BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — The beginning of April kicked off with closures on the Red Line Ashmont to JFK/UMass, which were replaced by buses instead.
After April 9, shuttle trains take over service on those portions of the Red Line for the remainder of the month.
It’s the first of many service changes to be issued by the MBTA in the coming months following a large-scale planned service outage. The $285 million project, announced in January, planned for vast improvements across MBTA services, including annual maintenance, signal system modernization, and accessibility enhancements, among other upgrades.
While the MBTA said they hoped to provide a more accessible and reliable service, some residents were annoyed by the decision.
“Not the best timing in the world I guess,” one Boston resident said. “I’ve had to switch buses before, you take a bus to each station, and it’s pretty time-consuming.”
Others, like Daryl from Dorchester, didn’t mind the work and looked forward to the improvements.
“I’m happy they’re doing the work,” Daryl said. “From what I understand it’s actually been a long time coming.”
The latest round of outages is planned to be lasting on and off until June, and services like Blue Bikes offered $20 credit to aid travel around town.
WBZ NewsRadio’s Jim MacKay (@JimMacKayOnAir) reports.