The MBTA will suspend service on most of the Orange Line north of the Charles River from Saturday, May 22, through Sunday, June 30.
For the weekend of June 22-23, there will be no subway service between North Station and Oak Grove. During the following week, June 24 through June 30, trains will run between Oak Grove and Wellington, but not between Wellington and North Station.
- The MBTA will offer ADA-accessible shuttle buses to serve closed stations during the closure.
- The T will also offer free rides on the Haverhill Commuter Rail Line, which stops at Oak Grove, Malden Center, and North Station.
- The City of Boston and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts will also sponsor five free rides on the Bluebikes system, available to members and non-members. Individuals can access the five free unlocks using code MBTAORANGEJUNE through the Bluebikes app between the 22nd and the 30th.
This suspension is part of the MBTA's year-long Track Improvement Plan, which has been chipping away at the dozens of slow zones that proliferated from deferred maintenance during Gov. Charlie Baker's administration.
The closure is also necessary for MassDOT's Maffa Way/Mystic Avenue bridge replacements project, which will demolish and replace two bridges over the Orange Line tracks near Sullivan Square.
The T currently has 26 speed restrictions on the Orange Line, 9 of which are on the segment between Oak Grove and North Station. Another Orange Line closure at the beginning of June successfully lifted 10 speed restrictions on the central segments of the Orange Line in downtown Boston.
