The Massachusetts Department of Transportation “looks forward to having conversations with elected leaders and members of the community as this proposed pilot program is discussed,” Joe Pesaturo, an MBTA spokesman, wrote in an e-mail.

The additional trains to Gillette Stadium, where the New England Patriots practice and play, would be subsidized by up to $200,000 from the Kraft Group, which was founded by Patriots owner Robert Kraft, according to the MBTA. The approximately one-year pilot program would call for four round trips between Foxborough and South Station daily.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority could test operating daily trains to Gillette Stadium in Foxborough by the fall of 2018 , MBTA officials say, a prospect of additional service that comes as its commuter rail contractor, Keolis, struggles to operate its current schedule.


But Pesaturo did not address questions about whether the additional trains could affect service that commuters are already decrying.

The MBTA already operates trains to Foxborough during Patriots games, but the new program seeks to make the service more regular and permanent.

The MBTA had been planning to increase service to Foxborough in late 2014, and reached a memorandum of understanding with Kraft Group/Foxboro Realty Associates LLC in January 2015. The new test program would replace details of that agreement, which had initially called for permanent service.

In about two weeks, leaders in Walpole and Foxborough will hear more about the new pilot program, which was first reported by the Attleboro Sun-Chronicle. MBTA officials also said the pilot would only proceed with Foxborough’s support.

The prospect of additional service comes as Keolis has run into additional complaints from riders and legislators alike. After trains on the Fairmount Line, which serves mostly diverse and low-income neighborhoods, were frequently canceled for a period, US Representative Michael Capuano asked for a Federal Transit Administration civil rights probe into the situation. The FTA has confirmed it is reviewing the inquiry and will decide whether the MBTA violated civil rights law.


Advocates for the Fairmount Line said they noticed that cancellations were more likely when the agency had to operate trains to Gillette Stadium, which runs along some of the same tracks.

Joseph Aiello, chairman of the MBTA’s fiscal and management control board, said it’s crucial for the company to improve.

“We need to drive to make sure we can put out all the service we’re promising, and we’ve got to do that fast,” he said. “I don’t want excuses about anything. I want fixes, no matter what they are.”

Nicole Dungca can be reached at nicole.dungca@globe.com.