Green Line Service Resumes With 12 More Slow Zones Removed

A nine-day closure of the central segments of the Green Line in Boston has removed 12 more slow zones – two more than the T had initially planned to tackle.

The closure affected the central tunnels of the Green Line between North Station and Kenmore Square, where all four branches of the light rail line converge.

The work had shut down Green Line rail service on the B branch east of Babcock Street in Allston, on the E branch west of Copley, and on the C and D branches west of Kenmore Square from November 27 through December 5.

The T had also planned to close the Lechmere viaduct from North Station to Lechmere for the weekend of December 4-5, although the agency reopened that segment of the line on Saturday afternoon after only a few hours.

A stubbornly persistent 10 mph slow zone on the recently-rehabbed Lechmere viaduct still remains in place.

According to the MBTA’s speed restrictions dashboard, there are still roughly two dozen other slow zones remaining on the core segments of the Green Line that had been shut down.

The T has planned two more 9-day closures on the same segments of the Green Line next month, for January 3rd through the 12th, and January 16th through the 26th.

In addition to eliminating 12 slow zones, workers were also able to shorten the lengths of two other speed-restricted areas, on the E branch between Prudential and Copley stations, and conduct maintenance work at several closed subway stations along the route.

“Through close collaboration between contractors’ crews and our growing in-house Maintenance of Way staff, the MBTA continues to demonstrate a new way of doing business at the T and safely improving our tracks and infrastructure,” said MBTA General Manager and CEO Phillip Eng in a press release issued Wednesday.

This story was corrected on Thursday Dec. 7. A previous version reported, based on incorrect information in an MBTA press release, that the Lechmere viaduct had been closed for two days. While that had been the MBTA’s initial plan, in fact, the closure lasted only a few hours, and service resumed on the afternoon of Dec. 4.