If you take the T (subway) to TD Garden on weekends - READ THIS

Fenway

HF Bookie and Bruins Historian
Sponsor
Sep 26, 2007
68,866
99,215
Cambridge, MA
The plan will close the eight Orange Line stations from Tufts Medical Center to Sullivan Square for six straight weekends in October and early November, affecting four out of every five Orange Line riders and up to 145,000 people each weekend, according to the T.

Sat, Oct 12

Sat, Oct 26

Sat, Nov 2

Sun, Nov 10

After that, the half-dozen Red Line stations from Broadway to Kendall Square — including South Station — will close for four weekends in late November and early December. The T estimates that project will affect three out of four Red Line users, or up to 155,000 over each Saturday and Sunday.

In both cases, the T will provide replacement buses, as it will on the Green Line, where it is planning closures over four weekends on the C or B branches, in addition to 14 weeks of previously planned outages along the D branch this fall.


 
Last edited:

Bruinaura

Resident Cookie Monster
Mar 29, 2014
46,434
90,793
Sounds like you big city slickers need to consider some alternate transportation :sarcasm:

xiqYaqo9e2f8uZxYTm.gif
 

rfournier103

Black & Gold ‘till I’m Dead & Cold.
Sponsor
Dec 17, 2011
8,382
17,163
Massachusetts
A lot of guys I know worked all last weekend on the T. 12 hours Saturday, and 12 hours on Sunday.

I’m being sent to R. O. W. (right of way) safety training tomorrow at the MBTA to be certified to work on the T myself. They’re really ramping up and are pretty serious about doing a lot of work.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BigGoalBrad

Kate08

HFBoards Sponsor
Sponsor
Apr 30, 2010
25,383
15,509
A lot of guys I know worked all last weekend on the T. 12 hours Saturday, and 12 hours on Sunday.

I’m being sent to R. O. W. (right of way) safety training tomorrow at the MBTA to be certified to work on the T myself. They’re really ramping up and are pretty serious about doing a lot of work.

Only took, what, 4 derailments in one summer season to get them to take it seriously?
 

Fenway

HF Bookie and Bruins Historian
Sponsor
Sep 26, 2007
68,866
99,215
Cambridge, MA
Only took, what, 4 derailments in one summer season to get them to take it seriously?

The T is also hampered with the fact that all three heavy rail lines have different specifications.


RED LINE: Cars are 69 feet long and 10 feet 3 inches wide; station height is 4 feet 1 inch from rails to platform.

BLUE LINE: Cars are 48 feet long and 9 feet 3 inches wide; station height is 3 feet 5 ½ inches from rails to platform.

ORANGE LINE: Cars are 65 feet long and 9 feet 3 inches wide; station height is
3 feet 9 inches from rails to platform.

The GREEN LINE uses trolleys, not heavy rail subway cars.

In New York all the lines are one of two specifications - The lines that are lettered are all interchangeable as are the numbered lines. In Chicago all the lines are the same as the competing lines came up with what was called the unified Loop which is still used today.

As late as the 1930's what is now the Orange Line had a second component that connected North and South Station along Atlantic Ave.

https://www.boston.com/news/untagged/2015/11/27/there-already-was-a-north-south-rail-link

Atlantic Avenue Elevated - Wikipedia

tumblr_n8d2y6q9HM1r54c4oo1_640.png


In 1924 the East Boston Tunnel was converted from streetcar to heavy rail which meant raised platforms and a third rail had to be installed between Bowdoin and Maverick. How long did it take to do this? 3 years, 3 months, 3 weeks?

They did it in 57 Hours

By joining forces with the Boston Transit Commission, so as to muster a working crew of about 800 men, the Boston Elevated Railway changed over the service in the East Boston Tunnel between 8 o'clock on the evening of April 18 and 5 o'clock on the morning of April 21 from surface cars to the operation of four-car trains. It was a stupendous job. The tunnel was closed to the public during the fifty-seven hours. Then the crossovers were broken, the guard rails taken down, the third rail installed for a distance of 2 miles and platforms erected at the several stations. This was work which could not be done until the surface cars ceased running. Its completion was accomplished in record time, however, as everything was ready for the work the minute the cars were out of the tunnel. All the platforms had been built in small sections which fitted together like a picture puzzle. The third rail had been welded together in lengths of 400 ft., all ready to set in place.




 
  • Like
Reactions: BigGoalBrad

talkinaway

Registered User
Mar 19, 2014
6,973
4,126
On the couch
I take the D line in to games, but don't use it as part of a regular work commute. I really feel for those who do - T service, especially during rush hours, is abysmal.

To be honest, the nights (and occasional weekend days) when they've had the buses this past season haven't been unbearable. It takes an extra 15-25 minutes, and sometimes the buses are overheated in the winter and smell like they're pumping diesel fumes directly inside, but to their credit, there are always buses waiting at Kenmore, Reservoir, or Newton Centre to pick people up. I just wish it could be done faster.

I'm looking forward to whenever the green line extension is going to be done - although now THAT looks like it's going to be delayed. Not because I go there, but because it means the D line is theoretically going to be extended to North Station.

As far as what's happening next season - I'm not looking forward to everyone from the orange line mashing into the green line. And it's weird that they pause construction for the Red Sox, but don't pause it for Billy Joel. I'd think Metro Westers would be going to both, and capacity for Billy Joel should be more than the Sox.
 

Fenway

HF Bookie and Bruins Historian
Sponsor
Sep 26, 2007
68,866
99,215
Cambridge, MA
A reminder - getting to TD Garden on weekends will be a pain if you use the Orange or Red Line

Unprecedented MBTA weekend closures are coming on the Orange and Red lines | Boston.com

As a result, swaths of downtown stations will be shut down every weekend through mid-December, in addition to a number of planned closures on the Green Line’s western branches. The closures begin Friday night at 8:45 p.m. (and last through the end of service Sunday) between Sullivan Square and Tufts Medical Center stations on the Orange Line and will occur every weekend through Nov. 10. Then, the Red Line will close between Kendall/MIT and Broadway stations every weekend from Nov. 16 to Dec. 15 — with the exception of Thanksgiving weekend (Nov. 30 to Dec. 1).

The MBTA says alternative transportation options, such as shuttle buses, will be provided for riders on those weekends. Poftak acknowledged the likely frustration from riders, who complain that shuttle buses are slower and less comfortable than their usual subway commute.

“The bus shuttles do take longer and they are less convenient than the subway service,” he said Wednesday.
“But it’s also really important work for us to get done,” he added.







 
Last edited:

Fenway

HF Bookie and Bruins Historian
Sponsor
Sep 26, 2007
68,866
99,215
Cambridge, MA
I'm not a betting woman but I'll bet this project takes longer than they estimate.

There is an elevator at a station near me that has been closed for repairs - it was supposed to be for 3 months - now it is close to 2 years

MBTA elevator repair delays pushing buttons - The Boston Globe

One elevator at Harvard Square station was supposed to be out for a year, with a new one in place by spring 2019; the T now doesn’t expect it to return until the end of this year. An elevator at Central Square station has been out of service for two years, as the T encountered multiple complications with other equipment nearby; for some of that work, contractors were limited to just three hours a night when the power could be cut off.
 

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Ad