Council gets ready to force train issue; Commuter service expansion sought.

• Position: LOCAL NEWS

Byline: Nick Kotsopoulos

WORCESTER - Exercising a strong united front, the City Council last night vowed to play hardball with CSX until the company makes it possible for more commuter rail service between here and Boston.

Several councilors called on the city administration to engage state and federal lawmakers, as well as municipal leaders between here and Framingham, so greater pressure can be put on CSX to break the stalemate in negotiations over the sought-after expanded commuter rail service.

They also said they intend to make this one of their top priorities during the coming year and promised not to drop it until their goal is achieved.

"We just can't give a speech tonight and let it go," said District 2 Councilor Philip P. Palmieri. "We've got to send (CSX) a very loud and clear message: We're not going to take this anymore. We're going to keep the pressure on CSX. We need to bring in our state and federal lawmakers so they can apply some pressure as well. We're going to do more than talk about this; we're going to war over this. We can't afford not to win."

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority provides 10 round trips between Worcester and Boston. For many years, city officials have sought to expand the service to at least 15 to 20 round trips daily.

But expanding the service has been difficult because the tracks between Worcester and Framingham are owned by CSX, which also uses the route to transport freight. The company has been reluctant about allowing more commuter rail service on those tracks, particularly during the middle of the day when its freight...