Local News

June is around the corner, and so are more MBTA disruptions

Major changes are hitting the Orange, Red, and several Commuter Rail lines.

Pat Greenhouse / The Boston Globe, File

By Adora Brown

May 21, 2024

3 minutes to read

Some MBTA service will once again screech to a halt as more construction is planned for the month of June.

The repair work will impact the Orange Line, Red Line, and several Commuter Rail lines. Here’s what to know:

Orange Line

The Orange Line will be down between Wellington and Back Bay from May 28 to June 6 all day, every day. Shuttle service will be available from Wellington to North Station, but riders will be expected to use the Green Line from North Station to Back Bay.

A handful of downtown Orange Line stations will be completely closed with no shuttle service: Tufts Medical Center, Chinatown, Downtown Crossing, State, and Haymarket.

Beginning at 8:45 p.m. on Friday, June 7, and continuing all day throughout the weekend (June 8-9), the Orange Line will be down between Oak Grove and North Station. Comparable service will be available if riders take the Haverhill Commuter Rail Line, but the train will only stop at Oak Grove, Malden Center, and North Station. For riders seeking another stop, shuttle buses will be available.

The shuttle bus will make all stops between Oak Grove and North Station.
Fares are free on the Haverhill Line with limited stops. However, the Haverhill Line will run under a special Construction Schedule throughout the summer starting May 20.

From June 22-30, all day and every day, the Orange Line will be down between Wellington and North Station. Similar to the earlier June shutdowns, the Haverhill Line has a few comparable stops at Oak Grove, Malden Center, and North Station as an alternative to a shuttle bus.

The shuttle bus will make all stops between Wellington and North Station.
Free fares will be available at Wellington and North Station.

Red Line

The Red Line will shut down on the first and last weekends of the month between Alewife and Harvard (June 1-2 and June 29-30). Shuttle buses will make all stops between Alewife and Harvard. The MBTA offers a few alternative routes as well:

Bus Route 77 will be fare-free.
The Fitchburg Commuter Rail Line will be fare-free between Porter and North Station. Beyond Porter, regular fares resume.

Two more weekends will also be impacted. During the weekends of June 8-9 and June 15-16, the Red Line will be down between Broadway and Braintree. These changes do not impact the Ashmont branch between JFK/UMass and Ashmont.

Shuttle bus service will be available between Broadway and Braintree for all stations.
Riders can also utilize the Commuter Rail express shuttle bus to go directly from South Station to Braintree for the Greenbush, Kingston, and Middleborough/Lakeville Commuter Rail lines.

Beginning at 8:45 p.m. on Friday, June 28, and continuing all-day throughout the weekend (June 29-30), the outbound/northbound station of Kendall/MIT will be completely closed.

If you are traveling outbound and need to stop at Kendall/MIT, the MBTA instructs riders to go an additional stop to Central and then take an inbound train back to Kendall/MIT. If you are traveling outbound starting from Kendall/MIT, the MBTA instructs riders to take the train inbound to Charles/MGH and then transfer to the outbound platform.

To clarify, outbound trains will completely bypass the Kendall/MIT platform.
Fare gates will be open at Central inbound for a free transfer.

Commuter Rail

The Kingston, Middleborough, and Greenbush Commuter Rail lines run adjacent to the Red Line. Thus, they will also be impacted by the construction. An express bus is available during the weekends of June 8-9 and June 15-16 to replace service between South Station and Braintree.

An express bus will take riders directly between Braintree and South Station. No stops will be made in between.
Regular Commuter Rail fares will be collected between Kingston, Middleborough, Greenbush, and Braintree stations.

The Needham Commuter Rail Line will be suspended between Needham Heights and South Station during the weekends of June 1-2 and June 8-9. Additionally, the same stops will be impacted all day, every day from June 28-July 1.

Bus Routes 35, 36, 37, and 59 will be fare-free.
Free shuttle bus service will be available between Needham Heights and Newton Highlands on the Green Line (D branch).
Free shuttle bus service will be available between Needham Heights and Forest Hills on the Orange Line.
Riders can show their June mTicket for access to the Green Line at Needham Heights and the Orange Line at Forest Hills.

The Kingston Commuter Rail Line will be down between Kingston and Halifax stations during the weekend of June 22-23. A free shuttle bus will operate between these two stations.

The Haverhill Commuter Rail Line will be under a special construction schedule beginning May 20 through the end of the summer. Mid-day inbound trains will operate express from Ballardville to North Station.

From the Reading station, riders can use Bus 137 for service to Oak Grove and the Orange Line.
Passengers can also connect with the Lowell and Haverhill lines at Anderson/Woburn.
The construction schedule is available online and contains specific information regarding holiday service, flag stops, and bicycle allowances.

June is around the corner, and so are more MBTA disruptions