jacobestrella.com​/
🚋 #MBTA
Boston Fairmount Line commuter rail
Boston Fitchburg/South Acton Line commuter rail
Boston Framingham/Worcester Line commuter rail
Boston Franklin/Foxboro/Dedham Line commuter rail
Boston Greenbush Line commuter rail
Boston Haverhill/Reading Line commuter rail
Boston Kingston/Plymouth Line commuter rail
Boston Lowell/Woburn Line commuter rail
Boston Middleborough/Lakeville commuter rail
Boston Needham/Millis Line commuter rail
Boston Newburyport/Rockport commuter rail
Boston Providence/Stoughton commuter rail
Boston Bedford commuter rail
Boston South Sudbury commuter rail
Rhode Island Westerly Providence commuter rail
New Hampshire Concord commuter rail

[@VanishingUnderground]

Apologies for the mispronunciations. I had researched some of the station pronunciations beforehand, but clearly I missed a few. I'll be re-releasing this video soon with the corrections.

[@MrJoshua13]

Also, a couple of minor corrections: South Attleboro closed in 2020 due to Coronavirus. Expected to re-open at a future date tbd. The same with Plymouth. Plymouth closed in 2020 due to Coronavirus with plans to re-open currently unknown. "Tauton/East Tauton" is 'Taunton' and 'East Taunton'. And mispronunciations for Woburn and Natick. Thanks for the video!!!

[@unknownPLfan]

A decent rule of thumb I've noticed is to just go with traditional English place-name pronunciations, but even then, English place names are notorious even among British people, and New England has its own variations. I don't think anyone needs to apologize for pronunciations of New England towns unless it's something like saying "Wor-sester" or "Glow-sester," which are reasonably famous English place names that match New England's pronunciations.

[@MrJoshua13]

@@unknownPLfan Agreed. It’s just something New England natives notice. I was watching the Montreal video yesterday and I was amazed with the pronunciation and I said to myself, I wonder if he can do that here. Haha.

[@nomadMik]

Honestly, it's your pronunciation of Massachusetts that seemed the most odd to my Rhode-Island-via-California-via-Netherlands-via-New-South-Wales ears, but that's okay.

[@MrJoshua13]

Also, another addition is ‘West Station’ on the Framingham line. The new station is apart of a project to reroute a portion of interstate 90 and utilize an existing CSX rail yard as a layover yard for MBTA and commuter rail trains, as well as the new West Station planned for a 2040 opening. Yes, 19 years from now 😅.

[@benlawrence309]

My heart sinks a bit when stations and lines start closing in the late 70s

[@nomadMik]

It's depressing, isn't it. The way they disappear and reappear, only to disappear again, must be terrible for the economy. Imagine moving somewhere for a job, and then your means of getting to work just stopping one day. It happens everywhere, but it seems more routine in the US. Crazy.

[@therealGLAD]

It was exciting to see them return though! Especially in new areas like the south east

[@interstellarphred]

@@therealGLAD Problem with the railway phoenix in the south east, is that the stations are massive parking lots in the middle of nowhere, that negates its function as a regional service to commerce centers outside the central city, result: car traffic not really reduced, just foisted off to the host communities meaning those roads need to be widened and no walkable development near the stations .

[@patrick97764]

@@nomadMik that is one of the reasons why people in north america view public transit as unreliable.

[@jermainelong1843]

Have you heard of the Beeching report? Here in the UK our railways were decimated in the mid 60s and now we're struggling to restore many of the lost routes😕

[@anderslarsen6009]

A electrification of the lines combined with a North-South tunnel and EMU´s would transform this network to european standard

[@mainmanjoshnicles4375]

Yes, in fact there are several studies being done on the different possibilities for an electric connection between the two stations. Unfortunately it seems to be in the cost of billions of dollars and nobody knows where that money will come from.

[@DDELE7]

What if (and I know the technology exists) instead of electrifying parts of the Commuter Rail, the T looks into battery powered trains or trains that are hybrid battery powered. The locomotives recharge over the catenary lines at South Station and other strategic points and then away it goes off the wires. The costs to build out full electric power could be reduced considerably.

[@qjtvaddict]

So basically useful?

