Weekend Trains Return To Framingham-Worcester MBTA Line

NATICK, MA — The installation of a positive train control (PTC) system along the Framingham-Worcester MBTA line is complete — and that means a safer train system, and a return of regular train service on weekends.

The final weekend of PTC work wrapped up on Sunday. The MBTA had been replacing trains with buses between Framingham and Back Bay on most recent weekends to complete the work. The Aug. 8 weekend will see the first full return of train service in months. The PTC project began at the end of February with the weekend service disruption.

PTC is seen as a key safety feature to prevent trains from derailing or colliding. It was absent in recent high-profile Amtrak crashes, like a 2017 derailment in Washington state and a 2015 derailment in Philadelphia.

"PTC is a train monitoring system that will alert the engineer when it detects the possibility of either a train-to-train collision or a train that's moving too fast along the line or through a work zone," the MBTA said.

The PTC work also allowed MBTA contractors to work on other key projects up and down the line, including at the new Natick Center station, and at Worcester's Union Station.