North Station expansion on the way via drawbridges’ replacements

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is planning to replace the two Charles River drawbridges outside of North Station, a project that will effectively boost the capacity of the transportation hub.

The bridges, which are each more than eight decades old, handle approximately 200 trains that go in and out of North Station daily. The replacement bridges are due to have six tracks total, up from four now.

That will allow the MBTA to open a platform in North Station that’s never been used for passenger service. Voila, more trains for more passengers.

The extra capacity will take a while, though. The agency in late October opened a bidding process for contractors for the drawbridge expansion. Once a contractor is selected, work could take until 2026, per the Globe’s Adam Vaccaro.

The North Station project is one of several bridge projects either recently completed or underway in Boston. Work is getting underway in the same area on rebuilding the North Washington Street Bridge between Charlestown and the North End.

And work wrapped earlier this year on both the Commonwealth Avenue Bridge near Boston University and the Longfellow Bridge between Boston and Cambridge.

• MBTA will replace North Station drawbridges, eliminating a chokepoint [Globe]
• North Washington Street Bridge repairs in Boston to last five years [Curbed Boston]
• Longfellow Bridge reopening on May 31 after years of repairs [Curbed Boston]
• Commonwealth Avenue closure will run from July 26 to August 11 [Curbed Boston]