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Commuter Rail proposal for daily Gillette Stadium service draws concerns

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — A controversial effort to bring regular Commuter Rail service to Gillette Stadium seems to have new life.

In Foxborough Tuesday night, state officials will unveil new plans for a pilot program that would add four new roundtrip commuter trains to Boston to the MBTA's Commuter Rail service.

But people who live near the tracks in Walpole and Foxborough, are not happy with this.

The plan was originally proposed two years ago by Robert Kraft and others involved at Patriot Place, and residents say their concerns haven’t been addressed.

“That's four trains going one way, and they come back, four trains go back that way. That's eight passenger trains,” Dave Pryne from Walpole said. “It’s going to feel like Boston coming to the suburbs.”

If an 11-month pilot program gets the green light, there will soon be regular commuter rail service from Patriot Place to Boston, going right down the tracks that pass Pyre’s yard.

“The thing is that's annoying the most is the fact it shakes our house. So, if it continues getting busier as far as Commuter rail, then our house will shake even more and it'll be a little bit louder,” he said.

The tracks currently only carry freight trains regularly with passenger trains only on the rails for special events at the stadium.

Mass. Rep. Shawn Dooley from Norfolk said he believes a Commuter Rail expansion to Gillette Stadium will do nothing to help alleviate the T's issues.

“No matter how many train stations you put out, if you don’t have the trains running on time, they can't be reliable, people can count on, they’re not going to ride them, they have to get to work, they have to get home,” he said.

The state DOT and the MBTA will unveil the pilot plan Tuesday night, they say it will be ended if Foxborough says no to the proposal.