New Green Line cars start rolling out—slowly

On December 21, the first of an expected two dozen Green Line trolley cars rolled out between North Station and Riverside on the line’s D branch.

A second car is expected in mid-January and the remaining 22 will roll out at intervals through the fall of 2019 on all branches.

The new cars can fit about 10 percent more passengers than the next-oldest ones and also feature sliding—rather than folding—doors, per the Globe’s Adam Vaccaro. What’s more, the cars have more modern propulsion and braking systems.

The Green Line debuts, of course, are part of a larger Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority effort to replace T cars and to generally update the Boston region’s creaking mass transit system. There will eventually be 150 new Orange Line vehicles and 252 Red Line ones; and a new tap-and-go fare setup.

And, as the new cars roll out, the MBTA will phase out the older ones. Stay tuned.

• At last, Green Line has a brand-new car [Globe]
• 11 reasons to be optimistic about Boston heading into 2019 [Curbed Boston]