The MBTA announced Wednesday that it had lifted a series of slow zones on the Green Line Extension that had brought trains to walking speeds but it is still unclear how exactly the brand new tracks that cost billions to build became defective so soon after opening.
Regularly scheduled service on the Union Station and Medford-Tufts branches started earlier in the day following weeks of speed restrictions that were put in place when the agency discovered tracks were too narrow to safely operate trains, an anomaly MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng described last month as “certainly unusual.”
In a statement provided by the Department of Transportation, Eng said a “successful operation of test trains” on the Union Station branch led officials to bring back regular service. All speed restrictions on both the Union Station and the Medford-Tufts Station branches were removed, Eng said.
“Green Line trains today are traveling at regular line speeds on both branches. I wish to thank our riders for their patience while MassDOT completed the bridge project and we addressed the track defects discovered during an inspection last month,” Eng said in the statement, which also said work had been completed on the Squires Bridge in Somerville.
Eng, Acting Transportation Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt, and MBTA Board Chair Thomas Glynn were all at the State House later in the day and were seen entering Gov. Maura Healey’s office.
After a roughly hour-long meeting, a Healey aide did not let Eng answer questions from reporters as he left the building, saying the MBTA chief already had a media availability earlier in the day in Lynn.
At the Lynn press conference, Eng said the investigation into the narrow tracks is “still ongoing” and he looked forward to sharing more information “shortly.”
“We will certainly be sharing that information as that investigation continues,” Eng said. “We’re investigating everything right now with regards to that project, with regards to how this came about and when I have that information, I’ll share that. Everyone deserves to hear that.”
MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo said the issues on the tracks had been corrected but the agency was still “working to identify the root cause.”
“The issues discovered during last month’s inspection have been addressed, allowing trains to operate again at regular line speeds,” he said in a statement.
A public dashboard previously showed speed restriction limiting trains to 3 mph, the average walking speed for any given person. The transit agency said the speed restrictions were implemented after finding that tracks along the extension had narrowed.
At a board meeting last month, MBTA Chief of Infrastructure Doug Connett suggested that the Green Line Extension, which was built by a number of contractors, “didn’t meet construction standard.”
“They were notified,” he said. “We’re going to dig in why to see what it is. But we know we have a problem. The good thing is, somebody said it didn’t meet the number and they slowed the train down and they did what all books says their supposed to do.”
But Eng downplayed Connett’s comments after the meeting, telling reporters Connett was likely speaking in general terms.
“We have a new facility that just finished construction and we have something that is unusual,” Eng said. “So he’s looking at it from that perspective. I also talk generally about how I’m looking at capital projects moving forward.”
The Green Line Extension project cost $2.3 billion and the speed restrictions that came to light last month were met with outcry from local officials, with some accusing the MBTA of a lack of communication between the transit agency and the municipalities served by the new stations.
The branches of the extension opened in March and December 2022, a project former Gov. Charlie Baker said he “went back a long time with” as the ribbon was cut at the Medford/Tufts station.
Eng has not said whether contractors did something wrong when building the Green Line Extension.
“We are looking into that,” he said last month. “For me to say that, obviously, we’re going to look at construction, we’re going to look at inspections, we’re going to look at all of that. But for me to say that right now, I don’t know that.”
Previous Herald materials were used in this report.
