MBTA 82% finished with Orange Line repairs, 'confident' it will reopen on time
BOSTON - The MBTA has finished 82% of its planned work on the Orange Line and MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak is "confident that [it] will reopen on Monday morning."
"We are in a great position to finish strong and finish on time," Poftak told reporters Tuesday afternoon. The unprecedented month-long project is now in its 25th day.
According to Poftak, 65% of rail replacement is complete, along with 90% of track replacement, 99% of special track work, and 99% of the work with Cologne eggs. Eight of the priority projects are done along with 17 of the opportunity projects.
"Work is going to continue across the system up until this weekend, and we're already beginning to enter but we'll really enter it this weekend in earnest, the reactivation phase of this project as we get ready to resume service on Monday."
Test trains will be visible on the tracks by Sunday.
The month-long shutdown will eventually rid the Orange Line of six slow zones. Poftak explained the slow zones will remain in place for a few days after service has resumed so crews can inspect them in use and then take them away.
There are 64 new Orange Line cars ready to go as well. "You have a far better than 50/50 shot at getting a new car. We have enough new cars available to run an entire service with the new vehicles. Now, we're not going to be able to run those vehicles around the clock. Those vehicles will come in and out of service as maintenance needs dictate," Poftak said.
In the meantime, the MBTA continues to monitor the shuttle buses. After Labor Day, travel times went up "significantly," Poftak said, taking about 55 minutes on the north side and about 45 minutes on the south side.
The MBTA said they would consider using shutdowns on other lines in the future as a way to catch up on rail, track, signal, and switch work. There will be a new maintenance schedule to prevent another shutdown on the Orange Line.
