Redline will not function past Harvard on weekends
Redline will not function past Harvard on weekends
The MBTA’s Red Line will stop weekend service to stations north of Harvard Square beginning Nov. 5. This change, expected to last until March, will allow workers to make repairs to cracked tunnels and corroded track beds that could pose a safety risk if not addressed. Operation will remain unchanged Mondays through Fridays, and service will not be shut down on the weekends of Christmas and New Year’s. Porter, Davis, and Alewife are the affected stations, which together carry over 20,000 passengers on Saturdays and nearly 15,000 on Sundays. The MBTA will add substitute bus routes to accommodate passengers north of Harvard Square. The repairs will cost $80 million, and the project has received $4.3 million in federal stimulus money. A 2009 report on the MBTA stated that continuing to ignore repairs on the 2.25-mile section could result in a significant danger of derailment. The MBTA is expected to spend a total of $420 million this year on repairs and maintenance throughout the system.
—Austin Hess