Today Governor Charlie Baker, Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito, Massachusetts Transportation Secretary and CEO Stephanie Pollack, MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak, and others celebrated the successful completion of accelerated work on the Green Line C and E Branches this summer with a tour of completed work at Museum of Fine Arts Station. With the goal of expediting safety and reliability improvements through core infrastructure investments as part of the MBTA’s $8 billion Building a Better T program, the MBTA accelerated essential track and intersection work on the entirety of the Green Line C Branch during a 28-day shutdown in service in July and on the entirety of the E Branch during a 28-day shutdown in service in August. During this accelerated work, Green Line trolley service on these branches was replaced with alternate services that included bus shuttles.

The suspensions in Green Line C and E Branch service was part of both the MBTA’s $8 billion Building a Better T program and the MBTA’s Green Line Transformation program. Though this work was previously announced and planned during the summer when ridership is historically lower, doing this work also allowed its completion at a time when ridership on the Green Line was significantly decreased due to the pandemic. Completion of this work on both branches results in improved safety and reliability, fewer unplanned service disruptions, and improved travel times for riders.

These nearly month-long closures on the C and E Branches were equivalent to about 1 full year of weekend and night closures on each branch. During these diversions in service, work crews accomplished the following:

• Allowed for a more reliable trip and the removal of longstanding speed restrictions through the replacement of 2.5 miles (about 13,200 feet) of track on the C Branch and over 3 miles (about 17,000 feet) of track on the E Branch (exceeding the project’s goal of about 14,300 feet) that, in some areas, was over 30 years old and had reached the end of its service life;
• Allowed for improvements to safety, accessibility, and the rider experience through the replacement of 7 road crossings and 4 individual pedestrian track crossings on the C Branch and the restoration of 6 road crossings and 5 individual pedestrian track crossings on the E Branch, including the replacement of uneven pavement and the installation of accessible ramps where needed; and
• Performed additional customer improvements that included upgrades to system maps, walkways, station brightening, and yellow tactile edging at C and E Branch Stations.

-via Press Release