Photo: WBZ NewsRadio
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — The MBTA Red Line is slow zone free for the first time in more than two decades, joining the Blue and Orange lines, according to T officials.
The Red Line returned to normal service Monday after parts were shut down last week for track work.
“I’m proud of the tremendous amount of work we’re accomplishing. The track in these areas of the Red Line is very challenging for crews to be able to access, but our workforce was given the unencumbered time on the track that they needed to finally do the work to completely remove these slow zones,” MBTA General Manager and CEO Phillip Eng said in a statement. “There’s more work to do on the Green Line next month to make the entire subway system slow zone-free, but we’re now well-positioned to efficiently maintain our system for years to come with the goal of providing the safe, reliable service our riders can be proud of.”
Carly, a Boston commuter, rides the Red Line daily and said she is cautiously optimistic.
Jordan, a commuter at the JFK/UMass stop, was surprised but happy to hear about the lifted speed restrictions.
“I find myself taking Ubers a lot of the time because it’s really inconvenient to take the replacement shuttles,” said Jordan. “This is the first I’m hearing about that [the lifted restrictions] actually, that’s really convenient.”
The Green Line is the last line with some slow zones. It has two speed restrictions in effect that cover about a quarter of a mile. The MBTA said they expect those restrictions to be lifted by Dec. 21.
WBZ NewsRadio's Jared Brosnan (@jaredbrosnanwbz) reports.
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