Crews work on the tracks at the Wellington T station in Medford, Massachusetts, on Saturday, Aug. 20, 2022. The MBTA Orange Line officially closed at 9 p.m. Friday as part of an unprecedented 30-day shutdown of the transit line that runs from Forest Hills to Oak Grove in Malden.
Two MBTA construction vehicles have derailed this week during Orange Line repair work, but they're not expected to slow the shutdown schedule down, the agency said.
No one was hurt and equipment wasn't damaged in the incidents, which took place Monday evening and Tuesday morning in separate parts of the line, an MBTA representative said.
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Trains did not derail in either case, but equipment on rails, which have rubber tires, according to the agency.
The first derailment took place about 7:20 p.m. Monday, in which a piece of equipment slipped off the tracks north of Wellington Station. Investigators believe rain contributed to what happened, the MBTA said.
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The second derailment took place just south of the Massachusetts Avenue station, when a rail and tie replacement vehicle came off the tracks about 8:30 a.m. Tuesday. That incident is being investigated, according to the MBTA.
The entire Orange Line was shut Friday night and will remain closed for an unprecedented 30 days, through Sept. 18, to allow for badly needed repairs to its aging infrastructure. Passengers have been asked to take Commuter Rail, the scores of shuttle buses brought into Boston or bicycle.
On Monday afternoon, MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak said there were no major issues with construction so far, and that the first weekday morning commute had gone fairly smoothly.
The work on the "Orange Line super surge" is on schedule so far, Poftak said Monday afternoon. He still expected the T to finish five years' worth of Orange Line projects in 30 days.
Asked what he thinks of riders skeptical it will all be finished on time, he noted that the work schedule was made so that some projects can be "put to the side" if they aren't completed by Sept. 18, but also that, if work ends early, there is more work that can be added to the schedule.
