MBTA_Commuter_Rail
Consolidation under MBTA control
The state Mass Transportation Commission (MTC), formed in 1959 to coordinate transportation and land use, held a series of experiments to determine how fares and service levels affected ridership. This included a trial on the MTA bus network, as well as a $4 million test from January 1963 to March 1964 on New Haven and B&M lines. (The NYC, uninterested in its commuter service, declined to participate.) The MTC found that higher frequency was most important to attract additional ridership; lower fares would attract additional riders, while even higher fares would not result in the services becoming profitable. At the recommendation of the MTC, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) was created on August 3, 1964, with a 78-municipality funding and service district. The MBTA was to build rapid transit extensions (as planned in 1947) along some lines, with the others to be subsidized or allowed to be discontinued. Most remaining lines ran to points outside the funding district; those outlying municipalities were expected to reach their own subsidy agreements with the railroads. On December 14, 1964, the MBTA reached a subsidy agreement with the B&M. The agreement only covered in-district services; on January 5, 1965, the B&M discontinued interstate service except for single commuter round trips from Dover and Concord, New Hampshire; Portsmouth service was cut back to a single Newburyport round trip. Subsidies began for six lines on January 18; all out-of-district service to Fitchburg, Lowell, Haverhill, Ipswich, and Rockport was discontinued except for three single round trips. Agreements were reached to restore most out-of-district service; after delays due to a lawsuit by the competing Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway, full service returned to Ayer, Lowell, Ipswich, and Rockport on June 28. On June 30, 1967, the B&M discontinued the Concord trip; the Dover trip was cut back to Haverhill with local subsidies. In 1969, the B&M averaged 24,000 weekday passengers, with a yearly deficit of $3.2 million (equivalent to million in ). The single daily trip on the Central Mass Branch ended on January 26, 1971. On July 28, 1965, the MBTA signed an agreement with the New Haven Railroad to purchase 11 miles of the former Old Colony mainline from Fort Point Channel to South Braintree in order to construct a new rapid transit line along the corridor. The line was expected to be completed within two years. The agreement also provided for the MBTA to subsidize commuter service on the railroad's remaining commuter rail lines for $1.2 million (equivalent to million in ) annually. Subsidies for the Needham, Millis, Dedham, and Franklin lines began on April 24, 1966, as the New Haven had Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) permission to discontinue them otherwise. Three out-of-district stations were cut, while Franklin subsidized its station. The Millis and Dedham lines were discontinued on April 21, 1967. The NYC and the Pennsylvania Railroad merged to form Penn Central on February 1, 1968; the New Haven joined at the end of the year. Penn Central declared bankruptcy in 1970. Amtrak took over most intercity passenger service in the US on May 1, 1971, including New York–Boston trains.