Orange Line Work 82% Complete, 34 New Cars Added

SOMERVILLE, MA — The MBTA said Friday that 82 percent of the work taking place along the Orange Line is complete and track work taking place between Dana Bridge and North Station will allow for the removal of three more slow zones, which will bring the total number of slow zones removed to five.

Work taking place in this area includes track and tie replacement, rail installation, track alignment, and tamping. Crews have been working to finish tie replacement work between the Dana Bridge and Community College station, with current tie replacement work taking place at the North Station portal.

The MBTA will be removing a total of six slow zones during the closure. However, slow zones will stay in place for about one week when service reopens so the new track can settle.

Overall, teams have completed approximately 65 percent of rail replacement and 90 percent of track replacement. At least 64 new Orange Line cars will be available when service resumes, up from 30 cars when the shutdown first started.

About 99 percent of both the special track work is complete. The special track renewal work includes replacing things like crossover areas.

In addition, about 99 percent of Cologne eggs and rail fastener work is finished near Tufts Medical Center station. Cologne eggs are the fasteners that allow crews to directly affix rail to the concrete pads, which are also utilized on certain parts of the Orange Line.

Work on the ongoing signal testing at Oak Grove and Malden Center stations is also progressing, with about 84 percent of upgrades complete.