Red Line service expected to return to normal in October, MBTA says

Normal service is expected to return to the Red Line between Broadway and JFK/UMass in Boston on August 15, following weeks of repairs after a June 11 derailment, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority announced.

The agency said that enough repairs to signals along the route would enable the return to normal service—which should, it said, shave five minutes off Red Line trips. The repairs have involved fixing three signal bungalows and adding a fourth as well as restoring 21 of 29 damaged signals and 11 of 19 switches.

“Without a fully functioning signal system,” the MBTA said in a release, “Red Line trains are traveling through the affected area under a carefully coordinated manual process involving approximately 50 people in the field. The process currently in place allows trains to operate safely at six-minute intervals while simultaneously allowing crews to continue restoration efforts.”

MBTA

Meanwhile, however, the agency does not expect to fully restore service to the entire Red Line until October. It had already warned riders that they should expect delays through Labor Day. Signal system repairs are the key to these overall repairs too, though the majority of signals and switches have been fixed. Stay tuned.