09/30/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/30/2024 10:39
The MBTA today announced the successful completion of critical track work on the Red Line Braintree Branch while service was suspended between JFK/UMass and Braintree for 24 days from September 6 to September 29. The Ashmont Branch was also suspended for one day on September 28. As a result of unencumbered access to track areas, crews accomplished important work to lift 37 speed restrictions across 18 miles of track, bringing the track infrastructure into a state of good repair in this area, resulting in a safer, more reliable trip for riders and improving round-trip Braintree Branch travel times by as much as 24 minutes.
"Well executed coordination by the MBTA has led to the successful completion of Red Line infrastructure work across 18 miles of track," said MassDOT Secretary and CEO Monica Tibbits-Nutt. "The undertaking was made possible because of aggressive planning and multi-level coordination across the MBTA. I want to thank our riders for their patience during the shutdown and express my appreciation to General Manager Eng, his leadership team, and the crews who worked around the clock."
"I couldn't be prouder of the workforce that supported and delivered long awaited work for our riders on the Red Line Braintree Branch this month. Hundreds of on-site workers replaced nearly 70,000 feet of rail and over 17,000 ties on the Braintree Branch, nearly doubling the amount of ties replaced during the entire systemwide Track Improvement Program," said MBTA General Manager and CEO Phillip Eng. "We're fulfilling our commitment to the public to build back a better T and hopefully rebuild public trust. The work accomplished has allowed us to immediately raise train speeds back to our current maximum speed of 40 miles per hour, returning over 20 minutes of roundtrip travel time to Braintree riders as we now work to further improve travel times along stretches of this Branch where possible. Thank you to the entire MBTA team and our contractors that planned and successfully accomplished the work to provide the public with the safe, reliable and more frequent service they deserve and expect."
This service change was in place to support critical track and tie replacement work as part of the Track Improvement Program. More than 600 workers were on site during the 24-day service suspension, working 24 hours per day, seven days a week to deliver these critical infrastructure upgrades. Workers also maximized the outage by performing signal upgrades, security enhancements, station amenity upgrades, and more.
The track work accomplished during these 24 days allowed the MBTA to operate train service up to the maximum allowable speed of 40 miles per hour, but also laid the groundwork for our goal of increasing current Red Line train speeds to 50 miles per hour where possible. Additional critical steps, such as additional Red Line motorperson training, further service and schedule planning, will need to take place before train speeds are increased to greater than 40 miles per hour.
Importantly and with a continued focus on safety of the workforce, this Braintree Branch service suspension also successfully utilized "fall protection" using the MBTA's internal Maintenance of Way personnel on the DeVaughn flyover area of the Red Line, which is a transit bridge that spans over the adjacent Commuter Rail tracks. Multiple nights of employee fall protection training took place in advance of this service suspension, which allowed work crews to perform work on both directions of track.
With unencumbered access to Red Line stations, crews accomplished the following work:
As a result of this critical work, the following safety-related speed restrictions are no longer in place:
Speed Restriction Number | Restriction Information and Location | Status | |||
Speed Restriction Number | 1. 000147 | Restriction Information and Location | Southbound between Wollaston and Quincy Center | Status | Removed |
Speed Restriction Number | 2. 000146 | Restriction Information and Location | Southbound between Wollaston and Quincy Center | Status | Removed |
Speed Restriction Number | 3. 000049 | Restriction Information and Location | Northbound between Braintree and Quincy Adams | Status | Removed |
Speed Restriction Number | 4. 000150 | Restriction Information and Location | Northbound at Quincy Adams | Status | Removed |
Speed Restriction Number | 5. 000024 | Restriction Information and Location | Northbound between Wollaston and North Quincy | Status | Removed |
Speed Restriction Number | 6. 000040 | Restriction Information and Location | Northbound between Wollaston and North Quincy | Status | Removed |
