State transportation sources tell NBC10 Boston to expect a monthlong shutdown for the Orange Line to tackle infrastructure upgrades.
UPDATE (Wednesday, Aug. 3): The shutdown was announced for 30 days from August to September. Get details from Gov. Baker's announcement here.
The MBTA will shut down the Orange Line for 30 days to work on long overdue maintenance, sources tell NBC10 Boston.
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The Boston Globe first reported that the agency was considering a monthlong shutdown of the line, which would start later this month and stretch into September.
State transportation sources told NBC10 Boston that the MBTA the shutdown Wednesday, and that it would tackle infrastructure upgrades.
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Gov. Charlie Baker, MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak and Massachusetts Department of Transportation Secretary and CEO Jamey Tesler said in a Tuesday evening advisory that they would speak at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday at Wellington Station.
An agenda for an MBTA Board of Directors meeting scheduled for Wednesday has the first item up for discussion a proposed contact award with A Yankee Line, a bus company that would provide replacement shuttle bus service for the Orange Line and part of the Green Line. The agenda did not specify what timeframe the contract would cover.
The agency had already planned track and signal work on the Orange line, which had originally been set to begin last week, but it was pushed back. There are safety upgrades in the works on the Red Line, work that started Monday and is planned again from Aug. 8 through Aug. 11.
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Red Line riders dealt with long wait times for shuttle buses at Quincy Center Tuesday.
In addition to the planned track maintenance in the evening, shuttle buses had to take the place of trains Tuesday morning after construction equipment derailed and damaged the third rail overnight.
"It's crazy. It's nuts," passenger Michael Brown said. "There's no communication. They don't say, 'Hey, like, we're delayed, XY AND Z is happening.'"
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu has called for "drastic action" to address ongoing safety concerns on the T. The MBTA has been facing public scrutiny and a federal investigation after multiple safety incidents.
The Federal Transit Administration has been investigating the agency for months, in response to some of the more serious incidents. In April, Robinson Lalin got his arm stuck in the door of a Red Line and was dragged to his death last month. A fire on an Orange Line train forced passengers to evacuate onto a bridge last month.
An early report from that FTA investigation noted four immediate issues it called on the MBTA to address. Then, after multiple incidents of runaway trains, the FTA ordered the agency not to allow workers who have not been briefed on safety to move trains.
This is a breaking story. Check back for updates.
