A CONSULTANT’S REPORT on what to do with the MBTA’s Mattapan trolley line has been delayed again, pushed back until the end of this year.
Jeffrey Gonneville, the T’s chief operating officer, told the Fiscal and Management Control Board earlier this month that the report would be finished by early June or July. On Wednesday, a spokesman for the T said the agency is going to need more time, and pushed the delivery date back to the fourth quarter of this year. The original deadline was the winter of 2017-2018.
“MBTA personnel continue to work with the consultant to fully understand the infrastructure and resource investments that would be required for a number of possible service delivery options,” said T spokesman Joe Pesaturo. “The ongoing work includes thorough examinations of life cycle costs and service resiliency to help ensure that informed decisions are made in the future.”
The Mattapan Line, which runs from the Ashmont Red Line station in Dorchester through Milton to Mattapan, is a politically sensitive issue for the T. The trolleys that operate on the line are rolling museum pieces, dating to the mid-1940s. They are very difficult to maintain, yet they have a loyal following among local politicians and many riders.
Last year, the T adopted a very cautious approach with the line. The agency hired a consultant to explore alternative service delivery options, while also agreeing to invest another $7.9 million in the existing trolleys to keep them running for the next few years.
The consultant’s report is expected to compare continued use of the current trolleys to a number of other options, including replica trolleys (historic-looking vehicles with modern components), light rail vehicles similar to those used on the Green Line, and alternative propulsion technologies. The consultant is also examining the possibility of removing the existing tracks and overhead wires and replacing them with a paved service for bus rapid transit.
The Mattapan Line runs over two bridges and two grade crossings, and one of the focal points of the study is to find out whether those areas could handle the greater weight of light rail vehicles.
