MBTA, NJ Transit advance PTC plans

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) on Saturday will finish installing positive train control (PTC) infrastructure on the Needham commuter-rail line.

The work is wrapping up one month earlier than scheduled, MBTA officials said in a press release. Regular Saturday service on the line will resume Oct. 28.

The MBTA already has completed PTC installations along the Newburyport/Rockport and Lowell lines. The agency finished installing PTC on the Newburyport/Rockport Line a month earlier than expected, as well.

The agency is closing commuter-rail lines on weekends so that crews can install the technology.

PTC work continues on weekends on the Haverhill Line, where crews began working on Sept. 23. That installation is slated to wrap up Dec. 2.

Meanwhile, the Federal Railroad Administration has approved New Jersey Transit's request to test a PTC system along a section of its Morristown Line.

The demonstrations are slated to take place by first-quarter 2018 and continue for about three months, NJ Transit spokeswoman Nancy Snyder said in an email.

NJ Transit must install PTC on 326 miles of track, according to northjersey.com.