Nearly a month after MBTA General Manager Phil Eng revealed that rails are too close together on more than two-thirds of the expansion, he laid out details for how workers will address the problems.

Trains will stop running on both the Union Square and Medford branches around 8:45 p.m. each night between Monday, Nov. 27 and Sunday, Dec. 10. During that time, shuttle buses will replace trains between North Station and Medford/Tufts, while riders hoping to get to Union Square will instead need to take other bus routes or the Orange Line, which travels to Sullivan Square.

Normal Green Line Extension service will resume at the start of each day, except for Dec. 4 and Dec. 5, when buses will replace trains between Lechmere and North Station all day.

“The intent is to tackle all of the tight gauge from end to end, Medford/Tufts and Union Square, and eliminate that issue once and for all,” Eng said at an MBTA board meeting on Thursday.

Eng said the T also plans to repair tracks on the Lechmere Viaduct during the upcoming nighttime work, which will allow the agency to lift a pair of slow zones.

The start of the GLX repairs will overlap with planned 24-hour closures of the Green Line between North Station and Babcock Street, Heath Street and Kenmore Stations, part of a sweeping maintenance campaign Eng rolled out last week.

MBTA officials suddenly slowed travel on large stretches of the nearly brand-new Green Line Extension to a crawl this fall after discovering that tracks were too close together.

Repairs allowed the T to resume full-speed travel, but Eng, who started on the job in April, said last month that 50 percent of the Union Square branch and 80 percent of the Medford/Tufts branch is still narrower than the construction standard and will need to be fixed.

Other officials at the MBTA were or could have been aware of the problem as early as 2021, before either branch opened to the public, Eng said. MBTA officials said last month that two senior employees on the Green Line Extension project left after the previous missed warnings became clear.

It was not immediately clear Thursday how much the upcoming work would cost or who would cover the bill. Healey administration officials have said they want Green Line Extension Constructors, a joint venture of contractors that built the expansion including Fluor Enterprises Inc., The Middlesex Corp., Herzog Contracting Corp. and Balfour Beatty Infrastructure Inc., to pay for the repairs.

The T published a new analysis of the quality of its trains, tracks, signals, construction equipment and other assets, confirming the dire state of the system that is widely understood but has not been quantified in four years.

Nearly two-thirds of all MBTA assets are not in a state of good repair, and it would cost $24.5 billion to fix all of those issues, the agency concluded in its latest assessment. That figure includes the costs only of addressing current problems, not regular maintenance for infrastructure in a state of good repair nor expansions, electrifications and other large-scale projects.

The new estimate is nearly two and a half times more expensive than the last capital needs assessment produced in 2019 under the Baker administration. Officials said the sharp increase is driven by a combination of factors including stinging construction inflation and MBTA assets aging faster than they are being replaced.

MBTA General Manager Phil Eng told agency overseers the estimate is a “snapshot in time of our assets” and what it will take to bring them all to a state of good repair.

“The MBTA is one of the oldest transit agencies in the country, and while there are a number of contributing factors, it’s clear that years of underinvestment have added to the cost of bringing our system back to a state of good repair,” Eng said in a statement alongside release of the analysis, adding that his team is “committed to aggressively addressing our immediate needs.”

Officials also updated their methodology this time around. As a result of changes to the T’s asset management systems, the latest study factored 83,683 individual assets into its cost estimate, compared to 59,073 assets in 2019.

Infrastructure not in a state of good repair is past its useful life and incurs more costs to maintain and operate, but MBTA officials said the state of good repair is not a direct reflection of asset safety.

The highest share of poor conditions is on the T’s subway and trolley tracks. Nearly 90 percent of those stretches — some of which have been unable to support full-speed travel for months due to unaddressed defects — are outside a state of good repair, representing $2 billion in costs, according to the T’s assessment.

About 35 percent of facilities are not in a state of good repair with a total cost of $6.4 billion, the largest single-area price estimate. Other major categories include power systems (76 percent out of good repair, $5.1 billion in cost), trains and trolleys (55 percent out of good repair, $2.4 billion in costs) and structures (22 percent out of good repair, $5.3 billion in costs).

MBTA officials based their estimates on asset conditions in 2021.

Kate Dineen, president and CEO of the A Better City business group, described the report as “confirmation of what was already clear to T riders and supporters — the MBTA is suffering from a legacy of underinvestment and needs more funding to get the system back on track.”

“Now, the Administration, elected officials, and advocates must come together to develop an actionable plan to identify new sources of revenue to address this critical backlog, as well as the investments needed [to] modernize, decarbonize, and fortify our system from the worsening impacts of climate change,” Dineen said in a statement.

The astonishing bottom line could rip open a new round of debate about how the state funds the MBTA. While lawmakers have steered large sums of one-time funding to the agency to assist with safety improvements, the T has chronic operating budget problems and officials there project they will face a budget shortfall of up to $139 million in fiscal year 2025, which begins July 1, that will then rise to as much as $543 million by FY28.

The nearly $25 billion in state of good repair needs is roughly nine times the MBTA’s fiscal year 2024 operating budget, more than two and a half times the size of the agency’s five-year capital investment plan, and about 44 percent as big as the entire state budget for fiscal year 2024.

Monica Tibbits-Nutt, a former MBTA overseer whom Gov. Maura Healey this week officially named transportation secretary, had funding on her mind during her first public appearance Wednesday, one day before the T released its long-awaited study.

“The amount of money that is coming from the Legislature is not enough. And I don’t think that that’s even a controversial thing to say; that’s just simple math. It isn’t enough,” Tibbits-Nutt said Wednesday. “So how do we get enough money for it? Because we cannot make that money contingent on, ‘Oh, well, the service needs to be this level of quality, you need this level of on-time performance to get that money.’ Because you can’t achieve that if you don’t have that money. You put the T in a difficult position where they can only lose, because there’s no winning that way.”

Reduced train speeds associated with safety concerns have plagued riders with sluggish travel for months, and MBTA officials on Thursday announced they now plan to shut down segments of all four subway lines in phases over the next 13 months, allowing for repairs they say will eliminate all “slow zones” by the end of 2024.

Repair work will replace rails, fix or replace deteriorated ties, install new ballast, improve signals and switches, and more, MBTA General Manager Phil Eng said. Free shuttle buses will replace subway service during closures.

The proposal will inflict widespread disruption on riders, with a portion of the core subway system scheduled to be closed on almost exactly half of the days between now and the end of next year.

With their new plan, MBTA officials are providing more advance notice than they have ahead of recent shutdowns, and for the first time are putting an estimated endpoint on the slow train service that has become the new norm and turned some riders away from the T.

Paraphrasing Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, Eng said the plan exchanges “short-term pain for long-term wins.”

“Not getting this work done has far longer-ranging impacts to the public that we serve,” Eng told the MBTA Board’s safety subcommittee while unveiling the schedule. “This is truly a pivotal time for the T as we’re looking to restore and repair years and years of disinvestment.”

The first closures will hit the Green Line. Subways will not run between North Station and Kenmore, Heath Street and Babcock Street from Nov. 27 to Dec. 5, nor will they operate along the entire D Branch from Riverside to Kenmore between Dec. 11 and Dec. 20.

For 2024, the plan lays out nearly 20 planned closures of individual pieces of the Green, Orange, Red and Blue Lines, ranging in duration between four days and 21 days. Eng said the sweeping proposal would eliminate all slow zones, which currently blanket about 23 percent of the system, plus tackle any new issues that emerge.

Altogether, MBTA modeling projects the work will slash a total of 86 minutes in delays that exist today because of infrastructure problems that prevent trains from safely operating at full speed.

“The intent is to, again, address those things that have been impacting the public today and address those things that, if we don’t get to, will impact them in future years,” Eng told reporters after the subcommittee meeting. “That will allow us now to come in and do that proper cyclical, preventive corrective maintenance on a regular basis, being able to respond more timely, and not allow us to get to the point where we’re trying to tackle hundreds of speed restrictions.”

The cost of the repair campaign was not available. Eng said the work will all be funded through existing budget sources, including money set aside for the MBTA to address problems identified in a Federal Transit Administration investigation and the agency’s five-year capital investment plan.

A “significant amount” of the work will be put out to bid, which Eng said might alter some of the specific closure dates.

Eng said Thursday that the T has reached a new agreement with private developer HYM Construction, whose demolition of the Government Center Garage has required multiple subway disruptions in recent months.

The company will finish work that normally impedes T service during a total of 20 days when the nearby portion of the Green Line is closed for infrastructure repairs. Once those diversions are complete, the remaining demolition work will continue without requiring any kind of MBTA coordination, Eng said.

“That’s a big win for both the Government Center garage demolition as well as us,” he said.

Widespread slow zones have become a debilitating way of life for most riders this year. An MBTA-hired consultant attributed the sudden escalation of the problem to poorly trained staff who were not “completely fulfilling the responsibilities” of track maintenance and safety standards, communications breakdowns and a lack of inspection documentation.

The MBTA has made a habit in recent years of shutting down large stretches of subway lines to accelerate repairs, most recently on the Red Line between JFK/UMass and Ashmont stations. That 16-day closure allowed officials to lift all slow zones in the area.

The new plan takes the effort to another level, charting a course months ahead of time. Rep. William Straus, who co-chairs the Legislature’s Transportation Committee, praised Eng’s approach with an apparent dig at former General Manager Steve Poftak and the Baker administration.

“The public should see that, with regard to the maintenance and taking-care-of-the-stuff obligation of the T, we now have the management capability that wasn’t there before,” Straus, who joined Eng at a press conference after the meeting, said Thursday.

Transit advocates and business groups praised the proposal as a step in the right direction, particularly because it gives the public more time to prepare for shutdowns and plan accordingly.

“The communication of a comprehensive, systemwide, year-long plan to address track issues is crucial and appreciated,” said Reggie Ramos, executive director of Transportation for Massachusetts. “We hope this signals a new level of transparency with the public for the MBTA especially as the work progresses. This allows impacted communities to plan their trips and activities ahead, and for municipalities to prepare for these shutdowns, ensuring riders’ lives are not disrupted greatly.”

A Better City President and CEO Kate Dineen said it “has the potential to restore rider trust, bolster our region’s economic competitiveness, and promote more climate-friendly commuting options.”

Still, advocacy group TransitMatters pointed out that the MBTA still has not outlined any plan to restore weekday Red, Orange and Blue Line service cuts implemented in June 2022, when federal investigators chided the T for overworking its dispatchers.

“While these diversions are necessary to clear the existing backlog of speed restrictions, track defects occur as a part of regular wear and tear. Going forward, the MBTA should ensure it has the capacity to handle new track defects with minimal disruption to regular service,” the group said. “If we want ridership to return to the pre-COVID levels, the T must improve speed restrictions and service levels as quickly as possible and run regular service as often as possible. Riders can learn to rely on the MBTA again, and we look forward to them doing so.”

The transportation authority said buses replaced service between Coolidge Corner and Kenmore due to a “train with a pantograph issue” at Saint Paul Street.

“Personnel from the MBTA Vehicle Maintenance Department are performing inspections of the pantographs on Green Line trolleys as they work to identify the root cause of the recent issues,” an MBTA spokesperson said in a statement.

The switch was announced an hour after the MBTA said service was delayed for 20 minutes due to a disabled train around 11:20 a.m.

In an update at 2 p.m., the MBTA announced that regular service between Coolidge Corner and Kenmore had resumed.

Wednesday’s service issue was the latest pantograph-related incident to affect the Green Line, after similar cases occurred on the Green Line Extension on Friday and another a day later by Copley station.

Service was also hampered on Tuesday due to a “power problem” near Copley, affecting both the line’s B and E branches.

