BOSTON — The rapid transit Red Line and two commuter rail lines, the Needham and Haverhill, will see service interruptions in July for maintenance, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has announced.
The Red Line work will include a weekend shutdown of the outbound/northbound platform at the Kendall/MIT station July 5-7, and a major shutdown between Alewife and Kendall/MIT July 13-28 as part of the ongoing Track Improvement Program, which seeks to eliminate the backlog of speed restrictions on the rapid transit system by the end of this year.
The Alewife-Kendall/MIT shutdown will be extended to Park Street on weekdays after 8:30 p.m. and on weekends. Three sets of shuttle buses will provide alternate service: one making all stops at all stations; express buses stopping at Alewife, Porter, and Kendall/MIT; and a shuttle bus loop from Harvard to Central to Kendall/MIT and back to Harvard. Also, an additional “shuttle train” will operate hourly between North Station and Porter on the Fitchburg Line ,providing service every 30 minutes on weekdays and hourly on weekends. More information will be available here prior to the suspension.
The Needham Line commuter work actually begins at the end of this month, on June 28, and continues through July 1, as previously announced [see “MBTA sets June maintenance shutdowns …,” Trains News Wire, May 24, 2024]. It involves a suspension of service between South Station and Needham Heights on those days; see the previous story for details. On the Haverhill Line, a special schedule is in effect for the remainder of the summer to allow for construction; that schedule is available here.
