What To Expect As The Orange Line Returns

MALDEN, MA — Work on the MBTA’s ongoing Orange Line shutdown wrapped up on time this weekend, according to T officials, setting the system up for a return to Orange Line subway service as scheduled on Monday morning.

After nearly a month of transit disruption and ongoing work on the Orange Line system, riders may see a mix of new additions and lingering hurdles both on the Orange Line and across the MBTA.

Ordinarily serving as the MBTA’s second busiest line, the Orange Line shut down last month in part to make way for a series of overdue maintenance upgrades.

MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak spoke on the shutdown last week, saying officials are now hopeful that customers return to the subway.

Here’s a primer of what to expect if you’re planning to take the Orange Line in the next few days:

Test Trains Run On Sunday

A series of test trains were in action on Sunday along the Orange Line route.

As shuttle bus and other transit alternative networks were set to scale down with the end of service on Sunday, Poftak said crews would begin to demobilize and remove Orange Line shutdown-specific signage and road markings throughout area communities.

Bussing contracts were scheduled to lapse with the end of service on Sunday, meaning there will be no shuttles involved in the return to Orange Line service on Monday.

Other Orange Line shutdown transit alternatives, including accommodations that essentially allow free Commuter Rail use in zones 1, 1a and 2, are also scheduled to end on Monday morning.

Oak Grove Station

Where most transit alternatives implemented for the Orange Line shutdown are ending, an initially temporary plan to have Commuter Rail trains on the Commuter Rail's Haverhill Line add a stop at Oak Grove station in Malden is now permanent.

The MBTA announced this news on Friday.

Reduced Frequency

A reduced frequency subway schedule that went into effect for the Orange Line, the Red Line and the Blue Line earlier this year will continue through this year’s fall season, the MBTA announced in recent weeks.

The MBTA implemented its service reductions in response to concerns from federal regulators in June about staffing issues in the agency’s Operations Control Center.

Those staffing issues have persisted, according to Poftak, leading officials to extend the service reductions.

Outside of subway service, the MBTA also recently trimmed schedules on more than 40 bus routes throughout Greater Boston due to similar challenges in hiring bus drivers to actually staff bus routes.

New Cars

The MBTA will be operating a fleet of predominantly new Orange Line cars, with 72 new cars ready for service on Monday as of an MBTA update on Sunday.

That marks an increase from 30 new cars in service prior to the Orange Line shutdown. As a result, Poftak said last week, crews will begin to be able to scrap some old Orange Line cars in the coming weeks and months.

While some old cars will still find their way into Orange Line trains for the time being, officials have reiterated that the vast majority of cars will be new.

Slow Zones

Officials in recent weeks have counted reducing “slow zones” along the Orange Line route as a key goal of the Orange Line shutdown.

While work has moved forward, Poftak said that all slow zones will remain in effect for roughly one week after Orange Line service resumes.

Those zones sit in multiple locations around the Orange Line route, requiring lower track speed for trains due to various safety or maintenance issues.

A one-week grace period before lifting track speed restrictions will allow crews to adequately inspect track systems following recent work, Poftak said. The week of continued slow zones will also allow ballast and other track elements to settle, according to additional MBTA updates.

Officials have said that the removal of these slow zones will lead to faster transit times for Orange Line commuters. Delays will linger, though, with only six slow zones addressed by current Orange Line work.

Other speed restrictions remain in place elsewhere on the Orange Line, according to Poftak.

Other Disruptions

The Orange Line shutdown has run nearly concurrently with a partial shutdown of the Green Line between Government Center and Union Square stations.

While that shutdown is expected to also wrap up on schedule in time for Monday service, the MBTA is preparing for another round of diversions elsewhere on the Green Line.

Shuttle buses will replace trains between Riverside and Kenmore stations from Sept. 24 to Oct. 2, from Oct. 8 to Oct. 16 and from Oct. 22 to Oct. 30. The shutdowns will make way for track and infrastructure upgrades, according to the MBTA.

The MBTA is also planning partial closures on the Red Line between the JFK/UMass and Broadway stations early next month. Shuttle busses will first replace trains in the area on Oct. 1 and 2. The MBTA will then continue to divert Red Line riders onto shuttle busses between 8:45 p.m. and the end of service from Oct. 3 to Oct. 6.

Poftak has repeatedly said that the MBTA is not planning additional full shutdowns of other transit lines. He has, though, recently left the door open to more partial shutdowns of transit lines to allow accelerated maintenance upgrades as the MBTA works to respond to a report from the Federal Transit Authority on safety issues throughout its network.

See updated MBTA alerts through the agency’s alerts page here.