High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The MBTA Commuter Railroad serves as the regional rail arm of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, in the United States. It is operated under contract by the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Company a joint partnership of Veolia Transportation, Bombardier Transportation and Alternate Concepts, Inc. The current operating contract expires in July 2013. The commuter rail system is the fifth-busiest commuter rail in the country, after only New York and Chicago area systems. The line's characteristic purple-trimmed coaches run as far south as Providence, Rhode Island, and as far north as Newburyport and as far west as Worcester, both in Massachusetts. The trains have two terminal stops in Boston South Station and North Station both transportation hubs offering connections to Amtrak, local bus and subway lines. As of FY2007, daily weekday ridership was 143,700.