Days after he revealed that most of the nearly brand-new rails on the extension need to be widened, Eng told agency overseers the contractors responsible for the project have proposed tackling the problems in 10 to 14 nights of work starting around Nov. 1.

Green Line Extension Constructors, the joint venture that built the 4.4-mile expansion, suggested shutting down service on the rails from 9 p.m. each night until 5 a.m. the following morning during that span, Eng said. Regular service would resume each day following the overnight work.

Eng said his team is still reviewing the proposal and has not yet committed to it.

“This is not going to be something that continues on for months and months, or even longer. It is something that can be addressed in a matter of weeks,” Eng told the MBTA’s Board of Directors.

An MBTA spokesperson said there’s no estimate available yet for how much the repair work will cost. Both Eng and Gov. Maura Healey signaled last week they want the contractors to foot the bill.

The work would involve removing bolts that hold down one side of the rail, filling those holes with a substance like epoxy, measuring and drilling new holes about a quarter-inch away from the initial hole, and then resecuring the rails, ties and tie plates at a proper width.

Some board members voiced concerns that redrilling holes into the wooden ties that run perpendicular to the rails or into the ground itself could trigger other infrastructure issues.

“We have got to get this fixed, right? Like, there’s no room for error here,” said Mary Skelton Roberts, the city of Boston’s designee on the board. “So are we sure that with the adjustment, this is not going to create an unstable track or create a bigger problem down the road?”

Eng said the proposed regauging is “typical industry practice.” Asked if the process might shorten the lifespan of the ties, Eng replied, “We are reviewing that.”

“If this is the proposal that we accept, that will be part of the decision and review of how we ensure that the public investment is properly protected,” he said.

Issues with the Green Line Extension infrastructure suddenly upended travel last month. The MBTA slashed travel speeds on about a mile of the system to 3 mph, warning the rails were too close together — less than 56 and one-eighth inches apart, the threshold below which slow zones are necessary — to support normal operations.

Crews widened the rails in those affected areas, and Eng announced last week that after a deeper review of the project’s history, his team now believes rails are too close together on about 50 percent of the Union Square branch and 80 percent of the Medford/Tufts branch.

Those rails are more than 56 and one-eighth inches apart, so not quite narrow enough to warrant speed restrictions, but they are still tighter than the project standard of 56 and a half inches, Eng said.

The construction standard gave a tiny bit of wiggle room, allowing the rails to be one-sixteenth of an inch wider or narrower than the target, which Eng said is a “very tight tolerance.”

“A lot of times, you’ll see in these types of contracts plus or minus an eighth [of an inch],” Eng told the board. “But this was one plus or minus one-sixteenth.”

“Which is nothing, right?” asked board member Bob Butler.

“If you were to take a credit card and look at a credit card, it’s probably a good visual,” Eng replied. “It shows you how minute the tolerance is.”

Although Eng said he only learned of the Green Line Extension problems “recently,” he said some MBTA officials knew before either branch opened to riders that some of the pre-built materials delivered to the agency for installation would be too narrow.

An inspection report dated April 2021 warned that rail ties and pre-installed tie plates had too tight a gauge. Eng said Tuesday that MBTA officials at the time addressed “those localized situations,” but did not broaden their scope to look for similar issues elsewhere.

“That’s where I believe that the prior management should have reviewed, [done a] deeper dive — do we have a bigger issue than just at one location? Is this something that we have with delivery, is this something that we have with installation?” Eng said. “It should have really been at that point where we paused, took a look to see if we need to reject the ties.”

Without mentioning former Gov. Charlie Baker by name, both Healey and Eng have pointed the finger at his administration. Jim Conroy, a spokesperson for Baker, told WCVB last week that the Republican governor’s office “was never informed of the gauging issues with GLX.

“The Green Line Extension project was on track to never get built when the Baker-Polito Administration first took office and while these setbacks are massively inconvenient for riders, the project itself will deliver enormous benefits for the greater Boston area for decades to come,” Conroy told WCVB.

TTwo MBTA employees who had senior roles on the Green Line Extension project departed the agency last week, according to a T spokesman, who declined to name the individuals.

Eng said Tuesday he made “organizational changes” to the Green Line Extension’s hierarchy because he “did not believe that the prior team and some of the folks that were still on that team took the appropriate action at the appropriate time.”

He tapped Maureen McDonough, the T’s chief of capital program support, to take over as acting Green Line Extension program manager. Eng said McDonough has experience managing “large-scale projects” and a background in construction, adding that she would help not only fix the Green Line Extension’s tracks but identify “how we can improve our processes moving forward.”

“We have many projects, and we have to deliver these projects in a different manner,” Eng said. “Projects always have issues that arise. It’s a matter of tackling them when you identify them, and tackling them in a timely manner so we don’t end up having to do this after service is running and after the public is already enjoying that service.”

Members of GLX Constructors include Fluor Enterprises Inc., The Middlesex Corp., Herzog Contracting Corp. and Balfour Beatty Infrastructure Inc.

The MBTA said shuttle buses would replace service in several areas, including between Kenmore and Park Street stations after a power problem led to trains halting in the area of Copley station.

“We are working to restore service as quickly and safely as possible,” the transportation authority said on social media around 11:15 a.m.. “Riders downtown are encouraged to use Orange Line for service between Back Bay & North Station.”

Meanwhile, service between Packard’s Corner and Government Center for the line’s B Branch was suspended, in addition to service on the E Branch between Prudential and Park Street.

In an update at noon, MBTA officials said train service had resumed between Kenmore and Park Street, with a note that riders may encounter delays later in the day due to “a maintenance train [inspecting] the overhead wires on the line.”

Tuesday’s issues appeared days after “an overhead wire problem” near Copley station caused a similar stoppage on Saturday.

News came last week that more than half of the track on the T’s new 4.4-mile Green Line Extension into Somerville and Medford is too narrow, and will need to be “regauged” to increase space between the two rails.

Healey’s appointed MBTA general manager, Phil Eng, said he only was informed of the problem “recently,” though senior officials under former Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration may have known about the problems as early as 2021.

“What’s important is that it was not disclosed, and it was really not addressed,” Healey said to reporters Monday when asked if her administration has any answers as to why the problem was not disclosed. “That is something we’ve been really clear about. Under the prior administration, senior management at the T, for whatever poor judgment, made the decision not to disclose identified failures, and then made the poor decision not to address those failures prior to the opening of the Green Line Extension.”

The Union Square branch, which was opened in spring of 2022, needs to have about 50 percent of its track regauged; and the nascent Medford/Tufts branch, which opened in December last year, needs repairs on about 80 percent of its track.

Healey said Monday that Eng informed her of the issue “as soon as … [he] discovered those deficiencies.”

“We’ve been transparent with the public about not only the disclosures and the failure to disclose, but also the fixes, and I’m confident that General Manager Eng — as he has at every turn so far in his tenure — will make sure that those issues are addressed and remedied. That work is underway,” Healey said.

The Boston Globe reported that two people with senior roles on the extension project were no longer employed at the T as of Thursday.

Asked by a reporter if there is anything else her administration did not know about from the prior administration or if the T was trying to find out if there was anything else not disclosed, Healey took the opportunity to tout some of the progress she says has been made at the T during her time in office. She mentioned the creation of new positions such as chief safety officer and an officer in charge of station conditions, as well as the hiring of about 1,000 employees.

The Mass. Taxpayers Foundation estimated in April that the T needed to hire 2,800 workers by April 2024 in order to maintain system operations, and Eng predicted in August that the T is on track to hire about 1,300 new employees by the end of the year.

“It’s hard to speak to what you don’t know about,” Healey responded to the reporter. “I will say this, that every effort has been made to make sure that with this administration, we have a team in place that understands its responsibility, and takes that responsibility seriously.”

Just after 8 a.m., about 20 feet of overhead wire came down after a problem with the pantograph on top of the trolley, an MBTA spokesperson confirmed. Officials said the transit agency’s Power Department was making repairs to the catenary system.

Two trolleys were stalled in between stations in the area of the overhead wires. Five passengers walked to Copley Station, while 10 passengers walked to the Arlington Station from their stopped trolleys, officials said.

Green Line E Branch commuters were directed to the 39 bus route, while a bus shuttle has been set up between Kenmore and Park Street.

The Green Line B Branch was closed from Packard’s Corner to Government Center. Commuters were directed to the 57 bus route to Kenmore.

Around 4:38 a.m., the worker dropped a wrench, and his leg made contact with the third rail while working on the Braintree branch.

The worker, conscious and alert, was transported to Boston Medical Center, an MBTA spokesperson confirmed.

The transit agency said the incident is under investigation by their safety department and the Department of Public Works.

MBTA General Manager Phil Eng, who was hired in April by Gov. Maura Healey, announced that an ongoing review determined roughly 50 percent of the Union Square branch and 80 percent of the Medford/Tufts branch will need to be “regauged” to increase the space between the two rails.

Eng said he learned the extent of the problems “recently,” but that other officials at the MBTA were or could have been aware about narrow tracks in 2021, or as early as 11 months before the first portion of the expansion opened to riders.

The problems appear linked to metal plates that connect the rails to the wooden ties that run perpendicular. Those plates — which were pre-installed off site before the rails were delivered to the MBTA — are too close together in many areas, Eng said.

In April 2021, the MBTA received an inspection report from a firm named Terracon warning that tracks in a railyard set to be used for the extension were too narrow, Eng said. It appears that MBTA officials at the time did not view that report as a red flag and did not respond by taking a closer look at the space between rails on actual construction sites.

More than a year later in November 2022 — when the Union Square branch had already opened and the larger Medford branch was about to open — a scan found 29 locations where rails were so narrow that trains would not be able to safely run at full speeds, plus a “significant portion” of tracks where the gauge was tighter than construction standards but not bad enough to warrant slow zones. The T fixed those 29 defects at the time, Eng said.

“There was tight gauge in this yard facility. That was back in April of 2021, We also had other reports in November of ’22 that indicated the widespread need to address more than just these isolated conditions,” Eng said. “Back in April of 2021, it’s my belief that it could have been, it should have been more proactively investigated prior to opening, prior to installing what we’ve done.”

It’s not clear why MBTA officials did not address the issue earlier. Steve Poftak served as MBTA general manager from January 2019 until January 2023, and Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration oversaw the T. 

“Once you identify a problem, it should be brought to everyone’s attention, even if you have a solution. It’s good to know because the sooner you know, the more chance you have to address it before it becomes a much more challenging thing. To fix it as part of the punch list, per se, is more challenging because of the impact to the public,” Eng said. “If you knew in April 2021 you could have proactively avoided this, I think that it’s in everyone’s best interest that is done because you don’t want to install something and only later have to fix it.”

Eng said GLX Constructors, the joint venture of contractors that built the rail expansion, was tasked with presenting a proposal to address the track problems.

He did not say how much the additional work to widen tracks up to construction standards would cost, nor make exact what kind of impact it would have on riders.

“It’s not going to be years, it’s not going to be months. The proposal that we have is weeks, and it’s something that we’re still reviewing,” he said. “Whether it’s this type of repair or others, how do we do it and minimize the impacts to our riders? Whether it’s overnights, whether it’s early access [closures], weekends, we understand the importance of this system, including the extension, to riders and we will make sure that when we have a proposal, we’re talking publicly about this as well.”

Eng suggested GLX Constructors should foot the bill for any additional work, not the T.  A spokesperson said the agency will convene discussions with the builders as part of closing out the contract.

“This is not something that the public should be paying for, not going to pay for,” Eng said.

“The fix is not that difficult. I have faith that they can accomplish that,” he added about GLX Constructors.

