Yesterday Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll, MBTA General Manager and CEO Phillip Eng, and Worcester Mayor Joseph M. Petty joined local elected leaders and stakeholder advocates to celebrate the newly opened center-running platform at Worcester Union Commuter Rail station on the Framingham/Worcester Line. The new, high-level, center-running platform at Worcester Union station opened to passengers on Monday, July 1, 2024, and improves Union station’s functionality, ridership capacity, safety, and is fully accessible.

The new center-island platform at Union station can accommodate two trains at the same time versus the previous single-side platform, which only accommodated one. The center-island platform improves and reduces train dwell times at the station, improves operational flexibility, and eases congestion along the Worcester Line, thereby improving the customer experience for passengers. The center platform is also high-level, making it accessible for all passengers.

The new center-island platform and associated stairs and station canopies accommodate and provide flexibility for additional MBTA Commuter Rail and Amtrak Intercity Passenger Rail, including expanded West-East Rail service. Two new station access points were also constructed – a new pedestrian tunnel/concourse from the platform under the tracks to the historic station building and a new pedestrian bridge at the opposing end of the station to an expanded and modernized parking lot. Three new elevators, stairways, security, and accessibility improvements to the commuter parking area have also been accomplished.

Demolition of the old platform, tracks, and signals will continue until the end of this year. Passengers should expect to see construction activities at the station, but there will be no impact to passengers’ commutes.

The reopening of the platform joins additional transit benefits in support of the Worcester community, including the restoration of a morning express train to Boston in spring 2024 and an investment of $20 million in signal repairs this year that will enable 30-minute headways on the Worcester Line.

Worcester’s Union station first opened in 1911 and was built by the New York Central Railroad along the Boston and Albany Railroad Main Line. The Worcester Redevelopment Authority (WRA) began renovating the station in 1994. It re-opened to passengers in July 2000, providing MBTA Commuter Rail, Amtrak Intercity Rail, and local bus service/connections.

The previous platform was closed to passengers with a temporary platform opened in March 2022. The total budget for the project was approximately $74 million with funding from a variety of federal, MBTA, and city funding sources.

-via Press Release