Up to speed: T completes work on ‘Tufts Curve’
After four years and exhaustive safety work, the Orange Line will no longer be slowing down between the Back Bay and Tufts stops, the MBTA announced Tuesday.
“While there is still work to do across the system, the completion of the Tufts Curve section of track represents an important step towards restoring the level of service our riders deserve,” said MBTA General Manager and CEO Phillip Eng, thanking the workers involved.
The repair is one of 39 Corrective Action Plans (CAPs) the MBTA was directed to design after a scathing safety report filed by the Federal Transit Authority in 2022. The MBTA listed it has 32% of the FTA’s special directive complete as of June and marks the end date as 2025.
The FTA officially closed the CAP in a letter verifying the repairs met the safety standard. The Tufts Curve repair work is the second CAP closed in recent months, the MBTA said, following completed efforts to fix Green Line Work Trains closed in March.
The Tufts Curve repair work allow the “Orange Line trains to safely increase their operating speed to the full design speed” in the 981-foot section of track running north and south between Back Bay and Tufts, the MBTA stated.
Speeds were initially restricted to 10 mph along the curve in 2019, then bumped up to 18 mph after the 30day Orange Line shutdown last year.
The MBTA noted the work was “complex and time-consuming due to the geometry of the curved track and the extremely limited work windows primarily available at night.”
The CAP is one of several “Right of Way Safety” plans designed under the directive. Other plans fall under categories including workforce, safety communications, lapsed certifications and vehicle securement issues.
“Employees and managers are committed to changing the course of the MBTA with top-to-bottom infrastructure improvements to improve safety and reliability,” said Transportation Secretary and CEO Gina Fiandaca. “We are pleased the FTA has officially closed the Corrective Action Plan pertaining to the Orange Line corridor known as the Tufts Curve, and we continue to be sharply focused on repairing the remaining track issues in other rail corridors.”