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More long service suspensions planned for Red and Green lines next month; part of Orange Line to be shut for a weekend
By adamg on Fri, 01/19/2024 - 10:08am
The MBTA today announced track work that will mean bustitution for extended periods on the Red and Green Lines next month - and a piddling two-day suspension on the southern end of the Orange Line for signal work.
The Red Line won't run between Alewife and Harvard at all between Feb. 5 and 14. Starting at 8:45 p.m. and through the end of service on each of those days, the Red Line also won't run between Alewife and Park. Riders on the rest of the Red Line won't be entirely left out of the fun: The T says "there will be longer than normal time between Red Line subway trains where service continues to operate," so riders should plan accordingly.
The T promises shuttle buses between the closed stops and says commuter rail will be free between North Station and Porter Square - people who go past Porter will have to pay the regular fares, though.
In addition to track work, T crews will also spruce up stations - they'll be power washed, even - and install new lighting.
As a coda, Red Line service will be suspended between Harvard and Broadway on Feb. 24 and 25.
Parts of the Green Line's B, C and D branches will be shut for 18 days, between Feb. 20 and March 8: The B between Copley and Babcock Street, the C between Copley and Cleveland Circle and the D between Copley and Brookline Hills.
The T says it will provide free shuttle buses between Babcock, Cleveland Circle and Brookline Hills and Copley - where the fare gates will be thrown open like on New Year's Eve.
The 57 bus will also be free between Babcock and Kenmore. Free buses will also trundle up and down Beacon Street in lieu of trolley, and along the D branch between Brookline Hills and Copley. Also, outbound D riders will get on for free at Brookline Hills. For people who prefer plushier, if less frequent, commuter-rail service, the trains will be free between South Station and Lansdowne - outbound riders will still have to pay if they continue past that stop, though.
The Orange Line will be shut between Forest Hills and Ruggles on Feb. 17 and 18; with bustitution between those two points, as well as free commuter-rail service between Forest Hills and South Station.
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Comments
The Ashmont shutdown
Did nothing to improve travel times, waits, or slow zones.
Transit Matters Disagrees
https://dashboard.transitmatters.org/red/slowzones/?startDate=2023-01-19...
They show no slow zones on the Ashmont section. Is their data faulty?
Yes
The Ashmont line is exactly as slow as it was. There is no difference whatsoever in the speed at which the train travels.
Who ya gonna believe?
I'm going to believe the non-profit who's entire purpose is to report on and advocate for better public transportation AND has the real-time data to back it up over an internet commenter.
Ok
I am telling you that getting from Ashmont to jfk takes exactly as long as it used to.
Depends on the definition of "used to"
On January 11, 2024, the average trip time between Ashmont and JFK/UMass was 9:18. On September 13, 2023 the same trip too, on average, 15:41.
What it took in 1998 or 1948 is something else, but compared to the period right before shutdown, it's quicker now.
Wildly untrue
Service has been much improved between Ashmont and JFK. The stretch from JFK onwards wasn't included in the shutdown and retains slow zones, but it is vastly improved with all slow zones eliminated in the previously closed section.
You are literally telling me
You are literally telling me that your journey from Ashmont to jfk is less time than it was before the shutdown?
Almost 2 full months of no Green Line btw. Kenmore and Copley.
January has been a total wash, and now most of February too. At least they've deigned to provide bustitution for our coldest month.
How to turn a person bitter
I get that this work needs to be done. I also get this is what happens when they go decades without needed maintenance.
But doing this when the weather is well below freezing is just cruel. And continuing this for weeks and weeks is equally cruel.
At least when the orange line closed the city went out of their way to expedite busses. It's just shrugs this time around.
Agree and it's insane.
I work in the Hancock and the havoc in Copley created by the bustitution is a scene Lord of the Flies. Bus Drivers don't know where they're going, passengers don't know where they're going, the traffic is a shit show and it's been frigid.
Extra ridiculous
Many bike commuters switch to the T in winter weather, and biking is also one way people cope with all these shut downs. This is just a stupid thing to do when there is little possibility for mode shift.
Does anyone at the MBTA have a working brain?
Alternative might be not completing the work
Some of this is time sensitive, you can't start it in the fall, then leave it for the Spring. And even if not, every time there is a 3 month break in the work, that extends the period of substandard infrastructure further down the road. Yes, it sucks, but just get the job done, preferably as quickly as possible.
It would suck a lot less
If they weren't so casual about service eliminations and were much more honest about how many buses they need to replace the trains - and how often they need to run.
If they closed down some roads for those buses it would run even better - and that should be on the table.
Buried
in all the talk of alternate service is a brief snippet that I believe was mentioned by Eng at a T board meeting that the GL central subway tunnel was found to have serious structural deterioration necessitating immediate repair. Understandably the T didn't want to blast this, but the long shutdowns suggest that more than track work is happening. I feel for GL commuters, but I would feel worse if a 120 year old tunnel collapsed on a train. As someone who works in a state run building where facilities can not even manage to replace lightbulbs for months, I am not surprised that these closures needed to happen ASAP.