After closing subway service in East Boston and Revere for two weeks to repair tracks and overhead wires, the MBTA restored Blue Line service this morning without any speed restrictions.
That means that the Blue Line trains can now run at full-speed for the first time since the T imposed an emergency 25 mph speed limit across the entire subway system in March 2023.
According to a press statement released on Wednesday afternoon, MBTA crews were able to lift 19 safety-related slow zones, where trains had previously been required to run at a slower speed because of problems with aging tracks or power issues from the Blue Line's overhead wires.
The restoration of full-speed service means that end-to-end trips on the Blue Line will now be about 3 minutes faster than they were at the beginning of April.
In a press statement about the accomplishment, the T also announced that there are now fewer than 100 speed restrictions across the MBTA system for the first time since March 2023.
The T plans to tackle a few more slow zones later this week: from May 2 until May 10, the T will close the downtown and South Boston segment of the Red Line, between Park Street and JFK/UMass, for additional track work there.