Members of the GLX Constructors joint venture include Fluor Enterprises Inc., The Middlesex Corp., Herzog Contracting Corp. and Balfour Beatty Infrastructure Inc., according to a report about the project from the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Eng on Thursday also appointed Maureen McDonough, the MBTA’s chief of capital program support, as acting Green Line Extension Program Manager.

No other senior MBTA or administration officials spoke alongside Eng at a Thursday press conference. Neither Healey nor Transportation Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt attended the event.

“I share the public’s frustration and disappointment at the revelation that senior MBTA officials under the previous administration knew about issues with the Green Line Extension tracks years ago and did not disclose them to our administration or address them on their watch,” Healey said in a statement. “The people of Massachusetts deserve better. I applaud GM Eng for uncovering this and taking swift action to hold people accountable and demand a work plan from the contractor to fix the narrow gauges on their own dime. The MBTA is committed to fixing this and delivering the service that riders deserve.”

The problems exploded into public view last month, when the MBTA slashed speeds on about a combined mile of the Green Line Extension to 3 mph because the tracks were too narrow to safely support any faster travel.

Workers repaired those stretches in recent weeks, allowing the T to resume standard speeds across the Green Line Extension.

The project’s construction standards require a width between the rails of between 56 and seven-sixteenth inches and 56 and nine-sixteenth inches, Eng said Thursday. The threshold for slow zones is lower: anything below 56 and one-eighth inches is so narrow that it’s unsafe to run trains at full speed.

Officials said Thursday that although the entire Green Line Extension is above that 56 and one-eighth figure — and therefore able to travel safely at normal speeds — about a half-mile of track on the Union Square branch and 2.7 miles on the Medford branch have rail gauges narrower than 56 and seven-sixteenth inches, falling short of construction standards.

The $2.3 billion Green Line Extension opened in two phases last year to great fanfare and praise for project manager John Dalton. Gov. Charlie Baker claimed it as a victory after the project appeared on the brink of collapse years earlier.

Asked if his predecessors kept the problems quiet for political reasons, Eng replied, “I don’t have any indication of that. All I know is that I believe the team could have been more proactive.”

The shutdown is scheduled to continue for 16 days and will make way for a series of repairs on the Red Line.

T officials say the shutdown will make for better service. In the meantime, though, riders shared their outlook.

“Obviously, it’s a pain in the butt for everyone,” said commuter James Woods on Friday.

The T has said work on the Red Line will involve upgrading light fixtures, updating stations and replacing nearly 1.5 miles of track with the goal of cutting down on slow zones where wait times have tripled for some riders.

The Red Line is the lowest rated T line in speed and service, with trains last month running nearly 1.5 hours behind schedule, according to the watchdog group TransitMatters. In August, the group’s head said the Red Line could send the MBTA into a death spiral if repairs don’t fix its issues. 

Speaking with 7NEWS ahead of the shutdown, riders were frustrated. 

“It’s ridiculous,” said Rodney Shipley at the JFK/UMass station.

“I ride the Red Line every day coming back home from school,” said Fatoumata Balde, a student commuter. “It’s been really slow.”

Free shuttle buses will be running during the upcoming partial Red Line shutdown, making stops at all four Ashmont Branch stations and all seven Mattapan Trolley stops. 

The MBTA’s Fairmount Commuter Rail line will also be free during the closure.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu in a statement said her office is preparing to help inconvenienced commuters, saying city staff “are assisting to ensure Boston residents have the information they need” about the closure and alternative travel options including free Fairmount Commuter Rail trips and Bluebikes passes. 

“We’ll continue to support the MBTA as they work to accelerate long-deferred fixes for a safe and reliable commute,” Wu said.

Still, less than a day away from the shutdown, some riders remained unsure if the T can actually solve the problems plaguing the Red Line. 

“I don’t think they’ve done anything right in the past, like, 10 years,” Woods said. 

“That’s going to help improve a lot of people’s lives,” Balde said of the prospect of repairs.

A day after the MBTA announced it had lifted slow zones on more than a mile of its newest tracks, the agency’s top safety official told overseers work is still taking place to figure out the source of the baffling problem. The slow speeds began in mid-September and the narrow tracks news broke on Sept. 26.

“That is still under investigation and once that investigation is complete, we will provide a report on that,” MBTA Chief Safety Officer Tim Lesniak said at a subcommittee meeting.

Asked by MBTA Board of Directors member Tom McGee for a timeline, Lesniak replied, “It’s an ongoing investigation. We’re still trying to collect data, so we don’t necessarily have a full timeline put together yet.”

The T suddenly imposed dramatic speed restrictions on parts of the Green Line Extension’s Union Square and Medford branches last month. Officials say they were responding to scans of the tracks that determined the rails were too close together for safe full-speed operations.

Crews worked in recent weeks to widen the tracks in affected areas by pushing one rail further away from the other rail, the T said.

A few 3 mph slow zones on the Green Line Extension first appeared in the MBTA’s public speed restrictions dashboard on Sept. 13, and additional areas were added in subsequent days. The problem burst into the spotlight nearly two weeks later, on Sept. 26, when the Boston Globe reported that T officials blamed the walking speeds on tracks that were too narrow.

It’s not clear when officials began their investigation into the underlying cause of the narrow tracks.

MBTA officials said Wednesday that full-speed travel has resumed on both the Union Square branch and on the larger Medford branch. The Union Square branch was slated to be closed until Friday for an unrelated highway bridge repair, but reopened to riders ahead of schedule on Wednesday, officials said.

About a mile of track on the Green Line Extension had been limited to speeds of 3 mph, agency data showed. MBTA leaders previously said inspections determined the rails were too narrow to support faster travel, but they have not disclosed how those mysterious problems — experts say rails typically widen over time — occurred, or were fixed.

“The track defects discovered during last month’s inspection have been corrected, allowing trains to operate again at regular line speeds,” MBTA spokesperson Joe Pesaturo said Wednesday. “The T is working to identify the root cause of the track gauge related issues.”

It remains unclear how long the tracks were too narrow to safely accommodate full-speed travel and why the problem only emerged in a recent inspection, not prior scans. One MBTA official suggested offhandedly last month the Green Line Extension “didn’t meet construction standard,” but he did not elaborate.

Officials announced the return to full-speed travel as part of reopening the Union Square branch, which was temporarily closed for Department of Transportation maintenance on the Squires Bridge that carries a highway over nearby tracks.

Service on that portion of the Green Line Extension was set to be closed until Friday, but resumed Wednesday.

“Regularly scheduled Green Line service began early this morning, following the successful operation of test trains on the Union Station branch,” MBTA General Manager Phil Eng said in a statement. “In keeping with our commitment last month to expedite track repair work during the Squires Bridge project, the MBTA has removed all of the Green Line speed restrictions on both the Union Station branch and the Medford/Tufts Station branch. 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.”

Portions of the Green Line Extension’s Medford and Union Square branches cannot safely operate above 3 mph because the tracks now appear slightly too narrow for normal operations, General Manager Phil Eng told agency overseers at a public meeting.

Those conditions only appeared on a recent inspection, not prior scans, Eng said, adding that crews are still trying to determine how long the issue has been present.

“You would typically expect the gauge to widen, and that can be, over time, wear on the rail, wear on the ties and just the use of the track,” Eng said at an MBTA Board of Directors meeting. “What I understand is the tolerances that resulted in these recent speed restrictions is very minor. We need to investigate what took place between the previous [inspections] that did not indicate any narrow gauge to the recent ones that resulted in these speed restrictions.”

“It is not typical” for tracks to become more narrow, “but I would not say it’s impossible,” he added.

More than half a dozen segments of track along the Green Line Extension — whose one-stop Union Square branch opened in March 2022 followed by a larger route to Medford in December 2022 — are subject to 3 mph speed limits, according to MBTA data. Altogether, the restrictions apply to about a mile of rail.

Earlier scans of the tracks did not identify any problems with the width of the Green Line Extension rails, Eng said. He added that officials need to investigate “what took place between the previous runs that did not indicate any narrow gauge to the recent ones that resulted in the speed restrictions.”

“I ride that Green Line Extension every day as well. I talk to the riders, I fully understand that frustration,” Eng said. “These types of occurrences are unacceptable, and that’s why we’re working very hard in terms of capital delivery, and working through these issues earlier. What we are doing now, though, is we’re going to make sure that we address those recent speed restrictions promptly, timely, and focus on safety and restoring that service reliability that the riders need.”

The sudden emergence of speed restrictions on some of the newest tracks in the T’s system is the latest addition to a steady torrent of failures, disruptions and breakdowns both before and after the Federal Transit Administration last year identified major safety problems at the MBTA.

An official with the Department of Public Utilities, which serves as the state-level agency responsible for MBTA safety oversight, said the MBTA, FTA, DPU and consultants all certified the Green Line Extension was compliant with safety standards before it began operations.

“The DPU is currently investigating the narrow gauge defects and associated geometry reports that prompted the speed restrictions on the Green Line Extension,” Maria Hardiman, a spokesperson for the Executive office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, said in a statement.

Officials have also struggled to prevent trains from coming dangerously close to workers on or near the tracks, drawing even more scrutiny and restrictions from the FTA.

Tim Lesniak, the MBTA’s new chief safety officer, said Thursday the agency has experienced six “near miss” incidents in the past six months. Trains or rail vehicles came close to workers on the rail right of way in five of those incidents, while the sixth one was a “rule violation” — in which a train departed Riverside station without permission and later “encountered a crew working,” Lesniak said — that the DPU categorized as a near miss.

The MBTA’s safety department issued alerts to employees, temporarily embedded personnel in the dispatch center and has been meeting with workers to address the issue, Lesniak said.

He said he believes the recent incidents reflect “potentially a spike in reported near misses,” but suggested the trend might partly be a sign that workers are more willing to report incidents.

“It’ll appear that there’s more near misses, but we’re getting those reports that we can then create corrective actions to prevent those in the future,” he said.

Healey, who took office in January, has reshaped the agency’s leadership by tapping Eng, creating a new Department of Transportation chief safety officer, and replacing about half of the seats she controls on the T’s board.

The public comment period at Thursday’s board meeting suggested, however, that some passengers and advocates think the first-term governor’s grace period is coming to an end.

“Riders in the broader public see an agency that is, in so many ways, dramatically worse than the beginning of this year, from abysmal headways that the agency is still not able to adhere to, to slow zones that have spread through the system like a pandemic and a near-constant barrage of bad news related to the FTA, and of course, yesterday’s news of the unacceptable conditions of the newest multibillion-dollar piece of infrastructure,” TransitMatters Executive Director Jarred Johnson told the board. “The confidence in this agency is at an all-time low.”

Johnson stressed that he sees some progress, like the hiring of Eng as an experienced general manager, and that the picture “is not all bad.” But those upsides “mean nothing to riders” struggling with dropped bus trips or extensive delays, he said, warning that the public views the MBTA as “on the verge of a death spiral.”

“The agency is very quickly becoming a punchline, and we need the agency to not become a punching bag,” Johnson said. “We need the agency to stand up for itself and ask for what it needs. We need to show that this agency and its riders are as much of a priority as tax cuts.”

One rider who addressed the board for more than seven minutes said he had been willing to give Eng the “benefit of the doubt” during the new GM’s first few months, but is no longer willing to do so.

“This system is in crisis. It’s inflicting a death spiral of transit and traffic on this city, and yet it’s largely been business as usual from the board,” the rider, whose first name is Steve, said during the meeting. “When the Legislature and then your own riders here asked how much it would cost to fix the system to a state of good repair, you stonewalled them. We’ve asked you to help us understand how our sacrifice last year during the Orange Line shutdown only resulted in even worse track conditions, but no one will answer us.”

