page_title: Track 61 (Boston)
section_title: Proposed passenger service
hierarchical_section_title: Track 61 (Boston) / Proposals for service / Proposed passenger service
caption_attribution_description: English: MBTA Red Line test track construction from 2nd Street bridge, looking north. New pair of switches has just been installed. A test building is under construction.
context_page_description: Track 61 is an industrial rail terminal track in South Boston, Massachusetts, also known as the Boston Terminal Running Track. Track 61 is the last remnant of the vast rail yards that once covered much of the South Boston waterfront. Track 61 legally begins at Summer Street, while the line from Bay Junction to Summer Street is the Boston Terminal Running Track and Terminal Yard. However, the names are frequently used interchangeably.
  Part of what is now Track 61 was constructed in 1855 and became part of the New York and New England Railroad. Other sections were constructed from 1880 to 1920 as South Boston became a freight center. During the second half of the 20th century use of the line declined, and part of it is currently out of service. While trains do not currently operate along the line, the section from Cypher Street to the Cruise Terminal was rebuilt in conjunction with the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center construction, the line being used heavily to transport material to the Convention Center construction site. Revival of freight service and passenger services using the track was proposed by the state in the 2010s, but not funded.
context_section_description: In 2013, a Boston Globe columnist reported on a plan by MassDOT and the MBTA to provide rail service between the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center (BCEC) and Back Bay station, to meet demand for those attending conventions at BCEC and staying in Back Bay hotels. The service would access Track 61 from the existing loop tracks at Widett Circle, with a new crossing of the Old Colony Lines at Bay Junction. The service would share with the Fairmount Line a fleet of new diesel multiple units, which the state then planned to acquire by 2018. In 2014, it was revealed by the state that the line would be part of the proposed Indigo Line.
  Operating passenger service on this routing would require crossing the Northeast Corridor and Old Colony Lines tracks at grade, with potential detriment to existing Amtrak and commuter rail operations. These conflicts were previously noted with proposals for Readville-Allston and Riverside-JFK/UMass DMU services in 2004, resulting in such projects being given low ratings in the Program for Mass Transportation.
  Plans for DMU service were cancelled in 2015 due to funding cuts by Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker that stopped the purchase of DMUs that were to be used for short train service on Track 61 and the Fairmount Line. In December 2016, city officials proposed routing some Fairmount Line trains over Track 61 to the BCEC as part of high-frequency Indigo Line service. However, the proposal did not provide a funding source nor solutions to operational issues.  The plan was also criticized as not serving a demonstrated transportation need, since it would bypass South Station and thus connect neither Dorchester nor the Seaport to downtown or the subway network.
  In April-May 2017, the MBTA dismantled the old BCEC construction sidings. In June 2017, Representative Nick Collins expressed a hope that a public/private partnership would enable passenger rail service to be extended out as far as the Raymond L. Flynn Marine Park.
caption: Red Line test track under construction near BCEC, May 2019
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