MBTA returns Orange Line to service after 30-day repair period

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority yesterday returned rail service to its Orange Line after a 30-day closure to complete five years' worth of maintenance-of-way projects to restore the line to a state of good repair.

The repair period enabled MBTA to respond to safety actions required by the Federal Transit Administration after the federal department found MBTA to have several safety problems. FTA issued several safety directives to MBTA earlier this year.

For example, crews replaced thousands of feet of track on the line to respond to FTA Special Directive 22-4, which mandated MBTA to address deficiencies in personal protective equipment and right of way safety; correct defective track conditions; and address management practices that negatively impact track repair. FTA noted in the directive that defective track conditions orced MBTA to implement “slow zones” where trains were operating at restricted speeds, MBTA officials said. Those restrictions significantly affected the transit agency's ability to stay on schedule.

“A tremendous amount of choreography, coordination and hard work has been accomplished during these 30 days, including over a dozen projects to replace rail, track, signals, rail fasteners and more that would have taken the T five years of nights and weekends to accomplish,” said MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak.

Other work completed during the month-long service outage includes rail-tie replacement, rail-fastener installation, signal upgrades and weatherproofing.