Riders were on the mind of one of the board’s newest members, Mary Skelton Roberts, whom Boston Mayor Michelle Wu appointed Monday to the panel.

“There’s no question you have to do the repairs and that you have to have a safety protocol in place, and yet, the safety issues continue to trump basic level of service,” Skelton Roberts said. “So you have ridership and folks get frustrated, and they don’t always understand what’s going on and they leave the system. Once they leave the system, it’s hard to get them back on.”

Caitlin Allen-Connelly, a senior transportation adviser for the business group A Better City, warned the board that “business as usual is no longer an option.” She praised Eng for his moves last week to reorganize the MBTA’s leadership hierarchy, and called for “drastic measures” to fix slow zones and address safety problems.

“Getting the system back on track will require massive systems and cultural change, and we also know that that doesn’t happen overnight. At the same time, the authority is severely impaired and service is suffering,” Allen-Connelly said. “I think we heard from riders, we heard from the new board member, that riders are struggling to get to work, appointments, schools, daily activities and oftentimes, the impact isn’t equitable. It’s touching people who really don’t have another option.”

The extension to Medford opened in 2022, and inspectors have already discovered the distance between rails in some places has narrowed too much to maintain normal speeds.

“When it’s really bad, it’s really frustrating,” one T rider said.

The MBTA Dashboard shows numerous slow zones along the extension, often as slow as three mph until repairs can be made.

The Healey Administration said the extension was largely built by the previous administration, and they have discovered the problem and will fix it.

“Obviously I’m not happy about that but you know I can’t unring that bell,” Healey said.
They were installed last year. I’m glad we detected whatever the issue is and it’s our job to fix it and deal with it which we are doing now.”

7News rode the extension and saw the train quickly get up to almost 30 mph to quickly slow to 3 mph.

“I was just debating getting off and getting an Uber,” said T rider Sumnur Levenson. “It’s kinda worth the price when it’s three miles per hour.”

When approaching Medford, the T was traveling 40 mph but slowed to 3 to 4 mph before pulling into the station.

“It can get down to very slow, about like walking speed I would say,” T rider Maggie Thornton said. “I can probably run faster to the next stop and catch the same train.”

The MBTA announced Wednesday that while track work is underway on the Red Line from Oct. 14 to Oct. 29, passengers will be able to ride for free on the Fairmount Line by showing their CharlieCard to a Commuter Rail conductor while onboard.

Over the course of the two week shutdown, crews are slated to perform work that includes the replacement of rails, ties, and ballasts, which officials have said will improve reliability and reduce maintenance needs. The MBTA said that the work will allow 28 speed restrictions in the area to be “alleviated,” while also improving travel times.

“The upcoming work on the Ashmont Branch and Mattapan Line is critical to addressing and improving safety and reliability along this stretch of the Red Line, and the complete closure of these lines allows us to accomplish vital work in 16 days. While this service change will be challenging for our riders, they have let me know that they appreciate that we are committed to improving their travels,” MBTA General Manager and CEO Phillip Eng said in a statement. “By offering alternative shuttle bus service and now by accepting CharlieCards ‘being flashed’ on the Fairmount Commuter Rail Line during the closure, we want our riders to know that we want them to continue to use mass transportation while we perform this work, and that we value and understand how they rely on the MBTA and the services we provide.”

In addition to Commuter Rail, shuttle buses are expected to replace rail service during the shutdown.

According to the MBTA’s initial announcement in August, the buses will make stops at all affected Red Line stations and operate every 5-6 minutes during weekday peak hours, and 10-15 minutes during weekday and weekend off-peak hours.

The incident happened on Beacon Street near Saint Paul Street Monday evening and lifted the trolley up and off its tracks. 

In a later statement, MBTA Transit Police Superintendent Richard Sullivan said the trolley had been headed outbound on the Green Line’s C branch with the right of way “when a passenger vehicle, traveling in the same direction, against the light suddenly turned left into the trolley.”

Sullivan said two people reported minor injuries related to the collision. 

A firefighter at the scene told 7NEWS the driver of the car that police said collided with the trolley was also taken to a hospital to have his arm checked out. 

The driver, Sullivan said, will be cited for a red light violation. 

The T initially reported 25 minute delays on the Green Line around 7 p.m. between the Coolidge Corner and St. Paul Street stations “due to a train with a pantograph problem near St. Paul St.” 

The T said it was dispatching shuttle buses as of around 7 p.m. In an update around 8:15 p.m., the T said shuttle buses were continuing to replace service between St. Mary’s Street and Coolidge Corner stations “while repairs to the overhead wire are being made.”

MBTA crews and emergency responders remained on scene around 9 p.m.

Speaking with 7NEWS, fire officials on the scene said crews had recently turned off power to the overhead power system, allowing them to use hydraulics to lift the trolley and move the passenger vehicle away from the trolley. 

The T said it had phased out shuttle buses as of around 9:45 p.m., with trolley service resuming in the area.

The scene was clear as of around 10 p.m.

The MBTA announced the service switch around 10 a.m. after a series of delays earlier in the morning, initially stating Porter to Park Street stations were affected before expanding the change to Davis.

The move came as the transportation authority said Cambridge firefighters were investigating “reports of smoke” near Harvard station.

In an update posted later in the morning, the Cambridge Fire Department said it was working on extinguishing a rubbish fire that appeared to have started in a tunnel outside of the station.

No injuries were reported and within an hour, the department said the fire had been extinguished and that train service was expected to resume shortly.

The MBTA said shuttle buses were being phased out and residual delays were expected as regular service returned around 11 a.m.

A T spokesperson said officials paused work beginning on Wednesday. The pause, the spokesperson said, was scheduled to continue for 48 hours and would include “all contractor work that is not taking place inside an established diversion area.”

The pause comes after news of more close calls between MBTA trains and workers became public.

The pause also follows a crackdown on the T from the Federal Transit Authority, which recently ordered new safety changes to protect employees.

Among recent incidents on the Red and Green lines in the last six weeks was one on Sept. 11 that happened in a tunnel between Porter and Harvard stations on the Red Line. A worker tried to flag a train to stop. The driver did not stop and the incident was not immediately reported. 

In a letter last week, the Federal Transit Authority said it “has determined that a combination of unsafe conditions and practices exist such that there is a substantial risk of serious injury or death of a worker.”

Asked this week about the new pause on contractor work, MBTA spokesperson Joe Pesaturo said “The MBTA is working to establish more rigorous levels of protection for work crews on our rights of way.” 

“The first priority is to ensure safety for our internal workforce supporting critical inspections and maintenance,” Pesaturo continued. 

Pesaturo said the T paused contractor work outside established diversion areas “in order to focus on this first phase of work.”

MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng in his own statement said the T “is committed to the safety of our workforce.”  

“The status quo is not acceptable, and we will continue to focus on the safety of our riders and employees,” Eng said. “As general manager, it is my job to ensure our employees have the appropriate tools, clear direction and resources to enable them to successfully perform their functions.”

Eng said the T is “rebuilding and reorganizing the workforce, top to bottom, to ensure we have the right people in place at all levels to implement the changes required to bring meaningful, long-lasting systemic solutions.”

“T management needs to ensure that we are implementing improved procedures and following through on our commitments,” Eng continued. “This is a team effort with the FTA, DPU, and our labor unions, and we all share the common goal of a safe and reliable MBTA.”  

MBTA officials on Thursday did not elaborate on what may happen after the current work pause.

The latest incident on Monday morning involved a Red Line train and a two-person crew inspecting the tracks between the Harvard and Porter Stations. The MBTA said “a flagger signaled for an approaching train to stop and it did not.” 

The MBTA said no one was hurt, and while the agency investigates, the train’s driver is out of service.

During the investigation, one of the two track inspectors said a similar near miss happened a week earlier in the same area of the Red Line. The MBTA said this near miss, which was previously unreported, happened a week earlier on Sept. 11 and is now under investigation.

The Federal Transit Administration criticized the MBTA over four near miss events since the beginning of August.

 “Based on these incidents, FTA has determined that a combination of unsafe conditions and practices exist such that there is a substantial risk of serious injury or death of a worker,” the FTA’s letter said last week.

The FTA ordered the MBTA to make immediate changes and to report any new close calls within two hours.

Gov. Maura Healey said these are examples of longstanding issues her administration is working hard to fix.

“Any situation like that is unacceptable,” Healey said. “Nobody is more frustrated than me whenever I hear an instance like that, but know that we are on it and GM Eng has been empowered to do everything that he needs to do.”

Transportation expert Keith Millhouse said if these incidents continue, the FTA could take a rare step of taking over oversight of the T, which they did with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority eight years ago.

“If we see that incidents are continuing or incidents are not being reported, I think at some point the FTA will step in because the MBTA has had plenty of time to get their act together,” Millhouse said.

The MBTA said all drivers were given a new safety briefing before Tuesday.

Warning that “a combination of unsafe conditions and practices exist such that there is a substantial risk of serious injury or death of a worker,” the Federal Transit Administration on Thursday further ramped up its scrutiny of the T and called for additional safety improvements to protect employees.

The new letter from FTA Chief Safety Officer Joe DeLorenzo reopens scrutiny on near misses, when moving trains and trolleys almost struck workers who were on or near the tracks, after federal officials earlier this year flagged a previous series of similar incidents at the MBTA. The T already had to implement a new worker safety plan to comply with FTA orders that stemmed from the first series of near misses.

“Despite taking these actions, over the last month MBTA has experienced four additional near miss events, including two incidents on the Red Line and two on the Green Line,” DeLorenzo wrote in a letter dated Thursday. “The MBTA also failed to report these near misses as required by the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU).”

Failure to comply, DeLorenzo wrote, might result in the T losing all employee access to the track right-of-way including for maintenance and inspections — a dramatic restriction that could effectively bring subway service to a halt — until the FTA “is confident that the MBTA can ensure workers are adequately protected from collisions.”

MBTA officials alerted the FTA earlier this week about three near misses: one involving a Red Line train on Aug. 10, another on the Green Line on Aug. 28 and a third on the Red Line on Sept. 6, as the Boston Globe reported Wednesday.

Details about the fourth recent incident, which the FTA said occurred on the Green Line, were not immediately available Thursday.

In his letter to the FTA disclosing the incidents, MBTA General Manager Phil Eng said safety on and around MBTA equipment and property is “unambiguously my number one concern.”

“I can also say that since I have joined, I have observed that it is the number one concern of my senior leaders and we are all working daily to change the entire culture of the organization to instill a safety-first mindset,” Eng wrote. “This is why we are disappointed that the organization continues to struggle with near misses, but also why it is critical that the FTA understand the lengths we are taking at the MBTA to respond to and learn from these events, as well as correct any process or procedure failures that allow them to continue to happen.”

Effective immediately, the MBTA must inform the FTA within two hours of any near miss, plus submit preliminary and final investigation reports within 30 days of each incident.

The MBTA also has four business days to submit a “detailed explanation of the delays in reporting near misses that have occurred since August 1, 2023, to both the MBTA Safety department and the DPU.” T officials were previously required to inform the DPU of near misses, but they were not required to tell the FTA until the new instructions given Thursday.

During a Thursday meeting of the MBTA Board of Directors safety subcommittee, Department of Transportation Chief Safety Officer Patrick Lavin described a “disconnect” in existing communication procedures.

“In one incident, there was a near miss. We didn’t find out about it as management until four days later,” Lavin told board members. “I can’t report it if I’m not aware of it, so there’s some disconnect there.”

A T spokesperson said after the meeting that the Aug. 28 near miss was reported to DPU on Aug. 31, three days later. The other two incidents the MBTA has disclosed were reported to DPU on the day they occurred, the spokesperson said.

