New Report Suggests Repurposing Grand Junction Rail Line for Passenger Use

A rail line currently being used to transport freight and equipment could transform transit in Cambridge, according to a report released by the Cambridge Redevelopment Authority earlier this month.

The report, a collaboration between the CRA and consultant WSP, suggested repurposing the Grand Junction rail line, which runs from North Station in Boston through Somerville and Cambridge before ending in Allston, into a line for passenger use. The report also encourages the extension of a multi-use path for pedestrians and cyclists parallel to the railway.

Tom Evans, executive director of the CRA, spoke about the incentives for the project.

“It comes from an economic development interest, from a sustainable transportation interest, and overall, the feeling that the growing options for transit users in the Boston area can only benefit all the neighborhoods that are dependent on transit users,” Evans said.

Following the route of the existing Grand Junction corridor, the proposed passenger line would start at North Station in Boston and end at West Station, the planned commuter rail station in Allston. According to estimates by the CRA, a passenger rail service between North Station and West Station would attract between 5,800 and 9,800 daily boardings in the first year alone, a number expected to reach up to 11,200 daily boardings by 2040.

The line, connecting Boston and Allston via Kendall Square, would have particular implications for Cambridge as a hub of innovation.

“There’s a tremendous amount of cutting-edge work going into both research and entrepreneurship in Kendall Square, and combined with the challenge of housing in the Boston area, transportation is one of the key issues that we see that we want to address so that we can continue to bring talent into the region, and specifically to the Kendall Square district,” Evans said.

Beth O’Neill Maloney, executive director of the Kendall Square Association, said the Grand Junction project aligns with the KSA’s goals of connecting people to Kendall Square to promote increased innovation in the region.

“That’s what Kendall Square is known for, is innovating and looking for solutions, and we’re consistent in that, and that’s what we’re trying to do here, is make it easier for people to get in, out, and around Kendall Square and Cambridge itself,” Maloney said. “And we believe that Grand Junction is a really critical or essential element in that.”

Moving forward with the repurposing of the Grand Junction tracks would require collaboration with MIT, which owns property at two locations along the rail corridor.

“We’re pleased that the CRA’s Grand Junction study has been released. MIT has long been supportive of having some kind of transit implemented in the Grand Junction Corridor,” Joe Higgins, Vice President for Campus Services and Stewardship at MIT, wrote in an emailed statement.

“MIT and the City are currently working closely together to advance the Grand Junction multi-use path for cyclists and pedestrians, which will run next to any future transit installation,” Higgins added.

Maloney views the project as a net positive.

“Really planning for the future and planning the infrastructure we need today and for the future so that it’s more sustainable, and more reliable, and more accessible, gives people greater access to where the jobs are, places like Kendall Square,” she said. “I think this is a win-win-win.”