Track 61 (Boston)
The tracks through South Boston were depressed for grade separation; in some places, they were as far as 5 feet below mean sea level to allow for the construction of 12 bridges overhead.
The New Haven Railroad folded into Penn Central in 1969; its freight operations were then transferred to Conrail and then to CSX Transportation.
By 1990, reaching the Boston Terminal Running Track required a reverse move at Bay Junction, limiting the train length to just several cars.
[3] In 1997, the Surface Transportation Board permitted CSX to abandon Track 61 past Summer Street for about three years for the construction of the South Boston Interchange (I-90 exit 25).
[12] In 2006, CSX evicted Boston Railway Terminal Corporation, which had handled much of the Big Dig traffic but then primarily served cars for the remains of the East First Street track, from use of the line.
This would include rehabilitation of the Running Track and Terminal Yard from Bay Junction to Summer Street, as well as restoring the end of the line through the Boston Marine Industrial Park.
The existing out-of-service track paralleling Dry Dock Avenue through Black Falcon Cruise Terminal and the International Cargo Port Boston (totalling 2,860 linear feet) would have been rehabilitated, and 5,910 linear feet of new track constructed along Tide Street and Fid Kennedy Avenue into the Massport Marine Terminal.
Other parts of the agreement included plans for double-stack freights west of Worcester and the abandonment of Beacon Park Yard.
[16] The first closing (including the Boston Terminal Running Track) was originally scheduled for May 2010 and eventually was finalized on June 11, 2010.
[19] The Conley Haul Road would not affect expanded Track 61 service to the Waterfront area, which is still considered a "competitive advantage" by MassDOT.
[20] 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.
[21] The service would share with the Fairmount Line a fleet of new diesel multiple units, which the state then planned to acquire by 2018.
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.
[26] 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 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.
