Green Line Extension Lechmere to Medford

jwhite07 wrote: ↑Thu Aug 11, 2022 3:29 pm Two years out of service completely and I don't remember how many millions of dollars to
reconstruct and reinforce that viaduct. Visually it looks better than it has in my lifetime. The
concrete is repaired right, the rail and ties are new, there are enough steel anchors holding
everything together that it'll stand longer than a Roman aqueduct.

Much like the Queens Boulevard viaduct on the IRT 7 Line fully rebuilt in the 1990s. The Lechmere viaduct
resembles Longfellow in a sense, with the tower at the draw span and the arches along the dam causeway.

Does anybody know when the rail trail portion of the GLX is going to be open to use? That's actually the part I'm looking forward to the most. I live in the suburbs, and theres no parking at the ends of the lines. But I bike down there regularly and having another way in will be really cool, especially one that looks like it's going to have tons of awesome views

Real soon. Wiring the light poles and installing the fencing along the path early yesterday. I’m guessing MUCH sooner than the line will be open in service.

Head-end View wrote:

HenryAlan wrote: ↑Tue Aug 09, 2022 9:44 am

Head-end View wrote: ↑Fri Aug 05, 2022 7:48 pm Well hell! I was planning a vacation this Fall to Boston to ride the new Somerville Extension and hopefully the new Orange and Red Line cars .

Guess I'll be going to Philadelphia to ride there instead. Hope MBTA gets its act together over the Winter so maybe I can do Boston in the Spring of 2023.

These closures will be complete before September 21, so a fall trip would still work for riding both lines.

My understanding is that the opening of the Green Line Somerville Extension which was planned for September is now postponed again 'til late November? That will be too late for a Fall trip, but I'm hoping everything will be back to normal for a Spring trip.

There are two separate branches. The (D) Union Square Branch opened earlier this year, while the (E) Medford branch still needs 60 days of regular headway pre-revenue service before a single passenger can be picked up. When that begins, the Riverside trains will all go to Union Square while the Heath St. trains will run in service to Lechmere, offload, and run light to Medford. All service out of Medford will run on proper headway unless otherwise directed. Also, there are already several Riverside trips leaving out of Union at all service hours.


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CRail wrote:The restriction WAS for the structure rather than the track, who knows what today’s excuse is.

Come on C, you of all people know that they arbitrarily institute speed restrictions based on what COULD happen. Hell if those college grads with all the wisdom but no experience at 10pp say a UFO might land on the Lake St Carhouse, the BC line will cross back at Washington all day and night until they give the all clear. It would be cool though.

Anyway! From what I’ve been told the track on the viaduct is fine, it’s something about how the poles and wire were set up in the rush to get Lech opened by the date announced to the public. Too much power causes the substation to trip. That’s why no date is being given. At least that’s how it was explained to me by someone who works there.


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Medford Branch to open 12/12. https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/11/17/ ... en-dec-12/

Something is afoot on the Medford Branch. A T-Alert just went out saying:

T-Alerts - Green Line E branch experiencing delays of about 20 minutes due to disabled train near Magoun Sq.

Maybe that's a typo??

Yeah, seems like a goof. An update was just posted:

T-Alerts - Update: Green Line E branch experiencing delays of about 20 minutes due to disabled train near Magoun Sq. Consider taking the Rt 39 bus for continued service.

...so that would seem to indicate it's along Huntington Ave. (unless the 39 bus has been radically extended to Medford!)

StefanW wrote: ↑Thu Nov 17, 2022 4:17 pm Something is afoot on the Medford Branch. A T-Alert just went out saying:

T-Alerts - Green Line E branch experiencing delays of about 20 minutes due to disabled train near Magoun Sq.

Maybe that's a typo??

Cars are running light to Medford without passengers after Lechmere, it is the last stop and passengers have to disembark. There is/was a disabled train with pantogragh/wire problem at Magoun area and power dept was called out to assist.

Whose is the requirement for 60 days of regular operations without passengers before the line can open? What is it for? Is that just to get the crews familiarized, or is looking for problems with materials or workmanship, too?

How many runs does it take for someone to be qualified? (That is an honest question, not a snide one. I'm just trying to understand why it takes two months before any passengers can be carried, not arguing with it.)

Just as every revenue vehicle must undergo a 500 mile burn in period prior to carrying a single passenger, the infrastructure and operation must be tested and proven prior to carrying the public. It's not only a safety matter but would be a PR blunder for the long awaited service to suffer some preventable catastrophic failure in the very beginning of its operation.

Like that train that derailed on a newly opened line elsewhere in the country. It was the maiden voyage and the engineer thought he was elsewhere on the line and went around a corner to fast, derailed and fell down on to a highway. But for me personally, I just want the damn bike trail to open already!!! :D

Another aspect of opening a line is giving other transportation providers (or divisions) time to prepare -- after WMATA completed its dry runs on the Silver Line extension (2 weeks), they then negotiated when they would open with the safety commission (eventually getting a Senator involved), Fairfax County, and Loudoun County so those operations could let their drivers practice the new routes serving the new stations.

60 days does seem like a long time though--makes me wonder if the station is not ready to open and other punchiest items need to be completed, but that one of those items was eliminating the possibility of a turn-back at Lechmere (or the possibility of a turn-back that did not requiring reducing frequencies across the entire Green line), or if following the FTA actions, they want to be unequivocal that operators are familiar with the route before letting passengers on it.