SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1701        FILED ON: 1/16/2025

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2359

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Brendan P. Crighton

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act relative to setting deadlines to electrify the MBTA commuter rail.

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PETITION OF:

SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1701        FILED ON: 1/16/2025

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2359

[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE SENATE, NO. 2217 OF 2023-2024.]

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
(2025-2026)

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An Act relative to setting deadlines to electrify the MBTA commuter rail.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1. Section 1 of Chapter 21N of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding the following definitions:-

“Zero-emission transit infrastructure”, electric multiple units, electric battery chargers, trolleybus and railway catenary wire, and other equipment to support the operation of electric vehicles.

“Fully electrified service”, public transit conveyance that utilizes zero-emission transit infrastructure and does not produce direct emissions.

SECTION 2. Said chapter 21N, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after Section 7, the following section:-

Section 7½. (a) To contribute to the Commonwealth’s greenhouse gas reduction targets, the secretary, in consultation with the department of energy resources, department of transportation, department of environmental protection, department of public utilities, and intergovernmental coordinating council established by the Acts of 2022, chapter 179, section 81 shall develop and enforce targets for public transit electrification across all modes of travel. Said targets shall be included and updated in all roadmap plans required under this chapter at the same intervals of sublimits required under section 3.

(b) The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and its commuter rail contractor shall provide fully electrified service on the commuter rail system by December 31, 2035 and ensure sufficient zero-emission transit infrastructure is in place to accomplish said timeline.

SECTION 3. (a) The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority shall develop and implement short-term, medium-term and long-term electrification and performance improvement plans for each line of the commuter rail system ensuring that the line is fully integrated into the commonwealth’s transportation system and designed to make the system more productive, equitable, and decarbonized. Each plan shall maximize the ridership returns on investment and shall be designed to meet statewide greenhouse gas emissions limits and sublimits established in chapter 21N of the General Laws.

(b)(1) The authority shall include in the short-term plan immediate action items to run fully electrified service as defined under chapter 21N of the General Laws along the Providence/Stoughton commuter rail line, the Fairmont commuter rail line and the segment of the Newburyport commuter rail line and the Rockport commuter rail line that extends from the city of Boston to the city of Beverly by December 31, 2029. The plan shall ensure that the authority gives priority consideration to lines serving environmental justice populations as defined in section 62 of chapter 30 for subsequent deployment of electrified service. The plan shall include, but not be limited to: (i) a detailed critical path schedule for each phase; (ii) cash flow needs organized by fiscal year through completion of each phase; (iii) a regional strategy to receive all necessary environmental approvals and permits; (iv) identification of needs from utilities to achieve adequate and redundant power to update the system; (v) a platform strategy that would enable the utilization of fully automated doors; (vi)target completion dates; (vii) a conceptual work plan; and (viii) a schedule outlining the work to be pursued over the course of the Fiscal Year 2025-2029 Capital Plan.

(2) The authority shall include in its medium-term and long-term plans a comprehensive and specific plan to provide fully electrified service on the remainder of the commuter rail fleet for all commuter rail lines as necessary to maximize the ridership returns on investment and comply with chapter 21N of the General Laws. The plan shall include, but not be limited to, necessary updates to layover and maintenance facilities, necessary infrastructure upgrades and a schedule for fleet design, testing, procurement and deployment. The plan shall also include a detailed approach to platform heights that would enable the deployment of fully automated doors.

(c) The authority shall publish and receive public comment on its short-term plan under paragraph (1) of subsection (b) not later than November 1, 2026 or 180 days after the effective date of this act, whichever is later. The authority shall publish and receive public comment on its medium-term and long-term plans under paragraph (2) of said subsection (b) not later than December 31, 2028.