Skip to Content
Streetsblog Massachusetts home
Streetsblog Massachusetts home
Log In
MBTA

New Orange Line Cars Have Been Just a Few Months Away for Nearly a Year

A new Orange Line car on a flatbed truck in early 2019. Courtesy of the MBTA.

The Orange Line's vehicles were built during Jimmy Carter's presidency, between 1979 and 1980, and they are overdue for retirement.

In 2016, the T ordered new cars to replace aging fleets on the Orange and Red Lines (the new Orange Line vehicles are coming first, with the new Red Line cars scheduled to start rolling about a year later). The new cars are expected to reduce delays from mechanical problems and decrease crowding by putting more trains in service.

But like Achilles chasing a tortoise, every time we get close to a date when the new Orange Lines are due to start rolling, the T pushes that date further back.

A timeline:

July 2018: The MBTA announces that the first new cars would be in service "at the end of 2018."

October 2018: At a board meeting, MBTA announces that the date for the first new cars has been pushed back to January. But things are going "really well."

February 2019: We're told that the new cars will be in business in "early spring."

And in the latest update, from June 3, 2018, "early spring" has been replaced with "mid-summer."

The MBTA's Fiscal and Management Control Board's mid-summer meeting is scheduled for July 22. We'll have another update for you then.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog Massachusetts

Roadblocked: Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ Eliminates Most Federal Funding For Allston Highway Realignment

Without a formal project agreement in place, MassDOT will receive only $8 million out of a $335 million "reconnecting communities" grant that the Biden administration had pledged.

July 10, 2025

Another Bus Lane Bites the Dust: Wu Administration Forces Chelsea, Charlestown Transit Riders to Wait In More Traffic

The change comes just weeks before the MBTA rolls out a new bus lane enforcement system, which is expected to improve bus service considerably – at least on the dwindling number of streets where dedicated bus lanes still exist.

July 8, 2025

Balanced For Now – But Beacon Hill Is Putting the T Back On the Edge of Another Fiscal Cliff

The state's final budget gives the T about $80 million less than it had planned to spend in the coming fiscal year to cover its payroll and other transit operating costs.

July 7, 2025

Ambulance Data Reveals That Boston Drivers Are 4 Times More Likely to Run Over Pedestrians From Black Neighborhoods

"Overall, residents of predominantly Black and Latino neighborhoods are about four times more likely than residents of predominantly white neighborhoods to be struck as a pedestrian."

July 1, 2025
See all posts