Fresh and Less Squeezed on the Orange Line

The MBTA's first new Orange Line train in decades started carrying passengers this morning after months of delays, to positive reviews and some spontaneous applause from riders:

If you're hoping to catch the new train for your commute home this evening, TransitMatters has published a new website that lets riders see where the new train is using the MBTA's real-time data.

The new cars feature wider doors, which are expected to reduce dwell times at crowded stations, plus more room for wheelchairs and strollers and automated, easy-to-understand stop announcements and information screens.

The MBTA plans to add more new cars to the Orange Line service every few weeks for the next two to three years, until the line's entire fleet is replaced and expanded.

In conjunction with the new vehicles, the MBTA is making upgrades to the line's signals, tracks, and maintenance facilities with the goal of increasing capacity and reducing headways (the amount of time between train arrivals at each station) from 6 minutes to 4.5 minutes by 2022.