Since the MBTA Green Line Extension project has been shutting down the Lowell Line on weekends, Amtrak must detour down the Western Route via Reading. Here, Amtrak 694 dips into the Wellington Tunnel at Medford Jct. as an outbound MBTA Orange Line passes.
Once treated like a backwater with decrepit locomotives, cars and track, Massachusetts has become a star in the Amtrak constellation with electrification to Boston, service to Maine and an upgraded Connecticut Valley line.
