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BOSTON (State House News Service) — While numerous other slow zones remain, the MBTA lifted speed restrictions along nine Red Line stretches between its Park Street and JFK/UMass stations following service disruptions that enabled crews to expedite track work over the past week.
The T announced Tuesday morning that more than nine miles of the Red Line, or nearly 20 percent of the branch, remains under speed restrictions, which the transit authority said is the lowest amount since March 8 when the MBTA initiated slow zones systemwide. The remaining restrictions include about ten stretches of the Red Line where the nine slow zones have been erased.
The slow zones -- which in this case limited train speeds to 10 mph or 25 mph - are in place because the T determined it would be unsafe to run trains at normal speeds until fixes are made. The latest work involved replacing more than 2,000 feet of rail and 115 rail ties.
Once considered rare, the MBTA is now routinely taking portions of its core subway service offline to make repairs in less time than it would take to make them during overnight shifts. The T believes it can use this approach to address all slow zones by the end of 2024.
Red Line passengers were diverted to shuttle buses while the work was conducted during evenings between Nov. 14 and Nov. 16 and all day over the weekend of Nov. 18-19.
The T also used the work period to paint, clean signs, sand and restore platform benches, install new rubber flooring on the stairway at Broadway Station, and fix "tripping hazards" on the platform at South Station.
Written by Michael P. Norton/SHNS
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