The MBTA Commuter Rail system serves as the commuter rail arm of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's transportation coverage of Greater Boston in the United States. It is operated under contract by the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Company (MBCR) a joint partnership of Veolia Transportation, Bombardier Transportation and Alternate Concepts, Inc. The current operating contract expires in July 2013.
The commuter rail system is the fifth-busiest commuter rail in the country, after New York, New Jersey, and Chicago area systems, when measured by weekday passenger boardings. The line's characteristic purple-trimmed coaches run as far south as North Kingstown, Rhode Island, and as far north as Newburyport and as far west as Worcester, both in Massachusetts. The trains have two terminal stops in Boston—South Station and North Station—both transportation hubs offering connections to Amtrak, local bus and subway lines. As of Q4 of 2011, daily weekday ridership was 130,600.
Read more about MBTA Commuter Rail: Current Lines, Operational History, Equipment, Fare Policy, Ridership, Train Operations, Proposed Expansions, Freight Service
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“Old man, it’s four flights up and for what?
Your room is hardly any bigger than your bed.
Puffing as you climb, you are a brown woodcut
stooped over the thin rail and the wornout tread.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)