File photo of two MBTA Green Line trains
The MBTA has announced the opening of the first Green Line Extension stop.
The long-term project is closer to nearing completion, and revenue service to Union Square Station will start during the day on March 21, MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak said, according to Massachusetts Department of Transportation spokesperson Jacquelyn Goddard.
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At the beginning of February, sparkling new test trains were running on the Green Line Extension as the transportation agency worked out the choreography of the line that will go through Somerville and into Medford. The goal of the project was to provide service in areas that historically did not have good access to public transit.
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The pandemic helped speed construction on the project -- which has faced significant challenges and delays -- by reducing train and auto traffic.
The Union Square branch represents the smaller of two portions of the Green Line Extension branching off from a rebuilt Lechmere Station in Cambridge. An opening date for the branch that will run to College Avenue in Medford remains unclear. Officials had targeted May 2022 to launch service there, but Poftak has hinted in recent months that date may get pushed back once again
