Green Line B to shutter for 12 days
Green Line service will shut down for 12 days while the MBTA works to make track upgrades and implement anti-collision technology across the system.
The full- access closure will take place on the Green Line’s B branch between Boston College and Kenmore stations, in both directions, from Monday to July 1, according to the MBTA, which said shuttle buses will replace service.
“Safety is our top priority,” said MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak. “Having a full-access closure such as this allows our team to complete a massive amount of work in a short time frame. In doing so, we are able to accelerate construction and resume regularly scheduled service for all riders in a safe and timely manner.”
The T said crews will replace 3,200 feet of track from Linden Street, up to the Packard’s Corner platform; complete four units of special track work at Cardinal and Washington Street crossovers; and upgrade the Linden Street intersection and Fordham Road pedes
trian crossing.
Work will also include the installation of the long- awaited Green Line Train Protection System technology, anti- collision equipment that was approved more than a decade ago. The delay in installation has been in the spotlight following a collision between two Green Line trains on June 1 that sent four MBTA workers to the hospital.
At a cost of $212 million, the T said the GLTPS “combines vehicle and wayside equipment to avoid trainon-train collisions, add redlight signal protection and incorporate speed enforcement.”
Delayed critical track maintenance was one of the four areas the Federal Transit Administration ordered the MBTA to address in its special directives issued on Wednesday, as part of its safety management inspection.
According to the federal directive, more than two miles of Green Line track is under a speed restriction due to track defects, and the line’s only work train has been inoperable for at least eight months.
A majority of work during the 12- day shutdown will take place between Linden Street in Allston, the Washington Street Crossover in Brighton and the Cardinal Crossover near Boston College.
The closure, one of four that will be taking place across the Green Line this summer, will save six months of weekend diversions. The T said 12,950 feet of track will be replaced when the project is completed in late 2023.