[@qjtvaddict]

@@mainmanjoshnicles4375 just cut the defense budget

[@qjtvaddict]

@@DDELE7 they still need to electrify some of the lines

[@MarloSoBalJr]

Gotta give MBTA credit for pushing their hand against political opposition to link everyone in East Mass the best way possible. We have this issue here in Maryland where we can't even get a train extended to Newark, Delaware; let alone, midday/reverse peak/weekend service on the Brunswick Line to give Frederick, MD (3rd largest city) better access

[@quanbrooklynkid7776]

Damn nd I always want to visit Maryland... I'm from NYC

[@cmanlovespancakes]

Well New Hampshire still doesn't want anything to do with MBTA commuter rail system.

[@nonenoneonenonenone]

Amtrak, I'm sure, does not want people to be able to travel all the way from New Haven to DC via commuter rail. That break is the only one.

[@schwenda3727]

@@cmanlovespancakes has MBTA ever contemplated on just simply extending service from Lowell to the southeastern parking lot of the Pheasant Lane Mall? To which the state line runs immediately south of the mall building itself? With the station being within said parking lot on the MA side of the border? Potential Nashua commuters win and the NH state government’s bean counters win… to which I very much trust is the primary concern of the opposition within NH?

[@TheMusiclover500]

They’re Finally pushing it west in Springfield & Holyoke around the Amherst knowledge corridor around the Connecticut River, I’d love to see it go to Pittsfield give me all of MA!

[@bos2pdx2yvr]

As a native Bostonian, I loved this video! Great information and history. Your pronunciation of Woburn, Concord, Haverhill, Natick and a lot of other town made my ears hurt. I’m glad you’re doing a corrected version! 😀 Look forward to seeing more videos!

[@gretchendietz1599]

We have to listen to these pronunciations in South Station because the announcement are done by computer voices so we hear Scituate pronounced situ-eight and Greenbush pronounced GreenBUSH. Surprised he got Lechmere right but Woburn is so often called Woeburn and h's pronounced in Haverhill and Dedham.

[@JohnNeville617]

Dedham(DED-əm) wasn't great either but Dead-ham is a fairly common mispronunciation.

[@garyturner5204]

LMAO. I just shared a comment after watching this very well produced video. It I also had to comment on a few of the blatantly mispronounced city and town names. Such pronunciations are a dead giveaway that this announcer is not local to Massachusetts. :)

[@robertcrafton7187]

Wow. Your best American commuter rail system video yet. I like how you have been building up to the larger systems. The dizzying pace of openings/closures was like watching a transit soap opera. Super impressive system.

[@nomadMik]

It's comprehensive, but as somebody who's taken trains on a few of those lines, I wouldn't call it impressive. I don't think the rolling stock has been updated since the 1960s-I had to climb a ladder just to get on one of the trains once, because there wasn't even a proper platform. All still cash-based, paper-based ticketing, too, 1990s-style, at least when I was riding it a few years ago, and it's entirely separate from the subway system. Few of the lines have a particularly frequent service, and it's not as reliable as it should be. It has the potential to be a pretty good system, and hopefully, if the federal infrastructure bill passes, it will get better. But it's really only limped along, whenever I've used it in the 2010s. Massachusetts and Rhode Island deserve better.

[@kaicandoit]

@@nomadMik that’s not 100% true regarding ticket collection or the rolling stock. They’ve been ordering and implementing new trains for years, both engines and passenger cars. They order double deckers for higher capacity. Also, the ticketing is mostly digital now. You can both purchase on the app, or pay by card and cash now. They are also going to make it tap and go at main stations soon. I use these trains a lot so I end up trying to be as up to date and efficient with payment.. but I will say the big issue is that the whole network isn’t even electrified, no connection between north and south stations, and there are rarely high platforms outside of the immediate boston area.

[@interstellarphred]

@@kaicandoit Accurate observations, but you must know how the political culture functions here, as witness the blow off with the plans for the West station that was to be constructed with the along with gigabuck plus highway project., along with the legally binding agreements for transit projects from the Big Dig that have still not been built. Being deferred to the dreaded "phase three" usually means never, or at least not in the time span of a human life.

