Trump official hints at federal takeover of South Station, but Boston mayor says “there’s no legal way” it can happen
By Mike Toole, Samantha Chaney
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BOSTON (WBZ) — The Trump administration appears to have concerns about safety and cleanliness at South Station in Boston.
As Amtrak unveiled the new high-speed Acela train there Wednesday night, Deputy Secretary of Transportation Steven Bradbury suggested that South Station could face a federal takeover, similar to what is happening at Union Station in Washington, D.C.
“We need to address the stations along the Northeast Corridor,” Bradbury said. “Similarly, here in South Boston we need to address the cleanliness, the crime, the safety and security of the station for the rail workers, for the passengers, because the people of Boston deserve that,” Bradbury said.
He did not take any questions or elaborate on how the Transportation Department would address the issues. The department owns Union Station in Washington, but it has no control over South Station. The MBTA owns it and oversees the day-to-day operations there. WBZ-TV has reached out to the T for comment but has not heard back yet.
“South Station is not the property of the federal government and there’s no legal way for anything like that to happen,” Boston Mayor Michelle Wu told reporters Thursday. “This is not a game of authoritarian monopoly. This is a government with laws and a constitution that clearly shows who is in control of what.”
“What the Trump Administration is doing in DC and now threatening to do at South Station is outrageous, wrong and has nothing to do with transportation or public safety,” Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey said in a statement. “It’s more political theater, more political power grabs from Donald Trump. We don’t need or want his interference here. We’re not going to let the guy who went bankrupt six times take over our train stations.”
“Open drug use, frequent overdoses” Dave Stevenson, the New England safety and legislative director for the labor union SMART Transportation Division, said conditions have declined at South Station.
“We see stuff like open drug use, public urination. There’s frequent overdoses at the station,” Stevenson said. “We had a guy throw a drink on one of our conductors for no reason, just walking through the station.”
He says there’s no need for a federal takeover, but the Trump administration could help.
“There’s definitely no need for a federal takeover, but we could use some federal money to beef up some of the policing and security at South Station,” Stevenson said.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced Wednesday that his department was “reclaiming” management of Union Station in Washington because it “has fallen into disrepair.” The department has owned the D.C. station for more than 40 years, but said control has been reduced through various leases and agreements.
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