MBTA Red Line now slow zone-free for first time in 20 years

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) has completed critical track work on the Red Line, freeing the service line of all slow zones for the first time in at least 20 years.  

Service was suspended between Harvard and Broadway the evening of Nov. 17 through Nov. 23 and between Harvard and JFK/UMass on Nov. 24, to allow maintenance crews to get the job done efficiently as part of the Track Improvement Program. Workers also maximized the outage by performing signal upgrades, security enhancements, station amenity upgrades and more.   

“I’m proud of the tremendous amount of work we’re accomplishing. The track in these areas of the Red Line is very challenging for crews to be able to access, but our workforce was given the unencumbered time on the track that they needed to finally do the work to completely remove these slow zones,” said MBTA General Manager and CEO Phillip Eng. “There’s more work to do on the Green Line next month to make the entire subway system slow zone-free, but we’re now well-positioned to efficiently maintain our system for years to come with the goal of providing the safe, reliable service our riders can be proud of.”

With unencumbered access to Red Line stations, crews accomplished the following work:  

• Replaced 2,230 feet of rail  
• Performed approximately 970 feet of full depth track replacement  
• Replaced 177 ties and 3,350 plates   
• Resurfaced and tamped 13,800 feet of track 

As a result of this critical work, the following safety-related speed restrictions are no longer in place:  

• Southbound between Central and Kendall/MIT (000017)      
• Southbound between Central and Kendall/MIT (000015)     

 A variety of other work also took place along the Red Line to further enhance the rider experience, including:   

• Stairway repairs at Kendall/MIT, Park Street and Downtown Crossing.   
• Repairs to a tunnel construction joint in four locations at Kendall/MIT.  
• Electrical room repairs at Kendall/MIT.  
• Signal modernization work, including the installation of wires and cable at central’s signal room, the removal and replacement of 15 WeeZee bonds, repairs and upgrades to additional bonds, switch and track circuit upgrades, and the installation of new switch infrastructure at the area of crossover track at Park Street.   
• Electrical work on the outbound Kendall/MIT headhouse.  
• Security enhancements at Charles/MGH and Park Street.  
• The completion of door surveys and inspections at stations throughout the shutdown area.  
• Removed over 1,200 Pandrol Panguard plates with the installation of over 1,200 new resilient RF-A fastener plates between Park Street and Charles/MGH, which will improve noise/vibration mitigation and provide better maintainability.  
• Power modernization work, including replacing third rail at South Station as well as power and cable replacement at Kendall/MIT.   
• Plumbing and drainage improvements, concrete repairs, painting, bench repairs, brick replacement and power washing within stations throughout the shutdown area.