[@AustinLaPlante]

That was quick, even it’s the Commuter Rail aka Purple Line. Can’t for the subway part of Boston.

[@paddyballgame]

The water placement on the map baffles me. It makes Stoughton look like a nice little seaside community.

[@andrew_ray]

I'm not sure what this coastline is, but it bears little resemblance to the actual coastline. Hyannis is supposed to be about halfway out Cape Cod, but the cape is just... not there

[@VanishingUnderground]

I had to distort the coastline quite a bit in order to fit everything on the screen unfortunately, and prioritized that over geographic accuracy

[@andrew_ray]

@@VanishingUnderground I figured that was it. Impressive amount of research that must go into these, especially for a system of this scale.

[@paddyballgame]

@@VanishingUnderground also, when they finally get around to finishing the Fall River and New Bedford lines (a/k/a South Coast Rail), they will be extending the Stoughton line, through Easton, Raynham, and Taunton. The Middleboro extension to FR & NB is only going to be temporary.

[@andr_w]

Seaside Stoughton wasn't as bad as (temporary) Sullivan Square being on the Everettt side of the Mystic River :)

[@davidmorin2818]

I'm surprised it's taken this long for service to reach Fall River and New Bedford, since they're the largest cities in the southeast region of the state

[@TheMusiclover500]

MBTA said Metro Providence doesn’t count unless it’s the city of Providence RI 😂

[@garyturner5204]

I agree. I have many friends that live in the Fall River, Dartmouth and New Bedford area. It is great to see rail service finally being offered to these areas.

[@perfectallycromulent]

you should never be surprised when it takes a long time for rail service to be provided in the USA. for most places "never" is when rail service will reach them.

[@dangerdavedestroyerofdomai6991]

I cant believe it took that long for the south shore to get rail connections into Boston!

[@danielellis2151]

I’m from Boston and I love trains and I love this video man I didn’t even know the MBTA went into Concord New Hampshire

[@amfm889]

Very impressed with the details, Zach: the snowstorm that closed the Bedford Branch; the bridge fire that truncated service to North Station; and the now-they're-open-now-they're-closed-now-they're open again stations. Also your good sense not to go through all the re-namings! Like the color-coding, too. And now it's on to the T spider maps. Oh, yes: props for pronouncing Lechmere correctly. :-D

[@Saxshoe]

If you can do Boston, you can definitely do NJDOT/NJTransit, which probably has the most bizarre amalgam of originating companies and services

[@alexharris2495]

I think he did

[@pakboimsal8498]

Also should do the metra

[@alexandrac591]

I remember feeling brilliant when I discovered that a monthly 1A pass cost the same as a regular system monthly pass. Before Boston Landing opened, I shaved 40 minutes off my commute by going from Back Bay to Yawkey and grabbing a bus from there. I have a very special place in my heart for the commuter rail.

[@thefareplayer2254]

Despite 2/3rd of the pronunciations being very, very wrong, good video!

[@QuarioQuario54321]

Like what?

[@travgames0113]

You missed in the future that the Fall River/New Bedford lines will move to the Stoughton Line and add two new stations. And middleboro will turn to an additional station.

[@DoubleTap_Gaming]

I used to ride the T alot as a teen. Some of my best life moments were because of the T.

[@alexharris2495]

I think it would be a good idea for MBTA to look into resuming service to new Hampshire

[@thomasconnors7511]

Awesome watch. I live on the South Shore and take the Kingston Line into Boston regularly. Well down video.❤

[@alexjauq7893]

I am very impressed with the number of stations there is

[@andrew_ray]

Several stations were closed during the pandemic and will not reopen. Silver Hill and Hastings on the Fitchburg Line and Montserrat and Pride's Crossing on the Rockport Line were closed to improve travel times because they were very close to other stations. Plimptonville on the Franklin Line was closed due to extremely low usage - I believe ridership was estimated at 9 people per weekday pre-pandemic. Plymouth was also closed, but is expected to reopen next year. Winchester Center and South Attleboro are closed for reconstruction. The former is expected to reopen in 2024 according to a recent report. No public ETA for the latter. Finally, Mishawum is not officially closed, but has no scheduled services on the current active timetable.

