MBTA Reschedules Planned August Orange Line Work

MALDEN, MA - Planned service changes along the Orange Line in Malden and Medford will not go into effect this week, the MBTA announced on Wednesday.

Changes were still scheduled hit the Commuter Rail’s Haverhill Line as of 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, however, where service will end at Malden Center on Aug. 4 and 5, according to an MBTA alert. There, riders can connect free of charge to the Orange Line.

The MBTA previously announced planned disruptions to impact the Orange Line beginning on Friday night and lasting through the end of service on Aug. 28.

Shuttle buses were due to replace Orange Line service between Oak Grove and Wellington on weekdays. Shuttle buses would operate all the way to North Station on weekends.

Disruptions were scheduled to coincide with a “30-day acceleration” of work at the MBTA’s Wellington Maintenance Facility. That work is now paused, according to a statement from the MBTA on Wednesday.

“While the MBTA is pausing this work for now, the MBTA is exploring additional opportunities to accelerate work on the Orange Line,” the agency wrote.

Twin projects at the Wellington Maintenance Facility and the adjoining Wellington Yard date back to 2017 and 2018 respectively.

Maintenance Facility upgrades will cost an estimated $83 million while the Wellington Yard project will cost an estimated $103 million, according to the MBTA.

Upgrades include new tracks and expanded storage space in addition to new power systems and signals, among other things.

The MBTA has said this work will improve Orange Line reliability while providing “cleaner vehicles for an improved rider experience.”

Asked on Wednesday about the reason for this recent work pause, a spokesperson for the MBTA told Patch that "officials want to revisit the original plan and broaden its scope to weigh other repairs and maintenance that would be easier to complete with trains offline."

In the meantime, this pause also comes just over a week after an Orange Line train caught fire last Thursday.

Though no one was injured, the fire snarled service throughout the day. It also sparked continued criticisms of the MBTA, which already drew the attention of federal regulators earlier this year after a man was killed after his arm was caught in a Red Line train door.

The MBTA discussed safety concerns on Wednesday, referencing ongoing work to comply with a set of orders from the Federal Transit Administration following that Red Line incident and a series of other MBTA accidents.

“The MBTA continues to prioritize safety enhancements and address additional track work and maintenance associated with the Federal Transit Administration directives,” the agency wrote in its statement.

While Orange Line delays are on pause, the still-planned Commuter Rail disruption will coincide with other disruptions on the Newburyport/Rockport, Lowell and Fitchburg lines. These changes are all due to ongoing signal work around North Station in Boston, according to the MBTA.

Riders are advised to check the MBTA’s Orange Line and Haverhill Line Commuter Rail webpages for updated information and schedules.