MBTA Eliminates Slow Zones From the Red Line

Following a week-long interruption of service on the region’s busiest subway line, the MBTA reopened the Red Line this morning with subways running at full speed, without any speed restrictions, for the first time in years.

Restoring the tracks to working condition will also allow the T to add more trains into service, reducing the time that riders wait at stations.

At last week’s MBTA board of directors meeting, MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng reported that the upcoming winter 2025 schedule for the Red Line would run 140 more trains every weekday (a 53 percent increase) compared to the winter 2024 schedule.

According to train location data compiled by TransitMatters, the median end-to-end Red Line trip from Alewife to Braintree took 78 minutes in October 2023.

As of this morning, that trip has been reduced to 51 minutes.

“It’s not just about removing the restrictions, it’s about giving the riders and the public improved service, that reliability that they can count on so they can use the system every day, and to give them back their time,” Eng told directors at last week’s board meeting.

In October 2023, the Red Line had been subject to over 100 speed restrictions that covered over 14 miles of track – nearly one-third of the line’s total length.

As of Monday, Nov. 25, only two slow zones remain on the MBTA’s entire rapid transit network. Both are located on the Green Line light rail system, in the westbound subway tunnel between North Station and Government Center.

In December, the T will conduct additional track work there during a 15-day shutdown of the Green Line north of Park Street station in downtown Boston.

“It’s only two speed restrictions, but there’s a tremendous amount of state-of-good-repair work being planned,” said Eng.