The FTA’s new letter also ordered the MBTA within seven business days to conduct a “comprehensive analysis” of each near miss since Aug. 1 and create an itemized list of actions to prevent similar problems in the future.

Federal regulators prohibited the use of “lone workers” on foot in the right-of-way until the MBTA can prove “sufficient procedures are in place to protect these workers.” Other worker deployments will be restricted, but not banned, while the T works on improving visibility, preparation and other precautions.

All operations control center dispatchers and supervisors will need to undergo additional training, and train operators will need to be briefed on worker locations before starting their shifts. The T must also develop a plan to ensure the “accuracy of bi-directional communication” between workers out on the tracks and dispatchers in the control center under the FTA’s orders.

Including the incidents that prompted the FTA’s springtime warning and the latest crop, there have now been at least nine near misses this year between moving trains and workers in the area of MBTA tracks.

Asked at an unrelated event Thursday why the problem continues to occur, Gov. Maura Healey replied by pointing out that Eng voluntarily reported three of the near misses before the FTA began requiring prompt notification.

“Corrective action has already started before even receiving the FTA letter, so we’re just going to continue to go forth,” Healey, who took office in January, said. “[Eng] is empowered to do everything that needs to be done to ensure the safety of those lines. That is the top priority, and we want to ensure public confidence in that. I understand we’re not there yet, but we are working hard every day to get there.”

Healey said she believes the MBTA “is getting better” despite widespread speed restrictions that continue to plague service. Challenges are especially pronounced on the Red Line, which TransitMatters data show is operating with some of the slowest speeds and fewest active trains in years.

“We walked into a situation nine months ago where there were severe shortages, severe issues in terms of operations. General Manager Eng has taken steps. We’re in constant communication with him,” Healey said in response to a question about whether the MBTA is improving. “There is more work to be done and there will be more announcements about both organizational changes and practice changes. But the answer to that question is yes.”

The FTA last year conducted a sweeping, nearly unprecedented safety investigation into the MBTA and found a wide range of problems in need of attention, including persistent communications breakdowns and regular staffing shortages.

Federal regulators ordered a bevy of changes, but stopped short of taking control of any MBTA operations or oversight. Asked Thursday if the FTA was considering more direct intervention, a spokesperson did not answer directly and instead summarized the letter sent Thursday.

“FTA, in collaboration with MBTA’s state safety oversight agency, the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities, will closely monitor MBTA’s implementation of these actions,” the spokesperson said. “FTA will continue to work with both organizations to strengthen safety for MBTA’s workers.”

During Thursday’s safety subcommittee meeting, MBTA Board of Directors member Robert Butler referred to DeLorenzo’s new correspondence as a “nasty letter.”

“You said you meet with [the FTA] all the time, right? To come out with a letter like that, it’s kind of harsh, ain’t it, a little bit, if you’re meeting with them?” Butler said during Lavin’s presentation.

“Not in my experience, sir,” Lavin replied. “I did this for three years in Washington. This is not an uncommon occurrence.”

“I got skin like an alligator,” he added.

The first and primary cause of the rail’s state of disrepair is a lack of clarity about the roles and responsibilities of positions within the MBTA, especially those in charge of track inspections, the independent audit by Carlson Transport Consulting, LLC says.

“Contributing to the situation is the limited track maintenance experience of individuals with track inspection responsibility, inadequate training for these individuals, the absence of a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the visual and vendor inspections and a vendor inspection process that does not adequately engage the MBTA individuals with front line responsibility for timely verification and action associated with track defects,” report author Charles O’Reilly wrote.

The secondary root cause, the review says, is that individuals were not “completely fulfilling the responsibilities” of track maintenance and safety standards for the Blue, Orange, Red and Green Lines, which hundreds of thousands of people count on for reliable and safe public transit.

O’Reilly added that other factors, such as staffing, experience and qualifications of other members of the T’s Maintenance of Way (MOW) division, and the prioritization of MOW against capital and other MBTA activities, also contributed to the state of the tracks that have caused slow rides across the system.

“Inconsistent inspection outcomes, such as missing documentation for verification of vendor identified defects and instances of previous defects not being verified in subsequent inspection cycles … are not a substitute for a [Standard Operating Procedure],” the evaluation says.

O’Reilly, a licensed professional engineer with more than 45 years of experience, was hired in March by the Healey administration to conduct a review of the T’s track safety inspection procedures, recordkeeping practices, and documentation of planning and implementation of corrective activities. His review was designed to focus on routine track inspections in the past 12 months, which would reach back to when Gov. Charlie Baker oversaw the T, automated data collection including geometry car and ultrasonic rail testing from the past two years, track inspection maintenance of way procedures, oversight agency procedures, and more. The $70,000 maximum contract was scheduled for 90 days and includes provisions to extend its duration if O’Reilly and the MBTA agree.

The report confirms what the T has known since it enacted a system-wide slowdown of all trains in early March, MBTA General Manager Phil Eng said at a press conference on Thursday. Even as trains continue to operate with speed restrictions, Eng said repairs are being made.

“We’re going to be more efficient, more cost effective and more productive. And really, that’s what the public deserves. At the same time, I have to balance the need to provide service to the riders while we’re trying to do the work,” Eng said. “How do you change the wheel while you’re riding the bike?”

The general manager said on Thursday that accountability for the troubled T “rests now with this leadership team.”

WBZ reported Wednesday that no firings have been announced as a result of the MBTA’s failures.

“We still don’t know who was responsible for the missing documentation that led to the slowdown,” Jarred Johnson, executive director for the watchdog organization TransitMatters, told WBZ. “Are those folks going to face any kind of accountability?”

Asked by a reporter Thursday if anyone would be held accountable, Eng replied that responsibility for the T now lies with its current leadership team.

“This is not about a single person, this is about the organization,” Eng said. “And this is why one of the things that I want to do is to have clear lines of authority. One of the things we’re looking at, and we’ll have it in the near future, is how we are reorganizing different roles and functions, with the new leadership supplementing the existing leadership.”

Asked Thursday how he can turn the T around — a promise he made on his first day on the job — after a string of failures and broken promises from past general managers, Eng said, “This administration is committed.”

“I have taken these challenges on … and in those cases, many people said the same thing, ‘It’s insurmountable. Why did you take on those challenges?’ But really what it is about is rebuilding the team and empowering the team and letting them know that I have their back,” he said.

Eng brought on four new officials in August who are newly responsible for managing the quality of T stations, aging infrastructure, engineering, and capital planning, operations and safety.

The MBTA first announced speed restrictions on March 10, and slowed Red, Orange, Blue and Green Lines to 10-25 miles per hour across the system. Since, slow zones have been lifted on some areas of the rail, but remain on over a quarter of track.

And the number of trains operating at slower speeds seems to be increasing.

According to MBTA data, only 23.6 percent of track was covered with speed restrictions on July 1, compared to 25.8 percent as of Thursday. On individual lines: 9.8 percent of the Red Line track where subways operated at slower speeds at the start of July has increased to 10.8 percent in September; and restrictions on 7.7 percent of the Green Line have increased to cover 8.8 percent of the track.

There were more speed restrictions added system-wide than removed throughout August, and each individual line except the Green Line ended the month with more slow zones than it started.

“When the conditions are at this state of disrepair in terms of the years of disinvestment,” Eng said, “if it takes us longer, it’s likely that those conditions will continue to worsen the longer we take. That doesn’t mean we’re not making progress, because we’re stemming the tide, but what’s happening is that it means as we continue to make those thorough inspections to ensure safety, that we’re finding these conditions are worsening.”

Eng said having to fight a moving — and worsening — target like this is why the T has opted for multi-week shutdowns, like April’s nighttime Blue Line closure and last year’s month-long Orange Line closure.

Subway service between JFK/UMass and Ashmont Stations and the Mattapan Line trolley will shutter for 16 days in October, which Eng has said will allow the T to accomplish six months of work in just over two weeks.

“We still have a lot of work to do, I don’t want to say we don’t, both infrastructure wise but also organizationally. This is about changing the culture,” Eng said. “

David S. Finnerty, 47, of Rutland, was indicted on two counts of filing false reports, investigators said.

Finnerty was the officer in charge and the supervisor of a second officer identified by the initials “D.B.” on July 27, 2018, when that officer illegally assaulted a man, according to the federal indictment.

Investigators allege that Finnerty falsified an arrest report, specifically by including false and misleading statements and by omitting other details of the incident.

The charge of filing false reports carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.

Finnerty’s lawyer, R. Bradford Bailey, said his client pleaded not guilty and was released on minimal conditions. He said Finnerty was exonerated last October by the local district attorney’s office.

“He is innocent of these charges,” Bailey said. “I have every confidence he will be cleared and exonerated again here, once all the truth comes out.”

“Our office holds the men and women who wear police uniforms and serve our communities in the highest regard. Instances of police misconduct are rare, but they need to be investigated and prosecuted when they do happen,” acting United States Attorney Joshua Levy said in a news release.

Service will be terminated from Lechmere to Union Square for 25 days, ending the shutdown on Oct. 13. Initially, the closure was going to begin in July for 42 days but was postponed after local leaders raised concerns. The rescheduled termination of service from Lechmere to Union Square is now 25 days long.

There will be no shuttle buses, and officials said service could be supplemented between the 86, 91, and CT2 bus routes that travel between Union Square and East Somerville Station.

The T rolled out its schedule of planned closures and diversions for maintenance work in September, setting sights on the Red Line’s Braintree branch, where several miles of track are so deteriorated that they cannot safely support full-speed travel.

Shuttle buses will replace trains between North Quincy and Braintree Station starting around 8:45 p.m. each night from Sept. 5-7, Sept. 12-14 and Sept. 19-22. That stretch of track will also be completely shuttered the weekend of Sept. 23 and 24.

A similar segment, from Quincy Center to Braintree, will also go offline and be replaced by shuttle buses starting around 8:45 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 8 through the end of the day on Sunday, Sept. 10.

Those closures will precede a 16-day October shutdown of Red Line service between JFK/UMass and Ashmont Station as well as the Mattapan Line, which MBTA officials announced last week.

The T said Monday that another batch of station closures will take place due to the ongoing private demolition project involving the Government Center garage. Between Sept. 18 and Oct. 18, Orange Line trains will skip Haymarket station, while Green Line service will not run between North Station and Government Center.

Riders will be asked to walk above ground between Government Center, Haymarket and North Station for continuing Green Line service, an MBTA spokesperson said. Accessibility vans will also be available for on-demand use.

Shuttle buses will replace trains on the commuter rail’s Kingston, Middleborough and Greenbush Lines between South Station and Braintree on the weekends of Sept. 9-10, Sept. 23-24 and Sept. 30-Oct.1, as well as starting at 7:30 p.m. each night on Sept. 5-7, Sept. 12-14 and Sept. 19-22.

Buses will additionally replace Haverhill Line service between Ballardvale and North Station between Sept. 9 and Nov. 5, a lengthy closure during which crews plan to work on the automatic train control safety system, and Newburyport/Rockport Line service between Swampscott and North Station on Sept. 9-10.

In an announcement on Thursday, the transportation authority said that for 16 days, between Oct. 14 and Oct. 29, the Ashmont Branch between JFK/UMass and Ashmont stations and the Mattapan Line between Ashmont and Mattapan Stations will experience “full-access closures” to allow for critical track work to be performed.

“During this closure, the MBTA will provide free, accessible shuttle bus service for riders on the Ashmont Branch and the Mattapan Line,” the MBTA said in a news release.

Over the course of the two week shutdown, crews are slated to perform work that includes the replacement of rails, ties, and ballasts, which officials say will improve reliability and reduce maintenance needs. The MBTA said that the work will allow 28 speed restrictions in the area to be “alleviated,” while also improving travel times.

