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‘I’m excited’: Riders share thoughts on new Green Line train model at City Hall Plaza
The MBTA’s Type 10 Green Line train is available to visit on Tuesday and Wednesday from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.
Riders are sharing their feedback on a full-scale mockup of a new Green Line train model being showcased on City Hall Plaza this week.
The MBTA’s Type 10 Green line train, which will eventually replace the existing fleet of Green Line trains, is open to visitors on Tuesday and Wednesday from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.
William Wolfgang, the MBTA’s senior director of vehicle engineering, said the mockup is used as a “design tool” for the project team.
“We take it from a piece of paper and they develop it into something that we can see in 3D,” Wolfgang told Boston.com.
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The train’s new features include four seating areas for wheeled mobility devices, larger visual messaging signs, digital passenger information screens, and audible announcements made in a visual format, according to the MBTA. There are also additional assistance request buttons, and an inductive hearing loop for riders with hearing aids available throughout the vehicle.
Four pilot cars will be done in 2026, Wolfgang said, and delivery of the main production fleet begins in 2027.
Wolfgang said the design process, which the cars are currently in, takes roughly 42 months.
“This is one of the tools that we use to validate some of the designs and get customer feedback and try to incorporate that,” he said.
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See what the trolley model at City Hall Plaza looks like in the video below:
Greg Dachille — who used to take the Green Line, but said he abandoned it when it got shut down for a month — said he wishes the improvements would be made faster.
“If this can bring me back to the Green Line, then I’m all for it,” Dachille told Boston.com. “I just wish it wouldn’t take three years to get to us.”
Josh Neidleman, a Tufts student who takes the Green Line at least a couple of times a week, wishes the new trains had more window space. Yuchen Luo, another Green Line rider, said she would like to see the new vehicles have wifi access.
Tony Baez, who works at City Hall and takes the Green Line frequently, says he hopes that more people will ride the new cars.
“I’m excited to see when these get onto the tracks,” Baez told Boston.com. “Hopefully this just gets more people to ride the train and increases reliability.”
The new trains are 114 feet long, making them 40 feet longer than the current fleet of cars, according to Acting Deputy Director of Light Rail Vehicle Engineering Nicole Mason.
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The train is also low-floor, meaning that it will be level with the platform, allowing for “easier boarding and alighting” for riders, MBTA officials said.
“I’m obsessed,” Madeline Webster, active transportation planner for the city of Boston, said of the new trains. “I feel like the T’s doing cool stuff.”
Webster said she thinks it is “awesome that this came to the plaza.”
“I think bringing things to a public space, no matter where it is around the city, for people to actually test by going into it makes things feel much more real, and makes you get much better feedback,” Webster told Boston.com. “I want to see not just T’s on the plaza, but any new type of thing.”
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