Orange Line Track Work, Shuttles On Weekends: What To Know

CHARLESTOWN, MA – If you're planning to take the Orange Line between Sullivan Square and Tufts Medical Center Stations this weekend, or any weekend between now and Feb. 16, you might want to plan extra time to get where you're going: The Orange Line will be closed and shuttle busses will be replacing service for four weekends beginning this Friday.

Say what? Yes, from 8:45 p.m. on Fridays through Sundays for the rest of January and for the second and third weekend in February the Orange Line station track will be closed. It's part of scheduled 2019 Capital Acceleration Plan work to replace the track at North Station and work on the track at the State, Haymarket, and Downtown Crossing Stations.

By middle of February crews will have replaced 840 feet of full-depth track at North Station and will be prepared to replace 140 feet of track at State as well as 200 more feet of track at Haymarket.

“This past fall, we made major progress in our efforts to build a better, safer, more reliable T,” said MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak in a statement. “Continuing these weekend diversions in 2020 will allow us to maintain that progress while we look to take a more aggressive approach later on this year.”

During weekends when service is suspended between Sullivan Square and Tufts Medical Center, shuttle buses will be provided between Sullivan Square and Haymarket Stations only. There will be no shuttle bus service to Orange Line stations at State, Downtown Crossing, and Chinatown. So if you're heading there, the MBTA recommends traveling via parallel downtown Green Line service.

Following track work, trains will go slower than normal as they monitor how the replacements are doing, for several days, according to the MBTA.

The weekends to plan for:

· 8:45 p.m. on January 17 through January 19. (Note: On Monday, January 20, 2020, the Orange Line will operate a Saturday schedule in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.)

· 8:45 p.m. on January 24 through January 26.

· 8:45 p.m. on February 7 through February 9.

· 8:45 p.m. on February 14 through February 16.

How to get around:

During the upcoming Orange Line diversions, if you're heading northbound the MBTA recommends taking 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.

Riders heading southbound are asked to 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 recommends riders utilize parallel Green Line service in the downtown area at North Station, Haymarket, Government Center, Park Street, Boylston, Arlington, and Copley Stations.

Riders 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.