MA: Slow zones to end across all MBTA lines for the first time in 22 years

The MBTA is finally on the brink of ending all slow zones across all subway lines this week, General Manager Phillip Eng trumpeted as the final days of the the agency’s “record-breaking”  Track Improvement Program tick down.

“It is going to come to come to a completion on December 20,” Eng said on a WCVB “On the Record” segment that aired Sunday. “We’re working on the last few restrictions on Green Line. The system will be restriction free for the first time in over 22 years. That’s as far back as our records go.”

The MBTA began their final closure of the Track Improvement Plan, a multi-year initiative to repair and replace thousands of feet of tracks and eliminate all 191 slow zones throughout the system, on Dec. 6.

The Green Line will be closed between Park Street and Union Square as well as Medford/Tufts for 15 days until Dec. 20. Following the closure, the entire MBTA subway system will officially be free of all slow zones.

“But I do want to say, even with new systems, all systems, speed restrictions from time to time will pop up,” Eng said. “And that’s about doing things for safety. But I want to make commitment to the public. Speed restrictions are temporary. They’re not going to be long term.”

MBTA staff said the track work will leave the system “well-positioned to quickly respond to any track issues that may arise.”

Eng cited a track issue on the Red Line last week, saying the track issue was worked on and the speed restriction was lifted on the same day. Track work was finished on the Red Line in late November.

The Track Improvement Plan was initially taken on as part of a broader plan developed in response to the Federal Transit Authority’s Safety Management Inspection. The program is set to address 39 speed restrictions in 2024.

Over the course of the program, the work is set to update 27,900 railroad ties and 124,880 feet of track and complete over 208,000 feet of tamping to smooth riding surfaces.

With future work, Eng said, “we’re going to tackle it quickly, properly and allow them to continue on that safe, reliable service.”

“The amount of work we’ve done over this last year plus is monumental and record breaking for us, but there’s so much more work in our system needs to be done,” Eng said. “But we’re committed to giving them that safe, reliable trip and more robust service that we’ve been able to add.”

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