With just under 20 days remaining of the Orange Line shutdown remaining, transit officials say everything is going according to plan at this point.
The second work week amid the MBTA's month-long closure of its Orange Line is getting underway Monday, as transit officials assure the public that work is being completed on schedule.
The MBTA says it's about 37% complete with work along the Orange Line, and the agency is expected to stay on deadline. Gov. Charlie Baker said during a media availability Sunday that the MBTA is expected to meet its goal of finishing up by Sept. 19.
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Attention is beginning to turn to other lines of the T, though, as the MBTA looks at more potential diversions in the future.
"We’re going to take a look at where a diversion might be appropriate in other places and will obviously work with our municipal partners and clearly communicate," MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak said during Sunday's media availability, leaving the door open for more potential service closures in the future. "We’ve done diversions in the past, but obviously will take a look at what makes the most sense."
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The MBTA provided NBC10 Boston with a statement Monday morning, addressing reports of possible closures along the Red Line in the fall.
"The MBTA is constantly looking at options to accelerate track and signal improvements across the system," a spokesperson wrote in a statement. "At this time, no final decisions have been made on future diversions other than those already announced. After the details of any future infrastructure improvement work are finalized, the MBTA will keep its riders and the public informed of any necessary adjustments in rail service."
By most accounts, the ongoing Orange Line shutdown seems to be going pretty smoothly. Baker said Sunday that 900 feet of new rail is in place between State Street and Downtown Crossing. The 24/7 access, officials noted, is having a major impact on progress. The governor assured passengers that once work is complete, they can expect better tracks, new cars and an overall smoother commute.
Baker was asked Sunday what his message is ahead of the start of the new school year.
"The first thing I would say to everybody is we appreciate the difficulty that this creates for everyone, but the chance to get five years worth of work done in a very short period of time was a significant opportunity to improve the quality of service for Orange Line riders generally," he said. "And there's always friction between running the service and fixing the tracks, or doing almost anything that involves an upgrade of a system like this."
The governor also encouraged anyone who can take the Commuter Rail to do so.
"The main reason I say that is it has capacity, they're running more trains than they were running previously, and the feedback we got from a lot of people using the Commuter Rail last week was very positive," he said.
Asked if there are any future plans to change the Commuter Rail's pricing to make it more accessible, the governor said, "Let's get this done first and then we can talk about that."
Baker also said riders who still have lingering questions and confusion can download the rider's guidebook on the MBTA's website. It comes in 11 different languages, and Baker said he personally thinks it's a "relatively easy" document to understand.
