![]() More frequent trains, shorter headways and shorter travel time." We want people to know that the Blue Line is reliable and safe for them to take. "Google Maps tells me this trip could take 35 to 45 minutes by car, that does not take into account the need to find parking. This approximate 24-minute trip is better than driving," Eng said. ![]() Westbound travelers are getting five to six minutes back, and headways between trains are now at six minutes or less. Through lifting the nine slow zones, eastbound travelers are arriving at their destinations about 10 minutes earlier than they were a month ago, according to Eng. There are still 14 restrictions on the longer stretch of the Blue Line in East Boston into Revere, including six westbound slow zones where trains cannot safely exceed 10 miles an hour.Īs of Thursday, restrictions took up 31% of the Blue Line tracks - not far off from Eng's goal of reducing the slow zones from 43% in mid-April to 28% by the end of May. ![]() The MBTA has lifted nine speed restrictions along the Blue Line in the past month and a half, including all restrictions between Bowdoin Station and Aquarium Station, Eng said. On the Blue Line, where service shut down early on eight nights over the past month to give crews more time for repairs, slow zones have been eliminated on the mainland Boston side of the tracks. ![]() But we are moving in the right direction, we are making some progress towards delivering a more reliable transportation system that the public does deserve," he told the MBTA Board during their meeting on Thursday. "There is no denying that we have a lot of work to do and to reverse years of underinvestment to achieve a state of good repair. MBTA General Manager Phil Eng said the lifting of these slow zones is giving riders two to 10 minutes back in their days. Work in April and May on the Red Line from Ashmont Station to Park Street and from Braintree Station to Park Street cleared 20 speed restrictions, according to the MBTA's slow zone tracker. On the Red Line, where riders have already had to schedule around substantial evening and weekend closures during May, shuttle buses will replace trains from Braintree to JFK UMass during weekdays and during early nighttime shutdowns throughout June. It's work that will help ensure long-term service reliability on the Green Line Extension." Additional Green Line service changes may take place later in June, and the MBTA will announce more information when these changes are confirmed and scheduled," MBTA spokesperson Lisa Battiston said.Īsked how essential this work is, and if the lines have been operating without it since riders started taking the trains last year, Battiston said "it's final work that will be completed before the contract is formally closed out. MBTA crews will also perform additional work along the East Cambridge Viaduct. "This service change allows the GLX team to complete final finishing work, including track and drainage work around the Red Bridge, Inner Belt Yard, and other locations. MBTA officials say these closures will allow workers to finish work on the tracks. Charlie Baker's last full month in office. The Union Square branch opened last year and the Medford/Tufts branch opened in December, Gov. The Green Line extension, which starts at Lechmere Station in Cambridge and has two branches to Union Square in Somerville and to the Medford/Tufts stop in Medford, will be closed for the first two weekends of June. Going into June, the MBTA will be focusing repairs on southern sections of the Red Line, where widespread slow zones have caused major rider delays, and even the northern Green Line extension - the newest tracks, most of which have only been open for roughly seven months. The T cut service to Blue and Red Lines this spring to find extra time to make repairs. There are still 204 restrictions in place system-wide, representing 20% of all tracks. The restrictions were put in place after parts of the track were found to be unsafe for trains to run at full speed. Five months after the T slowed trains across its system, causing delays and disruptions for riders, the new general manager said Thursday that the MBTA has made "some further progress" on lifting the slow zones, but "we have a lot more to do."Īcross all four subway lines, the MBTA lifted 66 speed restrictions in April and May.
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