Regular service pace has resumed on the Green Line Extension branches to Union Square and Tufts after the abrupt discovery of slender tracks on the road brought on the T to drop trains to a turtle’s tempo at 3 miles per hour.
A view of the MBTA’s pace restriction map this morning reveals no restrictions on the newly constructed $2.3 billion spur.
MBTA GM Philip Eng mentioned elimination of the gradual zones together with the completion of labor to rehab Somerville’s Squires Bridge.
“Regularly scheduled Green Line service began early this morning, following the successful operation of test trains on the Union Station branch,” Eng mentioned in an announcement distributed by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.
“In keeping with our commitment last month to expedite track repair work during the Squires Bridge project, the MBTA has removed all of the Green Line speed restrictions on both the Union Station branch and the Medford/Tufts Station branch,” Eng continued. “Green Line trains today are traveling at regular line speeds on both branches. I wish to thank our riders for their patience while MassDOT completed the bridge project and we addressed the track defects discovered during an inspection last month.”
The Squires Bridge challenge was initially scheduled to take 42 days to finish. The workd was completed in 25. The challenge included “beam end repairs” in addition to different essential restoration work.
At the identical time service interruptions have been introduced to facilitate the bridge work, the T found tracks on the Green Line extension into Tufts and Union Square have been too slender in stretches alongside the months-old strains.
Travel was slowed to a crawl whereas employees investigated.
“We’re proud to have completed repairs of the Squires Bridge ahead of schedule and to have resumed Green Line train service in this area as quickly and safely as possible,” mentioned Acting Transportation Secretary and CEO Monica Tibbits-Nutt. “We’re grateful to MBTA riders for their patience, to the MassDOT engineers and contractors for their hard work.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com”