There’s nonetheless no deliberate opening of the Green Line Extension to Medford, the T says because the Orange Line closure barrels down on the close by space north of Boston.
The T has “no update to report at this time on the schedule for the start of service on the Medford branch,” a spokesman mentioned Thursday, the day after the transit company introduced that in simply two weeks, it’s shutting down your complete Orange Line in an effort to fast-track what would in any other case be years of repairs on the road that runs from Boston’s southwestern neighborhoods by means of downtown and as much as the northern suburbs.
The Green Line Extension, a $2.3 billion mission many years within the making so as to add mild rail service up by means of Somerville, opened its first little department this spring to Union Square. The for much longer “Phase 2” department as much as Tufts University in Medford, with 4 new stops in Somerville, was previously slated to open up in 2021.
A Somerville spokeswoman mentioned the newest the town’s heard for the GLX is “late summer,” which is what the T has mentioned for the reason that spring. The fall solstice is Sept. 22.
“We’re operating under the assumption that we’re going to hear any day now,” the town spokeswoman mentioned.
At the announcement Wednesday of the Orange Line closure, reporters requested Gov. Charlie Baker how folks might be assured that the T will get the mandatory work accomplished when earlier tasks like GLX have confronted so many delays.
“This is actually something they’re pretty good at,” Baker mentioned of observe upgrades. “They will have an extraordinary amount of access to the system.”
Jarred Johnson of Transit Matter mentioned he has doubts that the GLX would make a large distinction, provided that it finally ends up curving in a reasonably completely different route than the place the Orange Line leads to Oak Grove, and that the T ought to be trying extra at redistributing operators and “getting creative” with including Green Line frequency by means of downtown, the place it runs proper subsequent to the Orange Line. But the variety of delays which have plagued the GLX’s opening don’t encourage confidence.
If the Orange Line work goes lengthy, he pontificated, “It would be one of the least surprising things ever.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com”