BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has completed work on a section of the Orange Line known as the Tufts Curve, concluding one of the Corrective Action Plans addressing issues raised by the Federal Transit Administration in 2022 and eliminating a long-running speed restriction.
The FTA officially closed the corrective plan in writing, confirming the MBTA has appropriately addressed the issue, the MBTA said in a press release.
“Accomplishing this work was truly a team effort with contributions from many groups, including our engineers, maintenance, capital transformation, and compliance experts,” said MBTA General Manager and CEO Phillip Eng. “I thank them for their dedication and hard work to address the vital track infrastructure work. 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.”
The Tufts Curve was specifically addressed in one of the four FTA safety directives issued in June 2022 [see “Federal directives order MBTA to address safety issues,” Trains News Wire, June 15, 2022], which noted the speed restriction there dated to 2019. During last summer’s 30-day shutdown of the Orange Line for emergency repairs, the speed restriction on the northbound track was raised to 18 mph. Work has now been completed allowing normal operating speeds in both directions.
The MBTA says work on the 981-foot section of track was particularly challenging because of the track geometry and the extremely limited work window to address the problem.
This must be the curve where the (new since 1987) Southwest Corridor RoW branches off from the original RoW just past Chinatown Station.
After four years and exhaustive safety work, the Orange Line will no longer be slowing down between the Back Bay and Tufts stops.
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