[@MattyAviation]

There were plans to restore service to Gardner Station on the Fitchburg line, but it was deemed to be not worth the cost because the Route 2 expressway would be faster than the train due to the incline of Mount Wachusett. Because of this, the train would only see 50 riders per day and would not be worth it, especially with how much double-tracking the rails to Gardner would cost. This is how we got the Wachusett stop.

[@bedris4765]

The Cape needs train service. Taking public transit to Boston from Hyannis takes 4 hours outside of summer, when the CapeFlyer has 3 round trips per week. They are planning to expand service to 6 round trips per week, but the Army Corps of Engineers is not cooperating with lowering the bridge for these.

[@janAlekantuwa]

Once South Station is expanded, we'll have enough room for trains to the Cape

[@champan250]

Congrats for pronouncing Worcester correctly, but you got Haverhill (hay-voille) and Natick (emphasis in Na). Also love the fact that you didn't bother to try to pronounce Billerica (buur-rik-ca)

[@counterfit5]

Missed Woburn, too (not that anyone would get it right just from reading the name, anyway)

[@kaicandoit]

Or it’s pronounced have-roll. Nay-tick. Bill-rickah. Woooooburn. And Lowell is simply Lowl

[@MattyC62185]

Have you done a video on the evolution of the New York City subway and while you’re at it do the Long Island rail Road the MTA metro north and NJ transit while you’re at it

[@Marquipuchi]

@@kaicandoit yeah yours are far more accurate idk who in the world says hay voille and buur rik ca is

[@michlo3393]

My dad is from Boston and as a kid growing up, I thought it sat on the "Chawz" River. I didn't realize it was _Charles_ until highschool.

[@buildingexpedition6354]

Great video! And I gotta hand it to you, for somebody who's not from the area, you nailed almost every pronunciation

[@unknownPLfan]

Learning about other parts of the US really made me appreciative of what we have in New England. It's not perfect, but I'm happy that we basically have every town on the eastern half of our state already served by commuter rail, and we could very well have a fully electrified RER/S-Bahn-type system if the full MBTA rail vision is implemented in the next few decades.

[@WillsRailfanning]

Wow, you know public transport in America is dismal when Boston is considered one of the better systems 😂😂

[@unknownPLfan]

@@WillsRailfanning yeah basically. And I've lived in Germany so I know what a "good" regional transit system is supposed to look like.

[@unknownPLfan]

@@WillsRailfanning yeah pretty much - I've seen what other countries have and it's a much higher tier than with Boston - though personally there's a lot of nostalgia I have for riding MBTA commuter trains that give them all a pleasant homey feeling so I'm biased even after I've seen how much better you can do transit. Also, as is true with a lot of east coast transit, there's a lot of potential since it's built on something that used to be much better and you can see it in the size of the system.

[@kcallaghan7839]

A lot of people come here to go to our colleges and tour our cities. Different languages accents and cultures. Alot of people in one area. the subway service has worked hard for a long time. They are doing them over now that things are slow.

[@Improj69]

A S bahn like system would be nice

[@harri2626]

Thank you for this comprehensive summary. The message seems to be - two steps forward, one step back, year after year. How did commuters plan where to live and how to travel when trains came and went so quickly and easily? Let's hope the current network is allowed to stay so that long-term patronage can build. How much money was wasted on building (rebuilding) so many stations only for them to be closed so quickly? How did they cope with the shortages, then surpluses, of rolling stock and crews for these on/off routes?

[@emansphoto_6428]

The 70s and early 80s had incredible setbacks and closing of stations. Prior to then, this metro system was enormous.

[@CDtrumpet5]

yeah it was so much better back then. God rail really is dead in america and nobody can convince me otherwise

[@mr_godoy2008]

If 3rd rail was put on the commuter rail

[@FrogeYT]

As a person living in the boston area I can't believe how my town of Dedham went from having 6 stations to only 2 today,

[@mbrproductions160]

Great Video! I love the MBTA Commuter Rail!

[@amfm889]

Someone else caught this: the temporary Sullivan station is on the wrong side of the water: it should be near the temporary East Cambridge station.

