Traffic & Transit
Somerville Green Line Service Gets Opening Date
The shorter of the two branches, which runs through the new Lechmere station and Union Square, will open in March.
SOMERVILLE, MA — The first of two branches on the Green Line extension is weeks away from opening.
MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak said Thursday the Union Square branch will open Monday, March 21. The two-stop branch includes the new Lechmere station and Union Square, and is the shorter of the two branches.
The Science Park/West End Green Line stop, which was closed during construction, will reopen on March 21 as well.
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Poftak called the milestone "a really proud moment for the T" in a board meeting on Thursday, the Boston Globe reported. He indicated the longer, five-stop branch, which extends into Medford and ends at Tufts University, remains tentatively scheduled to open in May.
The decades-long project, which got underway in earnest in 2017 after budgetary concerns landed it on the chopping block, faced last-minute delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The MBTA postponed the opening of the Union Square branch twice last year, and delayed the opening of the Medford branch by five months, citing supply chain issues.
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