The MBTA hired Keolis Commuter Services to serve as a general contractor of sorts overseeing the buildout of battery electric train service on the Fairmount commuter rail line, which runs through Boston for about 10 miles connecting Readville and South Station.
The contract was hailed as a historic first step toward decarbonizing the MBTA’s commuter rail fleet, a step that was first authorized by the board overseeing the T in 2019. But steering the business to Keolis, whose contract with the T is coming to an end and is being put out to bid, didn’t sit well with several members of the board.
The contract will pay Keolis $54 million to oversee the procurement and delivery of layover tracks, additional electrical infrastructure, and a maintenance facility in Readville for an unspecified number of battery electric trains. Keolis will also arrange for the leasing of the trains themselves using a third party.
The battery electric trains are expected to begin service in early 2028, nearly six to nine months after Keolis’s contract to run the T’s commuter rail trains expires on June 30, 2027. The T expects to pay $27 to $30 million a year for the train lease and operations and maintenance work; operations and maintenance work at that point will be handled by whichever company is selected as the T’s future commuter rail service operator.
Ridership on the Fairmount Line, which serves the environmental justice communities of Dorchester, Mattapan, and Hyde Park, has bounced back more quickly than other commuter rail lines in the wake of the pandemic, but it remains the smallest line in terms of passenger traffic. Passengers on most of the line pay the equivalent of subway fares. Currently, trains operate every 30 minutes but officials said the interval between trains will be reduced to 20 minutes when electric service launches.
Service will be provided by trains capable of running off batteries as well as electric catenaries. The hybrid service will enable the trains to run through tunnels and other areas without needing to build overhead wires. The launch of electric service on the Fairmount Line will give the T a chance to evaluate the technology to see if it should be rolled out to more of the T’s commuter rail system.
T officials say the diesel engines currently being used on the Fairmount Line will be repurposed to other commuter rail lines to bolster service.
The T board of directors voted unanimously to approve the contract with Keolis, but several board members during deliberations raised concerns about the contract award process. Keolis was given a heads-up about the T’s electrification plans for the Fairmount Line early – one board member said it was Keolis’s idea in the first place — and then other companies were invited to participate and given four weeks to signal whether they were interested. Three companies expressed interest, but only one followed through two weeks later with a bid.
Several board members said the bid process seemed to favor Keolis, which is gearing up to compete for the T’s next contract with a commuter rail operator. “Here we are rewarding them again,” said Robert Butler, a board member and union leader who noted Keolis, unlike the T, has refused to strike deals with nearly all of its unions.
Board member Chanda Smart said giving Keolis months to prepare and giving other companies only weeks wasn’t equitable. She also worried that the T may be kept waiting for battery electric trains because only one US company manufactures the vehicles and Los Angeles and Chicago have already submitted bids ahead of the T.
Charlie Sisitsky, a board member and the mayor of Framingham, said it was Keolis who came up with the idea for how to decarbonize the Fairmount Line and had months to prepare while other companies were given a very short time to put their bids together. “It’s not fair,” he said.
Sisitsky also questioned whether Keolis had any incentive to drive a hard bargain with the companies it hires. “It seems like we’re going to have little control over the cost of this program,” he said.