Two Boston MBTA lines face closures in August, including 1 for 9 days
The MBTA will shut down more than half the Blue Line for nine days next month and will close a lengthy portion of the Orange Line on three weekends to complete what it described as necessary and long-planned maintenance.
During the Blue Line closure, trains will terminate at Airport station near Logan International Airport, with shuttle buses replacing the subway for all travel north toward Wonderland Station in Revere, from Aug. 9-17.
On the Orange Line, the T will divert riders to a combination of shuttle buses and Green Line trains between Back Bay and Wellington stations on the weekends of Aug. 2–3, Aug. 9–10 and Aug. 23–24.
The Lowell and Fitchburg commuter rail lines will also be closed or partially closed for maintenance on select weekends next month.
Here is what riders should know about the upcoming closures.
An MBTA Blue Line train arrives at Suffolk Downs station. Tréa Lavery/MassLive
Blue Line
The Blue Line work will support "renewal and revitalization" of the subway line, transit officials said.
The Blue Line was the site of an embarrassing incident for the T last month when a decades-old frayed wire fell across the tracks, halting a train and forcing the evacuation of some 500 passengers from a tunnel beneath Boston Harbor.
Next month's maintenance will keep the tracks in a "state of good repair" as the T looks to stay up-to-date on maintenance projects that had lingered without action in years past.
During the nine-day shutdown, the Blue Line will operate normally between Bowdoin and Airport stations. However, officials said trains would come roughly every 10 minutes, about double how often they normally arrive.
Shuttle buses will stop at all stations between Airport and Wonderland.
Shuttle bus riders should budget extra travel time into their commute, transit officials advised. For example, a ride from Wonderland to Government Center may take 20 to 30 minutes longer than usual.
Work crews perform maintenance during a recent closure of the Orange Line.(Courtesy of the MBTA)
Orange Line
The Orange Line closure will allow the T to complete upgrades of its signals — the vital, hidden infrastructure that controls how trains move down the tracks.
Upgrading its signals, the MBTA said, will allow it to "significantly increase operational efficiency and improve scheduling reliability for riders."
During the three weekend closures, MBTA shuttle buses and accessible vans will ferry riders free of charge to all stops between Wellington Station in Medford and North Station in Downtown Boston. An express bus will also travel directly between the two stations.
For service between North Station and Back Bay, riders should take the Green Line, which runs parallel to the Orange Line through Downtown Boston. Copley Station on the Green Line is about a quarter-mile from the Orange Line's Back Bay Station.
The MBTA will increase Green Line service during the closures, officials said. The T will also waive fares at Back Bay, Copley, Wellington and North Station.
Riders can also take the commuter rail for free between Oak Grove Station in Malden and North Station and between Forest Hills Station and South Station.
Commuter rail
The entirety of the commuter rail's Lowell Line will shut down on the weekends of Aug. 16–17 and Aug. 23–24 as the T works to replace a key bridge in Somerville that the line travels over.
The line will shut down at 10 p.m. on the Friday night of those two weekends.
In place of train service, shuttle buses will stop at all stations except Winchester Center.
The closure of the commuter rail's Fitchburg Line on the same weekend will allow the T to replace an "obsolete signal system" controlling train movement in and out of North Station, the agency said. It is installing a modern system in its place.
Fitchburg Line trains will not run between North Station and Porter Square on those weekends. Instead, passengers can take Red Line trains into the city from Porter Square and connect to Green Line trains at Park Street to reach North Station.
More MBTA news
Read the original article on MassLive .