According to the MBTA, the track between the JFK/UMass and Ashmont stations as well as the Mattapan Line is “some of the oldest in the system and is in need of replacement.”

“Safety of the MBTA system is paramount, and this 16-day closure allows us to address many of the Red Line’s worst speed restrictions much faster than we’ve been able to accomplish during night and weekend work,” MBTA General Manager and CEO Phillip Eng stated in the release. “We understand service changes can be frustrating, and I want to thank the public for their patience while we perform this critical and targeted work between JFK/UMass and Ashmont Stations and on the Mattapan Line.”

Shuttle buses are scheduled to make stops at all Red Line stations during the shutdown, with the MBTA noting that shuttles will operate every 5-6 minutes during weekday peak hours and 10-15 minutes during weekday and weekend off-peak hours.

“Riders are encouraged to allow extra travel time during this service change,” the MBTA said, while also encouraging riders to also use local bus routes and the Commuter Rail’s Fairmount Line when possible.

The T said in a social media post around 3:30 p.m. that buses were replacing service between the Babcock Street and Boston College stations while personnel addressed the wire problem. 

Shuttle buses were still in use shortly before 4:30 p.m., with the T telling riders to expect delays of about 10 minutes. 

The T said riders may also use the Green Line C Branch for alternate service.

This is a developing story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest updates.

In a message to MBTA employee, General Manager Phillip Eng announced that Chief Safety Officer Ron Ester would resign from his role effective Aug. 30.

Ester previously worked at the Chicago Transit Authority before joining the MBTA three years ago, and played a role in “implementing recommendations, policies and practices following the 2019 Safety Panel Report, including the Safety Management System, our COVID response efforts and recovery, and the subsequent FTA Safety Management Inspection,” Eng stated.

“I am grateful for Ron’s service to the MBTA. He has made a real difference in the safety of our system, and he will be missed,” Eng stated.

Ester’s departure comes after the MBTA faced a slew of calls for action by the Federal Transit Administration, including orders to review numerous close-calls between trains and workers, cases of runaway trains, and other incidents, including an Orange Line train catching fire in 2022.

The announcement also came less than a week after the MBTA announced that it was addressing “arc flash” injuries and third rail safety.

Earlier in June, the MBTA said it had revised its worker safety plan to address issues outlined by the FTA, and has been tracking its own progress as it works to meet a Safety Management Inspection (SMI) report issued by federal regulators.

Ester later released a statement that read in-part:

“I am proud of the work that we have done to make our system safer during my tenure, despite the many challenges that we have faced. The MBTA has been underinvested in for decades, and it has taken a lot of hard work to make our system as safe as it is today.”

The new protocol, which is still being reviewed by safety overseers at the Department of Public Utilities, stems from an Aug. 2 incident that was disclosed publicly during an MBTA subcommittee meeting Thursday.

On that day, two signal maintainers were dispatched to deal with what MBTA Deputy Director of Safety Investigations Asia Williams described as a “dropped track circuit” at the Quincy Center station crossover on the Red Line.

The crew was splicing wires around 5:10 p.m. when a wire came into contact with the electrified third rail and produced an “arc flash in the vicinity of both workers,” Williams told the MBTA board’s safety subcommittee.

“Upon arrival of EMS, one wireperson’s fingers were treated with a report of no injuries, while the second wireperson was transported from the scene for electrical burn marks on their hands as well as arc flash injuries to the eyes,” Williams said.

An MBTA spokesperson said the employee was released from the hospital later that night. Williams told the subcommittee the worker is in “stable condition,” adding that MBTA officials are “still reaching out to the family to obtain updates.”

A day after the incident, DPU Rail Transit Safety Director Robert Hanson wrote to MBTA officials ordering the agency to craft a corrective action plan within 24 hours that “identifies the hazard associated” and “provides corrective actions to ensure the safety of MBTA employees in all departments that conduct work along the right of way.”

Hanson described both employees in the Aug. 2 incident as injured, one of whom was treated on scene and released and the other of whom was taken to Mass. General Hospital “with a hand injury.”

The MBTA was previously working with the DPU on a corrective plan to protect “maintenance of way” employees from electrical hazards on the tracks, but Hanson said the T needed to take additional steps to ensure other types of workers — like those from the signal department affected last week — remain safe.

On Aug. 4, the day following Hanson’s letter, MBTA Chief Safety Officer Ronald Ester issued a safety directive notifying the engineering and maintenance department that all work is prohibited near “unprotected energized 3rd rail.” If work needs to take place on or near a third rail, crews must shut down the power system or install protective covers on top of the third rail.

An administration official said DPU is still reviewing the MBTA’s corrective action plan and will need to either accept it or reject it and require an amended version.

“While the investigation is ongoing, we took immediate measures following the incident. The safety and well-being of our employees and riders will always be our top priority,” MBTA General Manager Phil Eng said in a statement. “Safety is one of our core values, and we are committed to developing, implementing, and continually improving our processes to ensure we help foster a strong culture of organizational safety. Every MBTA employee, at all levels, has a role and responsibility in achieving the highest level of safety performance standards.”

The engineering and maintenance department was required to inform all of its employees about the new procedures and distribute an updated “safety flash” bulletin.

“That seems surprising as a layperson because the third rail is a pretty well-known dangerous situation,” MBTA Board Chair Thomas Glynn said during the subcommittee meeting. “What has given rise to the need to put this out?”

“This was some splicing of wires. This was not actually work on the third rail, but during the splicing of wires, the wires made contact with the third rail and caused the arc flash,” Ester replied. “The directive is saying any time you’re performing work — even if it’s not on the third rail — in close proximity, we want you to put these third rail covers on the third rail to protect you from any mishaps that may occur.”

The DPU, which serves as the official state-level office responsible for transit safety oversight, has bulked up its work to oversee the MBTA in recent months.

Federal investigators last year criticized the DPU during a sweeping probe of safety failures at the T, concluding that the department was falling short of its watchdog responsibilities. Some lawmakers in response have proposed removing transit safety from the DPU’s plate and assigning that job to a new, independent office.

The train was reportedly traveling between JFK/UMass station and Quincy Center on Wednesday afternoon. 

A spokesperson for Keolis, which operates the T’s Commuter Rail system, said the incident was under investigation as of late Thursday morning. The spokesperson continued in a statement, saying passengers should not open any doors on Commuter Rail trains and never stand in a train vestibule. 

“If a passenger notices that a door is open, they should notify a crew member,” the spokesperson said.

The T said a Red Line train was removed from service on July 19 after it experienced a mechanical issue.

Multiple passengers said smoke filled the station, with one person sharing cell phone video of the scene.

The T said there was no fire.

The T said in a tweet that part of the Red Line was experiencing 15-minute delays as a result of the incident as of around 2:40 p.m. on July 19. Delays cleared shortly after 3:30 p.m., according to the T.

The Green Line service will be suspended July 29 through Aug. 9 between North Station and Government Center, while the Orange Line will bypass the Haymarket Station during the closure. The MBTA said in the closure announcement that accessible shuttles can be made available upon request.

The shutdown comes as the MBTA finished replacing and repairing the tracks of the B Line of the Green Line Saturday after a 12-day closure.  Officials said this work should alleviate Green Line delays.

According to the MBTA, the train appeared to break down at Malden Center sometime before 3:20 p.m., prompting the switch to buses.

By 4:30 p.m., shuttles were being phased out after rail service was restored, according to the transportation authority.

MBTA General Manager Phil Eng on Thursday announced the hiring of four new officials who will be responsible for managing the quality of T stations, agency infrastructure, engineering, and capital planning, operations and safety.

And like Eng, each of the four new major hires previously worked at transportation agencies in New York where he previously plied his trade.

Dennis Varley, a veteran of the Long Island Rail Road, will become the T’s first chief of stations. Sam Zhou, another New Yorker who most recently worked for that state’s Department of Transportation, will take over as the MBTA’s assistant general manager of engineering and capital. Doug Connett, the new chief of infrastructure, joins from a state safety and security consulting firm and also has experience at transit agencies in New York City and Washington, D.C. And Rod Brooks, the MBTA’s new senior advisor for capital, operations and safety, also has sizable experience at LIRR.

“These new hires bring decades of public transportation experience and public service to us. They value public service, and in their past roles they have successfully tackled similar challenges to ours,” Eng said at an MBTA Board of Directors meetings where he announced the staffing moves.

The batch of hires is the latest significant shake-up at the T since Gov. Maura Healey took office in January. She named Eng, a veteran transportation official who led LIRR for about four years and previously worked for the New York State DOT and the MTA, as the new general manager in March. In April, she replaced three members of the T’s board of directors including its chair and appointed Patrick Lavin to the new position of MassDOT chief safety officer.

Eng said with the new high-ranking employees soon joining, the MBTA is “beginning to restructure our organization.”

“After having the opportunity to observe day-to-day operations, seeing firsthand some of our infrastructure condition needs and pursuant work, speaking with riders, managers and frontline workers, it is apparent that we need reinforcements,” he said.

Brooks, the new senior advisor for capital, operations and safety, started in that role this week focusing on safety initiatives, right of way access and some capital work including the South Coast Rail expansion project, Eng said.

He’ll earn $120 per hour on a contract that runs through Dec. 31, 2023 with a one-year extension option, according to a T spokesperson.

Connett will start Aug. 14 and will earn $260,000 per year, Zhou will start on Aug. 21 and earn $265,000 per year, and Varley will start on Aug. 28 and earn $265,000 per year, officials said.

Eng had signaled an intention to add new managerial positions for weeks, especially a stations chief after a series of incidents involving falling debris shone a spotlight on poor conditions at some MBTA stops.

MBTA Board of Directors Chair Tom Glynn reacted to the news by pointing out how many former T officials later worked at transit and transportation agencies in New York.

“It may seem like four people from New York is a lot of people from New York. But historically, we’ve sent four people to New York from Boston, so this is just leveling the playing field. The first one we sent was Babe Ruth, and the second one was Bob Kiley, and the third one was David Gunn, and the fourth one was Rich Davey, and we got nothing back,” Glynn replied after Eng’s presentation. “You have finally leveled the playing field, and we’re appreciative of that.”

The MBTA has struggled in recent months to achieve hiring goals that are linked to ongoing service cuts, long headways and frequent disruptions.

Eng said the agency is attempting to hire “unlike ever before at the T in perhaps the most competitive times” and is “contending with other public-sector agencies and private-sector companies” for talented workers.

The T first reported delays around 4:25 p.m. The T later said it had dispatched shuttle buses to operate between JFK/UMass and North Quincy stations.

In an update around 5:15 p.m., the T said service had resumed with delays.

MBTA spokesperson Joe Pesautoro said the fire was adjacent to the third rail near JFK/UMass. Its cause, he said, remained under investigation as of Tuesday afternoon. 

Video from the scene showed smoke rising from a section of track Tuesday. A Red Line train was seen stopped nearby as rain fell in the area. 

Fire crews were called to the scene and large crowds of people were seen waiting during the delay.

Tuesday’s fire near JFK/UMass came after other recent incidents, including a fire near the Tufts Medical Center T station on the Orange Line last month.

The incident happened Friday afternoon. 

Video from the scene showed the woman surrounded by firefighters, at one point, as crews worked to get her free. 

The woman, firefighters said, was in pain and hurt but is expected to be OK. Crews said they did not need to use any tools to free the woman. 

A 7NEWS camera later captured the moment the woman was taken away from the station and loaded into an ambulance to be taken to a hospital. 

Asked about this incident, the MBTA in a statement said a passenger “stepped in the gap between the open train door and the platform” while the train was already stopped at the station.

