BOSTON — For the third time in two months, the MBTA is postponing plans to expand Boston to Worcester commuter train service to 40 trains each weekday.

The agency cited continuing delays in the $14.9 million redesign of the Yawkey commuter rail station outside Fenway Park. The MBTA did not offer a specific start date but said it would occur before the end of the winter, which is March 19.

MBTA officials had initially hoped to get the additional three inbound and four outbound trains up and running by mid-January but then pushed that back to Jan. 27. MBTA General Manager Beverly A. Scott later announced that the service expansion would have to be delayed until the end of February.

But the Yawkey project, which had been scheduled for completion last fall, is still incomplete, and MBTA officials said Wednesday the Worcester rail service expansion will have to wait.

"Unfortunately we will not be able to implement the new schedule before the end of this month," said MBTA spokesman Joseph Pesaturo. "We continue to work through issues at the Yawkey Station, and until those issues are resolved we cannot move forward with the new schedule," he said.

"We feel we are very close to resolving the outstanding issues at Yawkey Station. There will be some final inspections this week, and we are very optimistic we will get some good news at that point," Mr. Pesaturo said.

"Our goal is to implement the new schedule before the end of this winter, and that is where we stand at this point. We are disappointed that we are not able to implement the schedule before the end of this month, but we are optimistic we can get it done before the end of this winter," he said.

The commuter rail expansion has been planned for almost two decades and is being undertaken now in the wake of the state purchase from CSX Corp. of rail lines used for commuter rail.

That acquisition has allowed the MBTA to assume control of train dispatch and maintenance of the tracks, which are still also used by CSX freight trains, but allows a preference for commuter rail schedules.

In all, there are scheduled to be 20 trips from Worcester to Boston and 20 trips from Boston to Worcester.



THE MBTA reports the Boston-Worcester line averages 12,535 passenger trips on a typical weekday.

Besides obtaining various certifications and completing construction on the Yawkey Station, the MBTA is also considering last-minute changes to the new Boston-Worcester schedule from an earlier version published in January with the possible inclusion of more express trains.

The Yawkey Station project includes construction of two, 700 foot-long passenger platforms, four new elevators and a new mezzanine and station lobby.