BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s ongoing efforts to eliminate slow orders on its rail transit system will continue with shutdowns on the Orange, Blue, and Red lines in April, the agency has announced. Also planned are shutdowns on several commuter rail lines, one of which will last for nine days.
More complete details are available in this MBTA press release, but these are the scheduled outages:
— On the Orange Line: Service will be suspended between the Forest Hills and Ruggles stations the weekends of March 30-31, April 6-7, April 20-21, and April 27-28. Free shuttle buses will replace rail service over the closed section, and commuter rail service will be free between Forest Hills and South Station during each closure.
— On the Blue Line: Service will be suspended between Bowdoin and Orient Heights on evenings beginning at 8 p.m. from April 9-11. Shuttle buses will operate between Government Center and Orient Heights.
— On the Red Line: Service will be suspended March 30-31 and April 6-7 on the Ashmont Branch between the Broadway and Ashmont stations, and on the Braintree Branch between the Broadway and North Quincy stations. Shuttle buses will operate between Broadway and Ashmont/North Quincy.
Commuter rail work
— On the Kingston, Middleborough, and Greenbush lines: In addition to previously announced shutdowns March 29-31 [see “MBTA sets March plans …,” Feb. 24, 2024], the lines will be shut down between South Station and Braintree beginning April 5 at approximately 7:30 p.m. and continuing all day April 6-7. Shuttle buses will replace trains during the shutdown.
— On the Haverhill Line: Service will be suspended between Ballardvale and North Station on April 6-7 and April 20-28. Shuttle buses will provide connections to the Orange Line subway and the Lowell and Haverhill lines; see the release linked above for additional details. More information will be available soon at the MBTA website.
— On the Newburyport/Rockport Line: Service will be suspended between North Station and Swampscott on April 6-7 and 20-28. Shuttle buses will operate between Swampscott, Lynn, and North Station; Chelsea passengers are asked to use Silver Line bus rapid transit. More information will be available soon on the MBTA website.
The commuter line outages are related to positive train control and Automatic Train Control work.