“The train did not move before the person was removed and taken to Tufts Medical Center to be evaluated,” the T said. 

State Street station had reopened as of around 6 p.m. with some lingering delays for Orange Line service.

Nearly a year after federal investigators said the Department of Public Utilities was falling short of its MBTA safety oversight responsibilities, the committee advanced legislation that would strip those duties from the DPU and instead assign them to a proposed Office of Transit Safety.

The new office would be an independent entity “not subject to the supervision or control” of any other state board, agency or department, according to a copy of the legislation provided by committee co-chair Rep. William Straus. Its executive director, who would need experience in “transit operations or transit safety,” would be appointed by a majority vote of the governor, attorney general and secretary of state.

That represents a shift from the DPU, which is a part of the executive branch and whose governing commission is selected entirely by the governor. The MBTA is also under the control of the executive branch.

Straus said his concerns with the existing structure were “crystallized” by revelations, reported last year in the Boston Globe, that officials at the DPU and MBTA prepared statements to inform the public about a series of construction vehicle derailments but backed down after corresponding with then-Gov. Charlie Baker’s press office.

“That pretty much nailed it for me that the DPU is too much under — no matter what the good intent and all the rest — too much under the thumb of any sitting governor,” Straus said.

He likened the proposed process to select an Office of Transit Safety chief to the existing model for the state inspector general, who is appointed by a majority vote of the governor, auditor and attorney general.

“We wanted the independence because from independence flows the ability to investigate, without any other motive, what is the reason that safety-related problems might be occurring at any of these transportation agencies,” Straus said. “It’s not independence just for the sake of independence, but independence drives the quality and outcome of what they do in the public’s interest.”

The committee filed the bill with the House clerk’s office after securing support from at least two-thirds of its members, according to Straus.

As is the case with all bills on Beacon Hill, where legislative leaders tightly control the agenda, it’s not clear when or if the legislation might emerge for a vote. Straus said he had discussed the bill with top House Democrats, but said it “competes with all kinds of other stuff” to get scheduled for consideration. He added it’s “hard to say” if the transit safety oversight measure will emerge before lawmakers take a traditional break in August.

A spokesperson for House Speaker Ron Mariano said there is “no definitive timeline” for bringing the bill forward.

The proposed office would oversee safety on all public transit in Massachusetts, including MBTA ferries, commuter rail and the state’s separate regional transit authorities.

To empower the new office, the bill would grant it the ability to issue subpoenas as part of its audits, inspections, investigations and tests. It could also compel transit agencies to comply with safety directives by pursuing legal action, ordering certain vehicles or infrastructure removed, and directing spending on safety-critical items, plus restrict or suspend service to address an “identified unacceptable safety risk.”

The bill would create a transit safety council, which would set the salary of the executive director and would need to give its approval to any subpoena action.

Each year, the proposed Office of Transit Safety would need to publish an annual report summarizing its oversight activities in the past year. It would also need to make available monthly reports about safety events and near-misses at transit agencies it oversees, correspondence with federal agencies, and corrective action plans.

Straus and his committee co-chair, Sen. Brendan Crighton, floated the idea of taking away the DPU’s T responsibilities at the end of the last two-year term, but the new bill represents a more formal legislative step responding to the crisis at the MBTA.

The DPU currently serves as the officially designated state-level agency in charge of MBTA safety oversight, and federal regulators would need to approve the bid to redirect that role to the newly proposed office.

Auditor Diana DiZoglio also wants the Legislature to give her office the authority to investigate the MBTA more frequently, citing “profound concerns” over the long list of safety issues that have plagued the agency.

DiZoglio, a former lawmaker, filed legislation with Rep. Christopher Worrell and Sen. Liz Miranda (H 3132 / S 2032) that she said would create a permanent audit division tasked with reviewing transportation agencies and the T in specific.

“Having that permanent MBTA audit unit would serve all of Massachusetts in the years to come by increasing accountability,” DiZoglio said last month. “Regardless of who the auditor is, regardless of who the governor is, regardless of who’s in the Legislature, it would allow the Office of State Auditor to serve as a regular watchdog for public transportation funding and performance.”

Last summer, as part of a blistering investigation highlighting safety failures at the MBTA, the Federal Transit Administration concluded the DPU was not living up to its oversight duties. The department has made some changes since then, hiring more employees to focus on transit.

FTA officials ordered a bevy of changes at the MBTA to address safety problems, some of which — especially those that require staffing up — could take months or years to complete.

The T on Tuesday said the FTA closed the second of 39 corrective action plans after workers completed repair work on a section of Orange Line tracks between Tufts Medical Center and Back Bay, which eliminated a “major speed restriction along a 981-foot section of the track.”

Roughly 24 percent of MBTA tracks still cannot safely support full-speed travel, according to the T. While that rate has barely changed since the sudden springtime rollout of widespread slow zones, trip data tracked by advocacy group TransitMatters show some improvement in travel times in recent months, particularly on the Blue Line.

Multiple passengers said smoke filled the station Wednesday afternoon.

The T said there was no fire. 

The T said in a tweet that part of the Red Line was experiencing 15-minute delays as a result of the incident as of around 2:40 p.m. The delay had cleared shortly after 3:30 p.m., according to the T.

Service along the extension between Union Square and Lechmere stations was scheduled to be suspended from July 17 to Aug. 28 to make way for construction on the Squire Bridge in the area. 

In a statement, though, spokesperson Karissa Hand said officials opted to postpone construction until September so that construction does not take place at the same time as the now ongoing Sumner Tunnel closure. 

The delay, Hand said, is also to “allow appropriate time to explore mitigation options and communicate with the public.” 

State Rep. Mike Connolly was one of three representatives who wrote to transit officials earlier this week about the planned Green Line disruption, writing, in part, “…we believe service replacement is key, and the T must either do more to show how existing bus service can accommodate all Union Square riders, or else make provisions to schedule additional buses or to hire shuttle buses as needed.” 

“The way this plan had been rolled out was very inadequate,” Connolly said in a separate interview with 7NEWS.  

He continued, saying the concern is whether or not alternative bus routes set forth in the planned partial Green Line shutdown would actually meet the demand for the Green Line in the area around the Green Line Extension.

“Our response has been, ‘If you feel the existing buses can service the transit need, then really map that out for us,” Connelly said. “‘Show us the typical Green Line departure schedule. Show us the average ridership on those typical departures.’”

Hand said MassDOT crews inspected the bridge over the weekend and determined it is safe to delay the repairs.

“The administration is grateful for the feedback we received from local officials and community members and will maintain close communication as we work to reschedule the Squire Bridge construction,” Hand said. 

Reacting to the move on Thursday, some Green Line riders at Lechmere said they’re glad to see work staggered relative to the Sumner Tunnel shutdown. 

Others said they would have preferred it all to get done over the less busy summer months. 

“I think it’s a good choice to not have them both at the same time,” said Joanne Muolo. “It’s going to affect less people that way, I hope.”

“That will be when I have to start taking my commute,” said one rider of the new September plan.

“If it’s down, it always sucks,” one other rider said. “It’s not fun.”

The Sumner Tunnel began a nearly two-month closure on Wednesday morning. It is scheduled to remain closed through Aug. 31 as crews conduct repairs inside. 

Officials have warned of traffic impacts from the shutdown and advised commuters to utilize public transportation if possible.

Connelly and others who wrote the letter to transit officials this week said they appreciate the decision to postpone Squire Bridge work, adding that they look forward to working with officials to find solutions.

While postponed to September, there was no firm date as of Thursday for when Squire Bridge work will begin.

The T rolled out its latest monthly schedule of service changes, which in addition to substantial impacts on the Red and Green Lines features changes to the Orange Line and the commuter rail’s Kingston, Middleborough, Greenbush and Worcester Lines.

Starting around 8:45 p.m. each night from July 11-13 and again on July 20, shuttle buses will replace trains between JFK/UMass and North Quincy Stations on the Red Line. Buses will also replace trains between JFK/UMass and Braintree Stations starting around 8:45 p.m. from July 21-23.

Crews plan to “perform critical rail and tie replacement work that will alleviate speed restrictions” during those diversions, a T official said. MBTA data show about 24 percent of all Red Line tracks cannot safely support full-speed train travel.

In addition to a 12-day closure of the Green Line’s B Branch from July 17-28, T officials on Thursday announced the single-stop Union Square branch that opened as part of the Green Line Extension will shutter for more than a month.

Trains will not run between Lechmere and Union Square Stations from July 18 to Aug. 28 due to “critical repair work by MassDOT on the Squire Bridge, which crosses over tracks near Union Square Station,” the MBTA said. Riders in the area will be asked to use several MBTA buses, including the Route 86, Route 87 and Route 91.

All four of the Green Line’s branches will feature some degree of closure on the weekend of July 15-16 while crews “perform comprehensive inspections of the structural, electrical, mechanical, and fire, life, and safety systems of the sub-surface Green Line tunnel.”

Another round of downtown Boston subway closures will also hit in late July and early August related to the ongoing Government Center Garage demolition by HYM Construction, a private developer. From July 29 to Aug. 9, Orange Line trains will bypass Haymarket Station and Green Line service will be suspended between North Station and Government Center. The MBTA suggested riders walk between affected stops in the area, though “accessibility vans” will be available on demand by speaking to T workers.

On the commuter rail’s Kingston, Middleborough and Greenbush Lines, shuttle buses will replace trains between South Station and Braintree after 7:30 p.m. on July 10-14, July 17-21 and July 22-23. Framingham/Worcester Line trains will also be replaced by shuttle buses between Worcester and Grafton Stations on July 29 and 30.

“The MBTA apologizes for the inconvenience of these scheduled service changes, and appreciates the understanding and patience of riders as this critical and necessary work to maintain, upgrade, and modernize the system takes place,” officials wrote in a press release summarizing the changes.

The operator of a southbound Orange Line vehicle “reported flames within the track area in front of the train” at Tufts Medical Center around 11:50 a.m. on Wednesday, T spokesperson Lisa Battiston said in a statement.

Riders shared images of smoke filling the air at the station, and firefighters responded to the scene. No one was injured, according to Battiston.

The incident prompted significant delays and suspension of subway service between North Station and Back Bay. Workers from the T’s power department completed repairs and normal service resumed around 2 p.m., Battiston said.

“It was subsequently determined that the incident was caused by an overheated third rail insulator,” Battiston said.

She later added, “Our Engineering and Maintenance teams are taking a closer look at the conditions of all of the third-rail insulators through the area, and will replace any that warrant it.”

The MBTA posted several updates about service impacts on Twitter over the course of Wednesday, informing riders about delays and the temporary partial Orange Line closure, though it did not put out a press release about the incident or subsequent investigation. Battiston said the agency also sent alerts via its T-Alerts system and in announcements on trains and in stations.

Video at one point showed the smoky scene on the Tufts platform.

The T initially announced delays for southbound trains in the area around 12:15 p.m. 

In an update at 12:30 p.m., the T said service was temporarily suspended between North Station and Back Bay due to what the agency described as an “issue with the third rail.” 

A T spokesperson said the operator of a southbound train at Tufts first reported flames within the track area in front of the train around 11:50 a.m. 

Shawn Cain said he was on the outbound train that stopped short when its operator saw the flames about 200 feet further in the tunnel ahead. 

“It was sparking and then it would kind of burp up some flames,” Cain said.  

“You could smell a little burnt rubber, burnt industrial material,” he continued. 

On scene, 7NEWS cameras caught emergency crews giving oxygen to one passenger. 

“There were people coughing and gagging,” Cain said. “They had material over their face.”

