Orange Line MBTA Weekend Closures To Start

CHARLESTOWN, MA — The orange line will be suspended for the next several evenings this weekend and the next several as crews work on track between Sullivan Square and Tufts Medical Center Stations. The work is part of the MBTA’s 2019 Capital Acceleration Plan. In place of your regular train rides, there will be shuttles available.

Accelerated work taking place on the Orange Line during the next six weekends includes improvements at Downtown Crossing, Haymarket, and State Stations. The MBTA will replace and add signage, clean, paint, and repair stairs and the tile within the stations. The T will also replace 2,250 feet of track that is 30 to 40 years old and clean and paint within Chinatown Station.

MBTA officials say this work happening over the weekend during the evening mean the project will be finished about a year earlier than scheduled.

“These weekend shutdowns will allow us to deliver improvements in safety, service, and the customer experience sooner than originally planned,” said MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak in a statement. “While we acknowledge major diversions in regular service can be inconvenient, these shutdowns are needed to execute an investment plan of this size and expedite completion of this work.”

During these six weekends, look for shuttle busses between Sullivan Square and Haymarket Stations. There will be no shuttle bus service to Orange Line stations at State, Downtown Crossing, and Chinatown with customers asked to travel via parallel downtown Green Line service, according to the MBTA.

Headed northbound? Take the Orange Line to Back Bay, transfer to the Green Line at nearby Copley Station (0.2 miles), take the Green Line to Haymarket, board shuttle buses to Sullivan Square, and transfer to the Orange Line.

Headed southbound? Take the Orange Line to Sullivan Square, board the shuttle to Haymarket, transfer to the Green Line, take the Green Line to Copley, and transfer to the Orange Line at nearby Back Bay (0.2 miles).

The MBTA is asking riders to utilize parallel Green Line service in the downtown area at North Station, Haymarket, Government Center, Park Street, Boylston, Arlington and Copley Stations.

Customers with disabilities should see MBTA personnel in order to take an accessible van from Copley, Back Bay, Tufts Medical Center, and Haymarket to any Orange Line station without train service as well as Copley, Back Bay, Tufts Medical Center, and Sullivan Square.

The $8 billion that the MBTA plans to spend over the next five years to upgrade the system is the most in any five-year period ever.

The six weekends in which Orange Line service is suspended between Sullivan Square and Tufts Medical Center are:

• 8:45 p.m. on October 4 through October 6.
• 8:45 p.m. on October 11 through October 13.
• 8:45 p.m. on October 18 through October 20.
• 8:45 p.m. on October 25 through October 27.
• 8:45 p.m. on November 1 through November 3.
• 8:45 p.m. on November 8 through November 10.

They even made a video:

Latest MBTA Plan: Stop Weekend Service For $8B Repair ...