[@MrMrshawn2000]

Loved it! Can't wait for the subway video

[@sambeesley1]

Fascinating. I have enjoyed all your videos and I hope you expand to do more countries if you would want to.

[@MGIC21]

I would love to see a video of the evolution of New Jersey Transit

[@old-wise-one4473]

Can't wait to see the Boston MBTA subway Vid! Are you looking at MicroBus networks?

[@thequietstag4366]

I love the intro, the music is great

[@BeautifulRhodeIsland]

I can't wait for the Pawtucket & Central Falls stop in 2022!!

[@spencerdias2417]

Can't wait until the MBTA comes back to NH. Driving in Boston is as bad as anything.

[@scott.macdonald]

I'm pretty sure that hasn't happened because the NH gov hates funding public transit. There's no good reason why Boston-Lowell-Nashua-Manchester-Concord can't support a train line. But the money for it shouldn't have to come from Mass residents

[@QuarioQuario54321]

Wow. The MBTA subway will be super confusing. As for what’s next, I’m going with one of the following : LA, SF, Dallas, Portland, SD, Denver, Seattle, Miami, Charlotte, Minneapolis, or Phoenix. I don’t see Philadelphia, Chicago, or New York coming any time soon.

[@nonenoneonenonenone]

Mostly because they use colors.

[@railfantheworld7890]

Amazing Video!!

[@fltadm1]

I thought the MBTA subway lines were confusing, but the Commuter line is a nightmare to understand.

[@interstate1335]

Really wish you could do the Las Vegas buses and cover the old Desert Wind train. Would help a lot because I am super sad there are no trains to here.

[@scott.macdonald]

The commuter rail is so important to me. I can live in Boston without a car, and still take the trains to visit all my family around the state!

[@TommyTom21]

Yep, I just wish they ran at faster speeds.

[@scott.macdonald]

@@TommyTom21 For me at least, frequency is a lot more important than speed. If they can keep within 30-60 min between trains, that would make the system much more usable. And it would probably be a lot cheaper than trying to make 175 year old railroads run fast

[@bethbudner50]

Awesome job so far! My only suggestion for the future would be to continue speaking a little bit more slowly along w/ a possible visual time-line for the T Commuter Rail laypersons who may be rather new to the above system (i.e. Rockport and/or Framingham/Worcester lines). Anyway, I hoped you found my above suggestions helpful & keep up the great work on these fun videos. Beth Budner, Auburndale, MA!

[@edwardmiessner6502]

Love this! Wish I could give it a hundred thumbs up. I grew up in the area, specifically in Scituate on the South Shore long before the Greenbush branch was opened (actually reopened for unsubsidized service by the New Haven ended in 1959) Here are a few Massachusetts place name you mispronounced: Concord: Not Con-corde but Kawn-kid Haverhill: Not Hay-ver-hill but Hay-vruhl Natick: Not Nah-dick but Nay-dick

[@mbtaphotographer]

Also, you don't pronounce the "h" in Dedham (should sound like "ded-um"

[@gretchendietz1599]

Woburn: not woeburn but wooburn; Dedham: not deadham but dedim

[@trainsareepiv]

I railfan at Concord a lot and I approve this comment

[@garyturner5204]

LMAO. I love how so very many other locals all catch the mispronounced city and town names like you have! :)

[@backbayproductions9508]

I'd love to see the Fitchburg Line expand back to Gardner one day

[@nonenoneonenonenone]

How about all the way to Greenfield, Shelburne Falls, North Adams and Albany?

[@backbayproductions9508]

@@nonenoneonenonenone¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@airconditioner8212]

does this mean you will finally do a video on the Boston T?

[@foreverbrod]

Updates pasted May 16th, 2021: - In 2021 Plymouth station has closed, all service is now going to Kingston, MA - On September 12th, 2022, weekday service to Foxboro, MA has continued via Walpole, MA - On September 18th, 2022, Oak Grove became a new station on the MBTA - On January 23rd, 2023, Pawtucket/Central Falls station is opened on the Providence/Stoughton Line. - On May 20th, 2024, South Attleboro station reopened with weekday, rush hour-only service with 3 trains in each direction. - On May 20th, 2024, Readville has became a Providence/Stoughton Line stop

[@jamesricker3997]

What is interesting is the commuter rail and the economic development stopped at the New Hampshire border

[@anglobostonian]

Hopefully you'll have one of the "T" out soon. We Bostonians are WICKED proud that when it comes to rapid transit in the USA, we were first! Take THAT, New York!

[@quanbrooklynkid7776]

Haha

[@quanbrooklynkid7776]

Do it runs 24/7 hours in Boston

[@Ih8kone]

I started a petition for the North-South Rail Link

[@ComradeBennie]

Oh damn its my local service yay XD

[@the_ratmeister]

Ooh the pronunciations are killing me

[@QuarioQuario54321]

Like what?

[@kolkoreh]

@@QuarioQuario54321 "Natick," "Mishawum," among others

[@andr_w]

Same. "Woburn" "Concord" "Haverhill" "Framingham" "Natick" "Mishawum" are the ones that stuck out to me immediately. I'm sure there's others - New England vowels are never exactly like any other English-speaking region's vowels. I did notice that there's too much emphasis on any place name that ends in -ham. Most locals here have a softer "a" and thus a softer consonant that preceeds it than the typical general North American English pronounciation - e.g. Wareham is closer to wair-umm rather than Wair-ham.

[@the_ratmeister]

@@andr_w He said Framingham right.

[@andr_w]

@@the_ratmeister it switches during the video. Framing-HAM and FRA-ming-am.

[@dibdab0]

Me being from MA, you said a lot of the place names wrong.. but I don’t blame you

[@JoeyLovesTrains]

Really wish they kept the line to North Falmouth… that could’ve really been a popular destination to change to the ferry shuttle for ferry services to Martha’s Vinyard

[@RipCityBassWorks]

Apparently MBTA is planning to electrify two lines? Hopefully that includes better headways than 45 minutes or 1 hour...

[@briandynamite7942]

Well one line would be very easy to upgrade, the Providence line is the same line Amtrak’s north east corridor runs on which is already electrified. They only need to electrify the train yards. The second line they would electrify is the portion between Salem and north station. Called the “climate justice line” apparently. Electric trains would really make things faster, especially electric multiple units. There has also been made a major push to connect north and south station.

[@andrew_ray]

@@briandynamite7942 I've also heard talk of MU's for the Fairmount ("Indigo") Line, though I've heard both DMU's and EMU's discussed, and that was under the old board.

[@malachimuhammad-dy2ow]

If only there was a shuttle service between North and South Stations, passengers wouldn't have to walk between those stations.

[@osurpless]

No excuse really; an organization even went the extra steps in 2012 when PAX East and Anime Boston were the same weekend. So much like the perpetual request for subway service between 2 and 5am (that cab companies always undermine…) one day?

[@34bg13]

Thank you for saying Gardner right

[@alexm922]

FYI the Bedford line was replaced by an excellent bike trail.

[@oaxtec765]

Generally great video, the only thing that's confusing to me is that you said the metro area has a population of 7 million at the beginning of the video, maybe this is because your including everywhere trains run, but this metric could only be reached by including providence, manchester, wooster, fall river, and new bedford, all of which are connected to boston but independent populations.

[@higherho1540]

Metropolitan area (MSA) includes multiple areas. Look up what MSA is and how there are over 50 in the United States.

[@oaxtec765]

@@higherho1540 I know what an MSA is, but none of those cities I mentioned are int he Boston MSA, the CSA sure, but Manchester, Wooster, and Providence all have their own populous MSAs.

[@higherho1540]

@@oaxtec765 ah, my apologies, I miss read your statement. You’re correct he is including a broader range because the boston metro msa is only 4.4 to 4.9 million people.

[@oaxtec765]

@@higherho1540 it's fine! Thanks for understanding :)

[@nomadMik]

I like your map a lot more than the official one.

[@BG-sl9lv]

Well! Fall 2023 came and went and we're still waiting for the train to arrive in New Bedford and Fall River (through Taunton)

[@TheLiamster]

It’s so frustrating that the network is split into two. There needs to be a connection between the North and South Stations

[@opazus2112]

There’s like a new commuter rail station being built near market basket in Chelsea, MA Near the sliver line station

[@VetGamer718]

Still wondering when you're going to get to the largest in the best metro Network in America, New York City?

[@harveyschwartz6789]

Would be nice to know how much service is on these lines, maybe a few categories you could use like lots of service, hourly, rush hours only...

[@raytylicki9001]

Lexington Line became the Minuteman trail thats ROW is still owned by MBTA and NIMBYS refuse to allow rails to go back in and MBTA refuses to plow or maintain the trail deferring to local towns

[@Touchybanana]

MBTA seems more competent running their railroad compared to INEPTA here in Philadelphia.

[@jerm5105]

As someone from Millis I had no idea we even had a stop at any point and I take the commuter rail at least twice a week I’m fuming rn

[@MrSuperpiff4]

Requesting evolution of LIRR in New York, Please!...... Might require 3 videos to do New York area Commuter network with NJT, Metro-North, and LIRR, but I don't think anyone has done done it yet, just the subway.

[@GeneralLiuofBoston1911]

Sadly, Plymouth is a stop that is no longer serviced. But hey, at least we got Pawtucket and Foxboro.

[@jfp3earth357]

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority needs to unify North and South Station

[@rudolffabrie3233]

Firfy years of policy chaos by the authorities.

[@wolfbyte3171]

Mishawum's a weird station; it's technically a "reverse commuter" station, which means that it sees stops during rush hour on trains OUT of the city and reverse. It's the closest one to me but I can't use it due to that, so I go to Anderson/Wooburn (that's how ya say it, btw). As another note, Winchester Center station is currently closed due to safety concerns (the platform is badly deteriorated)

[@andrew_ray]

Further weirdness: Mishawum is not officially closed, but actually appears to have no scheduled service at all right now.

[@ianfrederick723]

Now that you've done MBTA and NJT how about MTA Metro North/LIRR or CTRail?

[@SamSitar]

the mbta should reextend into New Hampshire. uninformed people may misread service cuts as money hoarding. Fitchburg trains should resume serving Gardner if people are using them.

[@JohnsTrainVideos]

Some interesting information here. Though it would be nice if there was some kind of visual cue on the map before the changes were made so you knew where to look. Also you are CLEARLY not from massachusetts :P Also I had never heard of "Winchester Highlands" station on cross street. There's definitely no sign of it any more. I'll have to look it up.

[@dungandonuts]

RIP the Bedford & South Sudbury lines

[@interstellarphred]

There was local opposition to converting the (Central Mass.) Sudbury line to a rail trail, until a study to have the line re-activated was implemented.

[@fefid2218]

I would love to see the metro for my home city of Newcastle in the UK

[@thefareplayer2254]

Dedham = DEAD-Umm, Woburn = WUHBurn (as in "took"), Haverhill = HAYvrill, Concord = CONkurd, Merrimack = MAYOR-ihhmack, Stoughton = STOW'tin, Uphams Corner = UPumms corner, Forest Hills is PLURAL, Natick = NEIGHdick (like the sound a horse makes), Falmouth = FALmyth, Taunton has a "n" after the u. Props to pronouncing Worcester and Gloucester correctly though!

[@VanishingUnderground]

Thanks for these! I’ll be re-recording and correcting these soon

[@QuarioQuario54321]

These make absolutely no sense. Why can’t they have normal names

[@thefareplayer2254]

@@QuarioQuario54321 Good question! Short answer: the English!

[@champan250]

@@VanishingUnderground and saw that you skipped saying North Billerica... Is is "BURR-rick-ca" And btw, most of the names here appeared in the "Boston Accent" SNL skit... kzbin.info/www/bejne/qH3ak619rqhpqpY

[@MarloSoBalJr]

@@QuarioQuario54321 Bostonians pronounce a lot of words in a British "rhotic" accent. So a lot of pronunciations have an UHH or AWW or EEE sound to it.

[@RandomMan_1]

where is the entire southe east corner of the state? The cape has now fallen into the sea. lol

[@anotherdave5107]

I used to take the Redline into Quincy in the mid 70's.

