BOSTON — According to state officials, the Commuter Rail’s on time performance is improving, but there are some lines that are continually delayed.
FOX25's Kerry Kavanaugh was at a meeting with MBTA, Keolis and State leaders where some of the blame was placed on Amtrak.
Secretary of Transportation Stephanie Pollack said Amtrak controls or manages some of the tracks used by the Commuter Rail, and those tracks tend to have more performance issues.
Pollack also expressed frustration that some signals haven't been repaired in more than a year.
After the winter of 2015, the state gave Keolis an improvement plan with the performance goal of 92 percent.
"Overall, results have been extremely positive,” MassDOT rail and transit administrator Astrid Glynn said.The Commuter Rail system as a whole did make the 92 percent goal, but in the last seven months of 2015 FOX25 discovered several lines continually missing the mark.
The Needham and Providence lines failed to meet that mark four of the seven months and the Stoughton Line missed the 92 percent goal every single month,
"Where you see Franklin, Stoughton, and Providence that's directly related to Amtrak signal issue. It's not just last Thursday at South Station,” Pollack said.
>>RELATED: Amtrak signal problem at South Station causes massive delays on Commuter Rail
"There's a signal, what's called an Interlocking, that allows the Franklin line and the Stoughton line to connect to mainline, which is also controlled by Amtrak, which was damaged by a lightning strike a year ago which still hasn't been fixed,” Pollack said.
“I think that the frustration is we haven't had a role in working with Amtrak to decide what their capital improvement and maintenance program is. They decide what they're going to fix and when they're going to fix it, but we are affected,” Pollack said.
But not all of the problems occur on Amtrak lines.
The Needham, Worcester and Middleborough lines are all completely under Keolis control. Pollack said the Worcester line is plagued by construction issues and there are tracks in need of repair.
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