Wellington Station FENCED OFF AREA, Feb 2 2022 Photo Joe Viglione
And the T is on the precipice of finally offering passenger service on an extended Green Line.
“We’ll be ready for service in March,” MBTA general manager Steve Poftak said Wednesday as he rode on a test train with media members.
As the trains make their way past a new Lechmere station in Cambridge toward Somerville, they travel on a brand new viaduct. A new railyard for storing and maintaining Green Line trolleys can be seen out the right side windows. The new Union Square station is surrounded by construction — developments popping up nearby.
Still, there is much work to be done before the T can celebrate.
The extension will have to pass federal safety certifications, Poftak said, and the T is still working on finishing the two new stations and training drivers. The timing of the opening of the much longer second branch to Medford, which includes five new stations, was tentatively scheduled for May, but may not start carrying passengers until summer.
“We’re still working to nail that down,” Poftak said.
The Green Line extension will be the first new subway branch to open in Boston since 1987, when the Orange Line extended from Back Bay to Forest Hills, according to MBTA spokesperson Joe Pesaturo. The $2.3 billion project has been discussed for decades and faced countless starts and stops.
New, quieter trains. Photo JV Feb 2 2022
0 comments:
Post a Comment