BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has announced the March schedule for shutdowns as part of its ongoing effort to eliminate slow orders on its rail transit lines, along with scheduled work on several of its commuter rail lines.
Already in progress are a group of shutdowns on the B, C, and D branches of the Green Line, which will continue through March 8 [see “MBTA to shut down portions of Red, Green lines …,” Trains News Wire, Jan. 26, 2024].
Also planned is a weekend shutdown of the Orange Line between the Forest Hills and Ruggles stations March 9-10, and a four-day shutdown between Jackson Square and North Station March 18-21. Free shuttle buses will help bridge all or part of those closures, as will fare-free commuter rail service between Forest Hills, Ruggles, Bay Bay, and South Station.
Three weekend shutdowns are planned on the Red Line: between Park Street and JFK/UMass March 2-3; between Broadway and Ashmont on the Ashmont Branch and Broadway and North Quincy on the Braintree Branch on March 23-24; and Between Broadway and JFK/UMass and Broadway and North Quincy on the Braintree Branch on March 30-31. Shuttle bus and commuter rail options will be available.
On the Commuter Rail system, the Kingston, Middleborough, and Greenbush lines will experience on two weekends related to the Dorchester Avenue Bridge Replacement Project that is also affecting the Red Line. Those routes will be replaced by shuttle buses between South Station and Braintree beginning about 8:45 p.m. on Friday, March 22, and all day on March 23-24, and again beginning about 8:45 p.m. on Friday, March 29, and all day on March 30-31.
On the Haverhill commuter line, shuttle buses will replace trains between Ballardvale and North Station the weekends of March 9-10, March 23-24, and March 30-31 to allow work on Automatic Train Control. And on the Framingham/Worcester Line, service will be suspended between South Station and Framingham on March 2, also for ATC work.
Detailed information on the transit alternatives for all the scheduled outages is available here.
For years the T was cashed starved so all maintenance was deferred so politicians could get reelected. Eventually poor maintenance will catch up with you.
Mr. ENG is taking a very proactive approach to correct years of neglect and the piecemeal few hours a day of repairs. He certainly is getting more work by the MBTA maintenance persons.
It seems that agencies across the USA are also taking this quicker approach vs strung out delays that have riders mad at various agencies for months.