Local News

Month-long Red Line disruption starts Tuesday

Sorry, this isn’t an April Fools' joke.

Erin Clark / The Boston Globe

March 31, 2025

2 minutes to read

The commute between JFK/UMass and Mattapan on the Red Line is about to get wonky as month-long maintenance work begins.

From Tuesday, April 1, through Wednesday, April 9, shuttle buses will replace train service between JFK/UMass and Ashmont and along the entire Mattapan Line. The disruption will continue with “shuttle trains” on the Ashmont branch for three weeks.

The MBTA warns commuters to budget extra time for their commute. A rider traveling to Park Street from Mattapan should budget at least another 45 to 60 minutes of travel time in addition to their regular commute.

The closures will allow crews to perform track renewal work on the Ashmont Branch and Mattapan Line.

During the outage, the MBTA will perform additional work, such as walkway safety replacements at Geneva Avenue, Dorchester Avenue, and Adams Street.

Other work includes track and power upgrades at Codman Yard, stairway improvements at JFK/UMass and Fields Corner, power switch box replacements, and other station enhancement work.

Here’s a breakdown of how it will work:

Red Line service April 1-30

Red Line trains will operate between Alewife and Braintree every seven to eight minutes all day for the duration of the work. Riders should transfer between the Red Line and shuttle buses April 1-9 and Ashmont shuttle trains April 10-30 at JFK/UMass.

Shuttle bus service April 1-9

Free shuttle buses will stop at all Ashmont Branch and Mattapan Line stations.
Riders are also encouraged to use the Fairmount Commuter Rail Line, which will be fare-free during this service change.
Weekday shuttle buses will operate every three to five minutes all day between JFK/UMass and Ashmont and every five to six minutes between Ashmont and Mattapan. Weekend shuttle buses will operate less frequently, every eight to 12 minutes.
The T is detouring Bus Route 18.

Shuttle train operations April 10-30

All Red Line train service between Ashmont and JFK/UMass will operate with shuttle trains.
Since the T won’t be able to turn trains around, a single train will run back and forth on each of the two tracks.
Shuttle trains will end at JFK/Umass, and riders will need to transfer from the Ashmont side of the station to the Braintree side for continued service toward Alewife or southbound service to Braintree.

The Red Line isn’t the only line with closures in April.

The T will suspend the Orange Line between Wellington and Back Bay on April 12-13.
The Blue Line’s Bowdoin station will be closed from April 11 to 14 and again from April 25 to 28.