STOP AND GO
MBTA to shut down parts of Red, Blue Lines to address slow zones
The MBTA plans to aggressively target the Red and Blue Lines in April, in terms of addressing speed restrictions during evening and weekend shutdowns.
When combined, the two lines account for 58.6% of the 36.8 total miles of speed-restricted track and 116 of the 221 slow zones in place throughout the subway system, according to a speed restriction dashboard launched by the MBTA on Thursday.
The new data highlights the vast amount of work needed to bring the T up to speed following the 1025 mph speed restriction placed temporarily on all lines two weeks ago — due to negative findings from a Red Line track inspection conducted by the Department
of Public Utilities.
While the final end-toend restriction was lifted on the Green Line Sunday night, MBTA Interim General Manager Jeffrey Gonneville declined to provide a timeline on how long it would be before the remaining speed restrictions, encompassing 27% of the subway system, would be lifted.
“What I can tell you is that we know and we have the details of which lines are the most heavily impacted,” Gonneville told the MBTA Board of Directors on Thursday. “I can tell you right now, both the Braintree branch and the Blue Line, as well as the Ashmont branches from JFK, north and south.
“Those are the areas right now that we’re going to be putting a tremendous amount of focus (on) over the next coming weeks, because those are the two areas where we were seeing the greatest amount of impact,” he added, referring to defects identified through magnetized track inspections.
Red Line service will be replaced with shuttle buses between Braintree and JFK/UMass stations during the weekend of April 1-2, and between North Quincy and JFK/ UMass stations beginning at 9 p.m. on April 3-6.
These two diversions will allow for “critical rail and tie replacement work along the track in multiple areas along the Braintree branch that will alleviate speed restrictions,” the MBTA said in a press statement.
Weekday train service will be shut down between Park Street and JFK/ UMass stations beginning at 9 p.m. on April 18-20. Shuttle buses will also replace service between Kendall/MIT and JFK/UMass stations during the weekends of April 22-23 and 2930 to perform track work to address speed restrictions near South Station.
Evening weekday trains will be replaced with shuttle buses on the Blue Line, between Government and Orient Heights stations, beginning at 9 p.m. on April 10-13 and 24-27, to address speed restrictions through rail replacement and track alignment work, the MBTA statement said.
The Red Line alone has 106 speed restrictions in place, with 12 miles of restricted track encompassing 25% of the line. Only 10 slow zones are in place on the Blue Line, but they cover 77%, or 9.6 miles of track, according to MBTA data.
Speed restrictions are plaguing other lines as well, with 40 in place on the Orange Line and 65 on the Green Line, accounting for 5.6 and 9.5 miles of track, respectively, on those two lines.
By comparison, slow zones covered 10.1 miles, or 7.5% of the entire MBTA subway system by the end of February.
Gonneville said the heavy emphasis on Red and Blue line diversions in April does not mean that track work will stop on the Orange and Green lines.
“Those are just the lines right now that we know are being the most heavily impacted by the results of this, and those are the lines that we were obviously having a key level of focus on as well,” Gonneville said.