Dandrea Hobbs said she was scared trying to escape the station Wednesday with her baby and 4-year-old son. 

“A lot of people were panicking, telling us to get off the train, get out of the station,” she said. “So, we had to hurry up and run and get out of the station.” 

Transit police cleared people out of the station while fire crews tended to the flames. 

The T spokesperson said there were no injuries.

“Everyone was able to get out fine,” said Boston Fire Department District Fire Chief Robert Counihan. “They evacuated pretty quickly.”

Power was turned off to the third rail around 12 p.m. and fire crews had left the station as of around 1:45 p.m., the T spokesperson said.

Counihan said the incident was an electrical fire caused by some kind of short in the system. 

With the incident now under investigation, riders said this was just another example of a broken system. 

“It’s all messed up man,” one person said.

The T said regular service had resumed around 2 p.m. A residual delay had cleared as of 2:30 p.m., the T said.

The NTSB released its accident report on Tuesday, just over a year after Robinson Lalin died in the accident on April 10. 

Lalin, the NTSB said, had been trying to get off a Red Line train when the door closed on his upper body. The train then pulled away from the station with Lalin pinched between the doors. 

“As the train accelerated to depart the station, the passenger ran alongside the train with his upper body pinched between the doors,” the NTSB said. “The train did not stop, and the passenger collided with a wall at the end of the platform and was killed.”

Lalin was 39-years-old. 

The NTSB listed the short circuit in the train door as the probable cause for Lalin’s death, saying the issue allowed the train to accelerate even though Lalin was stuck in the door. 

Lalin’s family filed a lawsuit against the MBTA earlier this year, claiming the train operator in this incident was negligent and careless. 

Family members previously criticized the T in comments shortly after Lalin’s death, with Lalin’s nephew Kelvin Lalin telling 7NEWS “there’s definitely technical problems or mechanical issues with the train which the MBTA is responsible for.”

In addition to the short circuit, the NTSB report said officials identified a 19-foot blind spot in the train operator’s camera view. Lalin, the NTSB said, was more than likely stuck within the blind spot, meaning the operator would not have seen him in time to stop the train.

Read the full NTSB report here.

The incident happened on May 1. Now, call recordings show callers said they could not find any T employees nearby to help in the immediate aftermath. 

“Hi there,” a caller says in one recording. “I didn’t know where to call. It’s in the Harvard MBTA station — on the lower platform — on the inbound platform. There’s equipment that fell and hit a person. So, there’s a lot of us who saw it. Somebody needs to get here. I don’t know the MBTA 911 number, but there’s nobody here.”

The city of Cambridge only agreed to release recordings after altering the voices of the callers. 

In calls, a good Samaritan can be heard telling a dispatcher they could not find any T employees nearby. Another caller told Cambridge police the same thing when they dialed 911. 

“There’s not an ambassador from the MBTA here but just want to officially report this to all official channels that this just happened,” the caller said. “I’m assisting a person who was hit by the equipment and it could have been so much worse.”

A copy of the dispatch log from the MBTA’s Operations Control Center shows, at 4:52 p.m., Cambridge police dispatch notified the T of the incident. 

Right after that, the report says an officer was “making his way” there. The report does not say where the officer was coming from. 

Eight minutes later, the officer was on scene and reported “an electrical box broke off the straps on a south bound pillar and struck a woman.”

The woman has since been identified as 28-year-old Joycelyn Johnson, a graduate student at Harvard.

“Suddenly, something came crashing down and there was a resounding thud that I felt on my body,” she told reporters after the incident. “I staggered a bit and I didn’t fall, but I could feel a numbing sensation coursing throughout my arm, my shoulder and back.”

Two months before the equipment box fell, another passenger who got off a train at Harvard was just inches away from being struck by a falling ceiling tile. 

The T released video of the moment the ceiling tile fell on March 1. 

In one angle, a T employee can be seen showing up on the platform five minutes after the tile fell and looking up at the ceiling. 

7NEWS asked the T about its policies regarding employees being present at busy stations like Harvard.

“(S)tations such as Harvard are always staffed with any combination of the following:  MBTA personnel, Transit Ambassadors and/or Transit Police,” the T said in response. 

While that might be the T’s policy, transportation safety expert Dr. Carl Berkowitz says it’s not enough. 

“What good is having people present at the station if they’re not circulating?” Berkowitz said. “How can they help anybody if nobody knows who they are? And it’s not the job of the customer to find them. It’s the job of the personnel management, customer service people to find the customer, not the other way around.”

The woman who was hit by the falling box in May has said she intends to sue the MBTA because of what happened to her. 

The hearing was held at the State House and aimed to examine safety within the T. 

“We use the system, our families use the system and we are committed to improving the MBTA,” Fiandaca said. 

Monday’s meeting came after a Harvard PHD student was injured back on May 1 when a heavy utility box fell on her at Harvard station in Cambridge. 

Two months before the utility box fell, a ceiling tile nearly struck a passenger at the same station. 

MBTA officials later determined that a corroded support strap led to the utility box falling.

Speaking this week, joint committee Co-Chair William Straus said he wondered how inspectors could have missed the corrosion. 

“If they were already looking at ceiling tiles, they’re looking up by definition, why didn’t somebody notice that the strapping on these boxes was off?” he asked. 

“That was an immediate response to the ceiling tile and that was to specifically focus on ceiling tiles,” Eng responded.

Eng also said his team is making progress in its work to lift speed restrictions impacting subway riders. He said 99 restrictions had been lifted as of last week, including 42 on the Red Line. 

“As we sought to get a handle on the number of speed restrictions, particularly the worst ones, the ability to go in and, if you find one, tackle it quickly is much simpler,” Eng said.

As the T continues its work, federal officials have continued to oversee safety improvements. 

On Beacon Hill, the joint committee hoped to hear from personell with the Federal Transportation Administration. When they invited officials, though, the committee got an email back saying no one would be coming to testify. 

Straus said the email was similar to a “go take a hike” email that legislators received last year.

“So, I’m disappointed that the FTA has decided to again boycott this hearing,” Straus said.

While he said the T is still facing a labor crunch, Eng said applications have increased 112%. 

The 104 bus had some damage to the back after being hit by another vehicle. Police and ambulances were on the scene.

The crash is still under investigation, and no other information was immediately available.

The T announced the change in a tweet early Friday afternoon, saying service will bypass Savin Hill in both directions. 

The T initially said the change would remain in place “until further notice.” In a later update, officials said Savin Hill will reopen Saturday morning. In the meantime, the T said trains will continue operating through Savin Hill but will not stop.

The T said shuttle buses will run between Fields Corner and JFK/UMass with an option for Savin Hill riders to board buses at the intersection of Dorchester Avenue and Savin Hill Avenue. 

Bus route 18, which traces a path between the Ashmont and Andrew Red Line stations “is also available,” the T said.

Crews were seen at Savin Hill making repairs following the T’s announcement Friday.

Taking place between July 17 and 28, the T said the change will make way for crews to replace more than 2,000 feet of track and make other improvements. 

Shuttles will replace trains between the Kenmore and Boston College stations during the closure.

Thursday’s announcement came just over a week after a B branch trolley derailed by Packard’s Corner on Monday, June 12. While no one was injured, the incident caused extensive delays.

During the response at the time, MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng said the area where the trolley derailed was impacted by a speed restriction, which he said likely prevented a worse outcome.

Eng said an issue with the rails themselves was likely to blame for the derailment and said the T had a contract in place to “rehabilitate” the Packard’s Corner area this summer.

“We’re looking to see if we can accelerate that work as well,” he said.

Oscar Soucy was among the 32 passengers aboard the Green Line trolley that went off the tracks.

“If it makes it safer and makes it more efficient then that’s great,” Soucy said of now upcoming work on the Green Line. 

Eng discussed the derailment in a recent meeting.

“While I’m proud that the MBTA crossed a proper response to this incident, I do emphasize that we remain committed to restoring our infrastructure and providing safe and reliable service to prevent such incidents in the future,” he said.

Eng separately shared a written statement on Thursday, saying the derailment was “a stark reminder that we have work to do and accelerating this work when schools are out is the best way to address a long standing issue.”

Commuters speaking with 7NEWS this week said they agree work needs to be done. Still, many said the upcoming shutdown on the Green Line B branch is yet another bump in the road for the T. 

“It’s not super reliable,” Soucy said. 

“If it’s necessary, that’s okay, but that’s going to be a tough one for everybody, I’m sure,” said Xuan Kusek, a regular on the Green Line. 

“I take the Green Line every day back and forth from work,” Kusek continued. “I work all the way in Seaport, so that’s going to affect me greatly.”

More information on the upcoming shutdown, as well as details on an open house meeting being hosted by the MBTA to discuss the shutdown, can be found here.

By handing out customized cards so people can voice their frustrations, Andrew Cohen and Sebastian Luu hope it can lead to constructive dialogue with the T.

“Obviously, there’s a lot of frustration out there against the T and there’s not a lot of ways to channel that,” Cohen told 7NEWS. “I used to ride the Red Line all the way from Braintree to Kendall/MIT but because that’s become so slow, I’ve switched to the Commuter Rail.”

The two friends met at an MBTA meeting where they both spoke out about the issues they see. Together, they have teamed up to pick various stations to pass out their pre-stamped postcards at their own expense to inspire other riders to speak up to.

Whether it’s slow wait times on the Red Line, doors that won’t close, runaway trains, derailments like the one that occurred on the Green Line Monday night, or broken escalators at stations, each comment card is color-coded to represent any issue you see on the line you ride.

The cards’ co-founders say they hope their commuter comment cards will ultimately help officials get the transportation authority back on track and that the cards are important now more than ever.

“Especially with the Sumner Tunnel planned to be closed down for maintenance,” Luu said.

“It’s like the Lorax – unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing’s going to get better,” Cohen explained.

The two said they plan on being outside of South Station on Wednesday and hope the MBTA is really reading and listening to what riders have to say.

“It is much harder and takes much more time to send a postcard or a letter than it is to send angry texts on Twitter, so I feel like it’s something that people will take a little bit more personally or realize the significance of how harsh the problems are,” Luu added.

An MBTA spokesperson told 7NEWS they value all feedback from riders and added that the MBTA wants everyone to know that they are committed to listening and delivering on positive changes.

The transportation authority said around 2:10 p.m. that what was first reported as a disabled train turned out to be a derailed trolley at Packard’s Corner.

As crews respond, officials said service between Blandford Street and Washington Street stations would be replaced with shuttle buses, in the meantime.

“Expect delays as Buses are dispatched,” the MBTA said in a tweet.

In an update 30 minutes later, officials said the switch to shuttle bus service had been extended to between Kenmore and Washington Street, while noting that Route 57 buses would provide free rides to passengers, in the meantime.

Two dozen personnel were on scene as of around 5 p.m. working to get the train back on its tracks.

By 6 p.m., the train had been re-railed and pulled away from the scene, revealing visible damage to pavement in the area. 

The MBTA announced around 5:40 p.m. that shuttle buses will continue to replace trains between Kenmore and Washington Street stations through the end of service for the night to make way for track maintenance work.

“Our goal is to safely resume service tomorrow morning,” the T continued in a tweet.

Speaking at the scene, MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng said roughly 30 people were on the train at the time of the derailment. There were no injuries reported. 

Eng said the area where the train derailed was impacted by a speed restriction, which he said likely prevented a worse outcome. 

“Obviously, we have a lot of work to do,” he said.

Eng said an issue with the rails themselves was likely to blame for this derailment, noting an issue with the distance between the rails. 

Eng said the T has a contract in place to “rehabilitate” the Packard’s Corner area this summer. 

“We’re looking to see if we can accelerate that work as well,” he said.