Partial Red Line shutdown begins Saturday for track repairs
BOSTON - MBTA Red Line riders are due to experience service disruptions as a portion of the line closes for 16 days.
Starting Saturday morning, the MBTA will close the line from JFK/UMass to Ashmont, along with the Mattapan line, for "critical" track work.
In a statement on their website, the MBTA said, "This 16-day closure will enable us to work around the clock and achieve repairs and upgrades that would take six months if we had to do them while the system is operating without interrupting service."
Chris Aquino uses the Red Line to get from Ashmont to South Station five days a week. He said it can take 45 minutes to an hour to go the seven stops. "In particular the Red Line is painful," said Aquino. "Atrocious. Horrific."
Slow zones have been plaguing the line for the better part of a year. The MBTA instituted slow zones after a review from the Federal Transit Administration brought to light serious safety issues, and a lack of documentation on track work that had, or had not, been completed.
The MBTA has done closures like this before on the Orange and Blue Lines.
Shuttle buses will be provided for Red Line commuters. The closure will last from October 14 through October 29.