The key to better commuter rail service is the creation of a way for trains to start and terminate at either Lynn or Swampscott.
As things stand now, Lynn and Swampscott commuters confront rush hour trains coming from Salem already filled and all seats taken. It would seem very possible to add two additional tracks in the area between Lynn and Swampscott to allow trains to pull up and turn back towards Boston. There is also room for storage tracks for overnight or extra rush hour trains to park on in the area between the Lynn station and the GE plant.
It is important to create this kind of turn-back service for more than Lynn and Swampscott. There will be major redevelopment projects at Wonderland and elsewhere between Revere and Chelsea that will need commuter rail connections to be fully successful. Doing such projects without the turn back option is simply to confront more crowded trains.
Lynn has long dreamed of a Blue Line connection at the Lynn station. But getting the federal funds for such a project is at least a decade and more away.
The turn-back option is much less costly and more easily visualized. It is not easy, as additional train sets and control center equipment will be needed along with the rail and switches. But it is doable and will fill a void in commuter service that is hurting Lynn and its neighbors.
Francis X. McArdle