[@TrainSounds]

Train service to Plymouth was discontinued

[@schwenda3727]

Since New Hampshire is clearly on the fence at best about restoring service between Lowell & at least Manchester, has the MBTA thought about doing the very next best thing? Bringing service literally just a hair south of the NH state line? Particularly within the Pheasant Lane Mall? That is the rail ROW they’re contemplating on using for extension, correct? To which said mall appears to have a sizable chunk of its parking lot on the MA side to which would mean fairly effective rail service could very easily come to Nashua WITHOUT A SINGLE PENNY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE TAX $$$? That seems like a no brainer as long as the mall owners have no problem. And speaking of malls, to which have been heavily oversaturated in America since the early 90s, would make excellent transit hubs, even with plentiful existing mall retail operations not being impacted (if they’re actually fully leased this day & age). If not rail, then most certainly BRT. They’re mostly high visibility locations that even unfamiliar out of towners could find effortlessly, and they have all the parking in the world all but a small handful of days per year. Regarding Southern New Hampshire service, all that would need to be done is extending accordingly JUST TO the southeastern end of the Pheasant Lane Mall. Southern Hew Hampshire residents benefit accordingly without any New Hampshire state commitment.

[@cgimovieman]

Where is the video on the subway system mentioned at the end? Would love to watch that.

[@VanishingUnderground]

Still in progress. Should be released by the end of this month!

[@cgimovieman]

@@VanishingUnderground Thanks! Looking forward to it. As a person who loves subways, commuter rail, maps, and history, this is all right up my alley. I’m originally from the Midwest and have spent and still spend a lot of time in Chicago. I love the L and all of the CTA system there. Would love to see one of your videos on those in the future.

[@nathanloomis7508]

You can tell somebody isn't from New England by the way they pronounce our town names. We are Americans but we pronounce our town names like the English do.

[@mr_godoy2008]

I record Mbta trains to. Idk if I participate when the green line extension opens

[@mr_godoy2008]

I rode a new green line train 9 times already

[@jacobschwartz2158]

It will be the first new branch to open in 16 years since the Green bush Line opened on October 30, 2007.

[@stoplightgaming2302]

What branch?

[@cliffpadilla5871]

Can we get the evolution of the New York City transit system?

[@peterwarner358]

Could you do a video on the evolution of the San Francisco network (BART, SMART, , MUNI, , CALTRAIN, , MUNI) AND SFB FERRIES

[@VanishingUnderground]

Coming later this summer

[@NLind]

This background music has to be from the same composer as YT’s Premiere countdown, same Roland CR-78 drums, same instruments...

[@nyrmetros]

When will the MTA Long Island Railroad and Metro North videos be coming out?

[@TramTrafficLightMan]

I know what happened to the South Sudbury line, it’s now the Mass general rail trail.

[@christopherduncan9076]

Gardner might see a return to the commuter rail on the Fitchburg line

[@garyturner5204]

This is a great video production. However, my only real criticism is on the pronunciation of several cities and town in Massachusetts. As a native of Mass, I know how various names are pronounced by the locals. There were other locations like Haverhill, and a few more where your pronunciations were off. But these while amusing to some are very tiny criticisms on the video. You did a wonderful job of producing this video. Thank you very much! :)

[@alexandrac591]

I wonder if they would consider Cape Flyer service on Thursdays and Mondays?

[@alexe1707]

If you haven't you need to do one for NJ Transit

[@dumhead7]

can u do the Boston metro MBTA this time?

[@VanishingUnderground]

Coming later this month

[@dumhead7]

ok

[@brainwells6634]

When are you going to the Chicago Commuter Rail network Metra

[@nomadMik]

Is saying a service 'ends' at a station a Canadian thing? I grew up with the term 'terminates' in Australia, and I haven't noticed it being called anything else in the US, but, of course, there aren't really that many trains in the US. I enjoy these videos nevertheless.

[@andr_w]

I think it would be generally accepted in both Canada and the USA to use "end" or "terminate" to describe a situation in which a rail operator ceases operations to a station. "The MBTA ended service to Lechmere station" would be equally understood as "The MBTA terminated service to Lechmere station."

[@DD-dj4jr]

In most cases here the tracks continue yet the service ends……