Riders and tourists will get a glimpse of the MBTA's potential on Friday when the agency pulls out all the stops to deliver higher-than-average service for the Boston Celtics championship parade.
Starting around 11 a.m., the 2024 NBA champions will roll from North Station, past City Hall on Tremont Street, and down Boylston Street to Copley Plaza (expect detours on several bus routes – including the 39 near Back Bay and the SL5 on Tremont Street downtown).
City officials are expecting up to one million fans along the parade route.
At Thursday's MBTA board meeting, General Manager Philip Eng said that "our subways, heavy rail and light rail, will be running peak service all day long. I think that's testament to the amount of work we've done in the system."
Eng reported that trains will run every 7 minutes or better on the Orange Line, every 6 minutes on the Red Line between Alewife and JFK/UMass, every 5 minutes on the Blue Line, and every 3 minutes on the core of the Green Line between Government Center and Kenmore.
Additionally, Eng reported that "our commuter rail schedules have been adjusted to have more trains coming into the parade, and more trains leaving the parade."
Eng also noted that there are no planned diversions for track work on Friday.
"Without the diversions, it's all hands on deck. We have folks throughout the system, the equipment's been inspected," said Eng.
After the parade ends, though, it'll be back to business as usual: shuttle buses will replace Orange Line trains at the TD Garden and several other stations to the north from Saturday until the end of the month while the T tackles more track work.
