Advocacy group says MBTA Orange Line service is slower than before maintenance shutdown

BOSTON — Service on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s rapid-transit Orange Line is slower than it was prior to a 30-day shutdown for major repairs, the Boston Herald reports, citing data from Boston-area advocacy group TransitMatters.

Combined with service cuts reflecting the agency’s shortage of dispatchers — a response to directives from the Federal Transit Administration — Orange Line service now consists of “less trains, the trains are more crowded, less reliable, and they’re slower on top of everything,” TransitMatters volunteer Seth Kaplan told the Herald.

The MBTA shut down the Orange Line, its second-most-used rapid transit lines, for a 30-day repair blitz that concluded Sept. 19, saying it had been able to do five years’ worth of work and the result would be improved operations [see “MBTA’s Orange Line service to resume …,” Trains News Wire, Sept. 18, 2022].

But there are now more speed restrictions in place than before the shutdown, Kaplan told the newspaper. Prior to the shutdown, restrictions accounted for about 6.9 minutes of delays; currently, the figure is 14.3 minutes, and it has been as high as 30 minutes on Sept. 30. The route now has nine southbound slow-order areas, compared with four prior to the shutdown, and six northbound slow zones, compared to two beforehand.

An MBTA spokesman told the newspaper that work is continuing on the Orange Line, taking advantage of crews and materials that were already in place. “Customers will experience faster train service in the coming week as train speeds are increased along more segments of the line,” spokesman Joe Pesaturo said. “The MBTA understands its riders’ frustration with speed restrictions, but safety and maintenance must take priority.”