Some MBTA Subway Slowdowns To Remain As Track Inspections Proceed

BOSTON, MA — Slowdowns across the T's subway system will remain in place for some lines as the MBTA conducts track inspections to probe for possible defects.

Interim General Manager Jeff Gonneville updated the public on the slowdowns of between 10 and 25 mph announced late Thursday night. Gonneville said he made the call to slow all trains down until inspections of all tracks could be completed. Inspectors are looking for defects like twisted tracks or ones that are too close together, he said.

Slowdowns along the entirety of the Green Line and Mattapan Trolley were still in place Friday morning, but the T moved to spot-slowdowns for the Blue, Red and Orange lines, Gonneville said. It's unclear how long the slowdowns will last: Gonneville said the inspections are just the first part of the work; repairs may also have to be made.

The MBTA announced the system-wide slowdown just before 10:30 p.m. Thursday, although the slowdowns actually began around 5:30 p.m.

"In order to implement that significant a change, it takes time and, that is part of what was done," he said when asked why the public wasn't informed earlier.

The sudden slowdown order comes amid a larger period of trouble for the MBTA. The Federal Transit Administration in August released an inquiry into T safety, and ordered the agency to make immediate changes. That report preceded the shut-down of the Orange Line for infrastructure repairs.

"Safety data show that, from Jan. 1, 2019, through April 2022, MBTA experienced a higher overall rate of reportable safety events, particularly on its heavy rail mode, and a higher rate of derailments on both heavy and light rail modes, than its peers and the total rail transit industry average," the report said.

Even before the announcement Thursday, some portions of the subway system have long subject to slow zones. A new slow-zone dashboard published by the T shows that most of those zones are along the Orange and Red lines — but about 7.5 percent of the system was under some kind of slow zone in February.