By Bill Fonda
Lynn Zhang of Acton held up her camera to capture the morning sky as she waited for the 7:08 train to Boston at the new South Acton MBTA station Dec. 21.
“Beautiful, especially this morning with the sunrise,” she said.
The station officially opened Dec. 19, meaning that Dec. 21 was the first day for weekday commuters from Acton to Boston on the Fitchburg Line commuter rail. Tim Lloyd of Acton, who said he rides the train every day, called it an improvement.
“I think it looks great,” he said. “It’s nice having an elevated platform. It looks like there’s going to be access from Maple Street, so that’ll be nice for people coming in from Maynard.”
The elevated platform on both sides of the track is Americans With Disabilities Act-compliant and replaces the ground-level boarding area farther down the track, where riders had to climb steps to get on the train and walk across the track to board trains headed into Boston. The new platform also allows passengers to board through multiple doors instead of one.
An elevated walkway over the tracks allows riders to get from one side to the other, although, as he saw two men on the other side of the tracks rushing to catch the train, Dave Bannard of Acton pointed out that the setup isn’t quite as easy for people running late.
“You’ve got to get up and over,” he said.
Bannard, who said he has been riding the train for close to 20 years, likes the long platform, and said it’s nice to have more parking, as a second drop-off area on Maple Street near the new inbound platform has been added.
“That’s really critical,” he said.
As he waited for the train, Bannard was talking with Stewart Dalzell of Stow, who was also a fan of the new station, although he said because it was the first day, they hadn’t figured out yet where to stand.
“I’ve been taking the train for 15 years, so it’s been a long time in coming,” Dalzell said.
The station was originally supposed to be done in 2014, but a dispute dispute between a contractor and subcontractor regarding steel fabrication caused the completion date to be delayed to spring or summer this year, and then the time frame was pushed further back to the end of this year.
Lloyd said he was surprised the station was done this winter.
“I really thought they weren’t going to make it until spring,” he said.
Bob Whitten of Keolis, the company that manages the commuter rail, said the project is probably 90 percent complete. The gutters on the station’s roof need downspouts, and workers need to install signs.
“In the next couple weeks, you’ll start seeing that stuff appear,” he said, adding that historical photos of Acton are also going to be displayed.
Once the train arrived, riders lined up at the doors in order to board, and one passenger stepped out for a second just to check out the new station.
“I think it’s wonderful, and it’s going to be a great addition to the Fitchburg Line,” Keolis conductor Cory Moniz said.
Bill Fonda 