The MBTA announced on Friday that it plans to end global speed restrictions on all light rail and subway lines by this weekend, but admitted block restrictions would remain in place. According to the MBTA, block speed restrictions are a stretch of track “that may include multiple defects that need to be investigated or mitigated as each defect is validated and corrected,” said MBTA Acting General Manager Jeff Gonneville. , during a press conference on Friday afternoon. “We are taking a conservative approach as we continue to work on this issue,” Gonneville said. “The MBTA has lifted the overall speed limit on the Mattapan line, and I am optimistic that we will be able to lift the overall speed limit on the green at the start of service,” Gonneville said. The MBTA presented a series of pie charts that showed the remaining block speed restrictions that will remain in place. The Blue Line, with service from downtown Boston to Wonderland Station in Revere, has the highest proportion of lanes that are required to have reduced speeds, at 80%. The MBTA’s monthly speed restriction report, released in late February ahead of the transit agency’s global speed restriction measures, estimated the amount of speed-limited Blue Line lanes at 1, 6%. The January report put the speed-limited lane on the line at 0%. An MBTA spokesperson said Friday that the restrictions were added “as part of the ongoing process of validating and verifying inspection data collected from previous geometric track scans.” “Some of these speed restrictions are going to require corrective action and will take longer than others to resolve and lift,” Gonneville said. “We are actively working on that now and working on those plans.” Once end-to-end speed restrictions are lifted on the Green Line, about 16% of that line will be subject to slow zones, according to MBTA data presented Friday. . Slow areas cover 22% of the Mattapan line. The T said Friday that 24% of the red line and 22% of the orange line are still under slow zones, a combined rate of 31.9% that has not moved during the work week The MBTA n provided no details on the location of the newly imposed slowdowns. Gonneville said the scorecard will be unveiled at MBTA’s board meeting next week. Widespread mandatory slow zones, announced and ordered last Thursday night after MBTA officials determined they did not have enough documentation to prove they corrected previously identified track defects, continue to saddle riders with slow rides , less reliable and more congested. The Department of Public Utilities, which serves as the state agency responsible for MBTA safety oversight, inspected a section of Red Line track on Monday, March 6, and observed concerns about track quality. On Tuesday, March 7, DPU Rail Safety Director Robert Hanson sent MBTA officials six letters ordering corrective action. On Thursday, March 9, the MBTA implemented a system-wide slowdown, then replaced universal speed restrictions with a loosely defined patchwork on the red, blue and orange lines the next morning. In a statement to WCVB, the Massachusetts Governor’s Office said Governor Maura Healey has been in contact with MBTA management regarding speed restrictions and has asked them to perform lane inspections as quickly and safely as possible. safety as possible while keeping the public regularly informed. “We are in the final stages of our search for MBTA’s chief executive and will have more to share soon,” Karissa Hand, the governor’s spokeswoman, said in a written statement. Information from the State House News Service was used in this report.
The MBTA announced on Friday that it plans to end global speed restrictions on all light rail and subway lines by this weekend, but admitted block restrictions would remain in place.
According to the MBTA, block speed restrictions are a stretch of track “that may include multiple defects that need to be investigated or mitigated as each defect is validated and corrected,” said MBTA Acting General Manager Jeff Gonneville. , during a press conference on Friday afternoon.
“We are taking a conservative approach as we continue to work on this issue,” Gonneville said.
“The MBTA has lifted the blanket speed restriction on the Mattapan Line, and I’m optimistic that [Saturday]we will be able to lift the overall speed limit on the green at the start of the service,” Gonneville said.
The MBTA presented a series of pie charts showing the remaining block speed restrictions that will remain in place.
The Blue Line, with service from downtown Boston to Wonderland Station in Revere, has the highest proportion of tracks that are required to have reduced speeds, at 80%.
The MBTA’s monthly speed restriction report, released in late February ahead of the transit agency’s global speed restriction measures, estimated the amount of speed-limited Blue Line lanes at 1, 6%. The January report put the speed-limited lane on the line at 0%.
An MBTA spokesperson said on Friday that the restrictions were added “as part of the ongoing process of validating and verifying inspection data collected from previous geometry track scans.”
“Passengers should continue to plan longer journeys and additional journey times throughout the system,” Gonneville said.
“Some of these speed restrictions are going to require corrective action and will take longer than others to resolve and lift,” Gonneville said. “We are actively working on that now and working on those plans.”
Once end-to-end speed restrictions are lifted on the Green Line, about 16% of that line will be subject to slow zones, according to MBTA data presented Friday. Slow areas cover 22% of the Mattapan line.
The T said Friday that 24% of the red line and 22% of the orange line are still under slow zones, a combined rate of 31.9% that has not moved during the work week.
The MBTA did not provide any details on the location of the newly imposed slowdowns.
The MBTA said it intends to unveil a more dynamic dashboard that will provide riders with more real-time information about speed restrictions. Gonneville said the scorecard will be unveiled at MBTA’s board meeting next week.
Widespread mandatory slow zones, announced and ordered last Thursday night after MBTA officials determined they did not have enough documentation to prove they were correcting previously identified track defects, continue to saddle riders with rides slower, less reliable and more congested.
The Department of Public Utilities, which serves as the state agency responsible for MBTA safety oversight, inspected a section of Red Line track on Monday, March 6, and observed concerns about track quality. On Tuesday, March 7, DPU Rail Safety Director Robert Hanson sent MBTA officials six letters ordering corrective action. On Thursday, March 9, the MBTA implemented a system-wide slowdown, then replaced universal speed restrictions with a loosely defined patchwork on the red, blue and orange lines the next morning.
In a statement to WCVB, the Massachusetts Governor’s Office said Governor Maura Healey had been in contact with MBTA management about speed restrictions and asked them to complete the lane inspections as quickly and as quickly as possible. as safely as possible while keeping the public regularly informed.
“We are in the final stages of our search for MBTA’s chief executive and will have more to share soon,” Karissa Hand, the governor’s spokeswoman, said in a written statement.
Information from the State House News Service was used in this report.