WORCESTER, Mass. - Worcester leaders are scrambling to stop the MBTA’s plan to slow down the "Heart to Hub" express train with four additional stops, and feel they were blindsided by the upcoming change. 

Passengers of the "Heart to Hub" train rely on its ability to get from Union Station to South Station in Boston in about an hour, with Framingham being the only other stop outside of Boston. Frequent commuters on the 6:30 a.m. train like Tracy Novick aren’t excited about the changes, which would add four stops to the schedule.

“I don't think that it's too much to expect that the second largest city in New England, which is 45 miles from the largest city, should only have it take an hour to get there by public transit,” Novick said.

Novick, who is also a member of the Worcester School Committee and joined a group in filing a petition to get the MBTA’s plans discussed at city council, takes the train to her office in Boston several times a week. She said the "Heart to Hub" train has been a reliable way to get where she needs to be on time, even after the Framingham stop was added last year. 

Novick believes the MBTA’s plans to add stops in Grafton, Westborough, Southborough and Ashland, which will add about a half hour to the ride, will make living in Worcester much less convenient. 

“If you're in downtown Worcester, there's apartments and condominiums going up all over the place downtown, and they're being marketed for young professionals, most of them without children,” Novick said. “I know that that the fact that they are close to Union Station is part of what's being marketed. Is anyone telling those people that it's going to take them an hour and a half to get in, an hour and a half to get home?”

At Tuesday night’s city council meeting, it was revealed City Manager Eric Batista and Mayor Joe Petty received no advanced notice on the changes, despite meeting with the MBTA and the State Secretary of Transportation last month. Batista said MBTA leaders even signaled they were willing to discuss expanding train service in Worcester at the meeting. 

Councilor Candy Mero-Carlson is still hoping the MBTA’s plans are put on hold. 

“I mean, this is crazy that we didn’t even know it was coming,” Mero-Carlson said. “The city administration, as well as the mayor.”

State Sen. Michael Moore and State Sen. Robyn Kennedy met with the MBTA’s general manager on Wednesday to advocate for keeping the "Heart to Hub" train in place under the current schedule.