Speed Restriction Number | 7. 000038 | Restriction Information and Location | Northbound between Braintree and Quincy Adams | Status | Removed |
Speed Restriction Number | 8. 000149 | Restriction Information and Location | Northbound at Quincy Center | Status | Removed |
Speed Restriction Number | 9. 000106 | Restriction Information and Location | Northbound between JFK/UMass and North Quincy | Status | Removed |
Speed Restriction Number | 10. 000155 | Restriction Information and Location | Northbound between Wollaston and North Quincy | Status | Removed |
Speed Restriction Number | 11. 000127 | Restriction Information and Location | Northbound between Braintree and Quincy Adams | Status | Removed |
Speed Restriction Number | 12. 000130 | Restriction Information and Location | Between North Quincy and JFK/UMass | Status | Removed |
Speed Restriction Number | 13. 000025 | Restriction Information and Location | Southbound between Braintree and Quincy Adams | Status | Removed |
Speed Restriction Number | 14. 000123 | Restriction Information and Location | Between North Quincy and JFK/UMass | Status | Removed |
Speed Restriction Number | 15. 000072 | Restriction Information and Location | Southbound between Braintree and Quincy Adams | Status | Removed |
Speed Restriction Number | 16. 000143 | Restriction Information and Location | Between North Quincy and JFK/UMass | Status | Removed |
Speed Restriction Number | 17. 000122 | Restriction Information and Location | Northbound between JFK/UMass to North Quincy | Status | Removed |
Speed Restriction Number | 18. 000144 | Restriction Information and Location | Between North Quincy and JFK/UMass | Status | Removed |
Speed Restriction Number | 19. 000160 | Restriction Information and Location | Between North Quincy and JFK/UMass | Status | Removed |
Speed Restriction Number | 20. 000039 | Restriction Information and Location | Northbound between Quincy Adams and Quincy Center | Status | Removed |
Speed Restriction Number | 21. 000086 | Restriction Information and Location | Between Braintree and Quincy Adams | Status | Removed |
Speed Restriction Number | 22. 000028 | Restriction Information and Location | Southbound between JFK/UMass and North Quincy | Status | Removed |
Speed Restriction Number | 23. 000153 | Restriction Information and Location | Southbound between Braintree and Quincy Adams | Status | Removed |
Speed Restriction Number | 24. 000098 | Restriction Information and Location | Northbound between JFK/UMass and Andrew | Status | Removed |
Speed Restriction Number | 25. 000159 | Restriction Information and Location | Southbound between Wollaston and North Quincy | Status | Removed |
Speed Restriction Number | 26. 000047 | Restriction Information and Location | Northbound between Braintree and Quincy Adams | Status | Removed |
Speed Restriction Number | 27. 000073 | Restriction Information and Location | Northbound between Braintree and Quincy Adams | Status | Removed |
Speed Restriction Number | 28. 000082 | Restriction Information and Location | Southbound between Wollaston and Quincy Center | Status | Removed |
Speed Restriction Number | 29. 000018 | Restriction Information and Location | Southbound between Braintree and Quincy Adams | Status | Removed |
Speed Restriction Number | 30. 000050 | Restriction Information and Location | Between Braintree and Quincy Adams | Status | Removed |
Speed Restriction Number | 31. 000048 | Restriction Information and Location | Northbound between Braintree and Quincy Adams | Status | Removed |
Speed Restriction Number | 32. 000074 | Restriction Information and Location | Northbound between Braintree and Quincy Adams | Status | Removed |
Speed Restriction Number | 33. 000124 | Restriction Information and Location | Northbound between JFK/UMass and North Quincy | Status | Removed |
Speed Restriction Number | 34. 000023 | Restriction Information and Location | Northbound between Wollaston and Quincy Center | Status | Removed |
Speed Restriction Number | 35. 000125 | Restriction Information and Location | Southbound between Wollaston and Quincy Center | Status | Removed |
Speed Restriction Number | 36. 000145 | Restriction Information and Location | Northbound near JFK/UMass and the Tenean construction vehicle area | Status | Removed |
Speed Restriction Number | 37. 000162 | Restriction Information and Location | Northbound between Fields Corner and Savin Hill | Status | Removed |
A variety of other work also took place along the Red Line to further enhance the rider experience, including:
Riders are also encouraged to connect with MBTA staff at upcoming Track Improvement Program pop-up events and virtual public meeting. Events through the end of the year are below: