The T is claiming partial victory in the battle against slow zones

Following months of delays and slow zones, MBTA riders can breathe a sigh of relief. 

Well, sort of.

The MBTA recently claimed partial victory in its ongoing efforts to address speed restrictions, announcing Friday that it shaved Orange Line travel times by an average of about 9 minutes over the past month.

As of Monday, travel times on the Red Line’s Ashmont branch had dropped by about 5 minutes over the past 30 days, while riders on the Braintree branch saved about 5 minutes, 30 seconds. 

Despite several nights of shuttle bus diversions for recent Blue Line repairs, the MBTA only managed to trim an average of about 30 seconds from travel times. The T’s subway trip time dashboard does not include Green Line data.

A little more than two months ago, the MBTA temporarily implemented global speed restrictions of 10 to 25 mph on all its subway lines after discovering missing or inconsistent documentation on track repairs.

The T later shifted to localized speed restrictions and completed a systemwide inspection of subway tracks, identifying nearly 300 defects in need of fixing, according to The Boston Globe.

As of Monday, around 21% of the MBTA’s total subway system remained covered with speed restrictions, accounting for 28.5 miles of track. That’s about 2% less restricted track than the T had last month, according to the transit agency’s tracker. 

Data from advocacy group TransitMatters shows the tangible impact those slow zones can have on riders. For example, on the Red Line — where 22% of track is under speed restriction — a round trip now takes about 65 minutes longer than it would without slow zones. Round trips on the Orange Line and Blue Line take about 10 and 4 minutes longer, respectively. 

With upcoming service changes and track work, the MBTA said it aims to continue alleviating speed restrictions. 

Last month, new MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng emphasized the need for lasting reliability on the T. 

“As we work to fix our system’s assets, I want to empower our team to think about achieving fixes that are holistic and complete,” he said. “We need to focus on the root cause of the issue so when we fix it, we fix it right and it doesn’t occur again. My goal is to instill a ‘fix it now, and fix it right’ culture throughout the organization.”

Abby Patkin

Staff Writer

Abby Patkin is a general assignment news reporter whose work touches on public transit, crime, health, and everything in between.

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