Subway fixes on the MBTA hardly feel like they’re on rails.
As Red Line riders gear up for a 16-day October closure of a southern spoke, the shiny new Green Line extension was revealed to have such serious track defects that trains are crawling along at 3 miles per hour. Over the past month, MBTA data shows 33 speed restrictions were opened while only 19 were closed, with more than a quarter of the system’s track afflicted by slow zones.
Another “surge” of work is on the way, this time along the Red Line. The MBTA will close the Ashmont branch and Mattapan trolley line from October 14 to October 29 for “major track improvements,” officials said. Fleets of shuttle buses will replace the trains between JFK/UMass and Mattapan, which serve about 40,000 subway riders and 3,700 trolley riders each day, according to the MBTA.
Even state officials aren’t buying what the T is selling at face value. Rep. Russell Holmes of Mattapan pushed for straighter answers on speed restriction lifts at a Wednesday public meeting about the upcoming closure.
“I think we have to make sure we communicate that this is not over on 10/29 because it felt like we went to all of that pain on the Orange Line with no gain,” he told transportation planners. “So we have to say folks, yes, we’re going to get these tracks in place, but it might be a week or two before they’re settled and we can go to full speed.”
When the Orange Line shut down for its 30-day “surge” last September, officials said slow zones on the new track would remain for about a week as tracks settled into place. Though the line now has the lowest percentage of overall slow zones across the system, there are still about a dozen stretches throughout the line with speed restrictions of 10 miles per hour.
Some riders may find the Fairmount Line of the commuter rail, which will be free for the duration of the Red Line closure, a better alternative to shuttles. But unlike the free commuter rail service during the Orange Line closure, where commuter trains ran parallel to most of the subway line, the Fairmount Line effectively fills a subway gap in parts of Dorchester and Mattapan without other train service.
There are few logical points of intersection between the closed train line and the commuter line. MBTA employees noted the closest point of contact would be a 0.3 mile walk between the trolley stop in Mattapan and the Blue Hill Avenue Station on the Fairmount Line, and the next closest a 0.7-mile walk between the Shawmut Red Line stop and the Talbot Ave commuter rail stop.
After years of advocacy trying to bring the Fairmount up to subway standards of service, the line saw the highest amount of post-pandemic ridership bounce-back and is for the most part the same price as the MBTA subway system. But Fairmount trains still roll by every 45 minutes, a longer wait than even the expanded headways Red Line riders have come to dread. Planners said they suggested most riders plan for an extra 15 minutes to their commutes during the surge.
While most meeting attendees asked for specifics on their commute changes and expressed generalized angst about the disruption – “It’s just a headache. It’s just too much. We can’t have this no more,” one rider said, describing aggravatingly ballooning commutes – one asked why not shut down the whole Red Line and get the work over with, rather than yank riders on and off shuttles over successive months.
The line just serves too many people, said Deirdre Habershaw, chief of staff to the MBTA’s chief operating officer.
“So the bus count is not only not feasible to meet, but we would essentially have a caravan of buses creating gridlock for themselves and passengers all the way from Alewife, along Mass Ave, through the core of the city, and then both branches,” she said. Nighttime work targeted the Braintree line earlier this year. “We need to do this in sort of a triage manner so that we can keep people moving in a way that doesn’t completely shut down all movement throughout the core of the city,” she said.
JENNIFER SMITH
FROM COMMONWEALTH
Free legal counsel: A bill giving low-income tenants facing eviction access to free legal counsel gets a hearing in the Legislature, with its backers hoping it can be incorporated into upcoming housing legislation. Read more.
OPINION
No to last in, first out: Rep. Rita Mendes of Brockton backs passage of legislation that would eliminate seniority-driven layoffs, which she says result in the dismissal of many teachers of color who are critical to connecting with students of color. Read more.
FROM AROUND THE WEB
BEACON HILL
Joan Vennochi asks when Maura Healey and Phil Eng will tell the public their plan – and timeline – for fixing the T. (Boston Globe) Jim Aloisi posed the question in CommonWealth earlier this week, and we asked it last month.
The tax relief bill passed yesterday by the House, which the Senate is expected to ratify today, is a political win for Gov. Maura Healey, say several observers. (Boston Globe) The Massachusetts High Technology Council is weighing a legal challenge to a provision in the tax relief bill that would change a 1986 tax-cap law so that all taxpayers get equal sized refunds, regardless of the amount of tax they paid, if the law is triggered in the future. The business group contends that it violates a provision of the state constitution mandating that taxes be levied at a uniform rate. (Boston Herald)
MUNICIPAL MATTERS
The Boston City Council unanimously signed off on a new contract the city negotiated with firefighters giving them a 10.6 percent raise over three years. (Boston Herald)
Tall ships are scheduled to come to Boston in 2026. (State House News)
Swampscott’s solid waste committee unanimously backs a regulatory to ban single-use plastic and styrofoam containers for takeout food. (Daily Item)
After pushback to a $21 million redesign plan for Northampton’s Main Street, the mayor is responding to business and resident concerns. (MassLive)
HEALTH/HEALTH CARE
UMass Memorial Health permanently shut down the health system’s maternity unit in Leominster on Saturday night, sparking outrage from lawmakers and advocates. (Worcester Telegram)
A Hyannis health clinic that began offering medication abortion earlier this year is now the site of protests and counter-protests. (Cape Cod Times)
UMass Memorial Health and Milford Regional Medical Center may merge, signing a letter of intent that will allow the organizations to explore a potential corporate affiliation. (Worcester Telegram)
ELECTIONS
The seven Republicans running for president who are not Donald Trump bickered and took cross-talk swipes at each other in their second debate, but did little to change the dynamics of the race – or to deliver strong hits on the absent front-runner. (New York Times)
Melissa Mazzeo, a 2019 candidate for mayor in Pittsfield, settles a defamation lawsuit against her by paying $140,000 to Barry Clairmont, whom she accused of having unauthorized access to election ballots in a hotly contested race she lost. Clairmont is the husband of the incumbent mayor, Linda Tyer. Mazzeo said the decision to settle was made by her insurance company and she would have preferred to go to trial. (Berkshire Eagle)
Super PACs spent heavily in Boston preliminary campaigns, targeting the open District 3 Dorchester city council seat and the hotly contested District 5, where embattled incumbent Ricordo Arroyo lost his race. (Dorchester Reporter)
Worcester School Committee candidates squared off in a debate Wednesday night, tackling school safety, district cellphone policies, and members’ stipends. (Worcester Telegram)
EDUCATION
Art students displaced by UMass Dartmouth’s sudden exit from the downtown New Bedford building that had been home to its college of visual studies are demanding a meeting with university officials to discuss demands they’ve made, including financial reimbursement for classes that haven’t been held or have been disrupted by the abrupt move. (New Bedford Light) Here’s an overview of the controversy that erupted last month.
After the pandemic era eviction ban was lifted, student homelessness rose in the Brockton school system. More than 1,000 Brockton Public School students were placed in shelters as of May. (The Enterprise)
TRANSPORTATION
More questions, but few answers, as to why the MBTA’s year-old Green Line Extension is on the fritz because of the improper “gauge” of its rails. (Boston Globe)