BOSTON — Red Line riders rejoice!
On Wednesday, the MBTA announced the Red Line was back up and running normally, after a summer plagued by derailments, delays, train cars jumping the tracks and blown engines.
Transit authority officials said efforts to restore the signal system between JFK/UMass and North Quincy were completed over the weekend and were followed by several days of operational testing.
"While I’m pleased Red Line service has been restored, this event underscores the level of urgency we need to continue to build a better T," said MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak. "I want to express my deepest gratitude to our customers for their patience while restoration work took place. I also want to thank our entire workforce and contractors for their efforts to work seven days a week to restore the system to normal."
On May 21, a derailment along the Red Line took out several train signals between JFK/Umass and North Quincy, which had to be repaired over the course of four months.
Another derailment in June on the same line not only significantly hindered service but also kept rider wondering when the commuting nightmare would end.
The MBTA began running 28 trains on the Red Line during rush hour last month after restoring a key area of signals between Broadway and JFK/UMass.
As of last week, these 28 trains have returned to their pre-derailment schedules with about 14 trains running per hour through the downtown area of the Red Line, or about one train every four to five minutes during rush hour.
During the middle of the day, the Red Line is also back to operating between nine and 10 trains per hour.
In the days that followed the Red Line derailment in June, the Red Line was only able to run approximately six trains per hour during rush hour service, or roughly one train every 10 minutes.
MBTA engineers and maintenance personnel worked around the clock to make major repairs to signals, communications, and power infrastructure.
The Fiscal and Management Control Board blamed a bad electrical connection for the derailment.
In a report released at one of the board's recent meetings, the organization cited "poor electrical connectivity" for causing an axle to fail and fracture, in turn derailing the train and smashing a signal bungalow that caused delays for months.
MBTA trains sit on top of axles that have an onboard motor powered by what is known as the third rail. That 'third rail' along the subway tracks supplies electricity to the axle's motor via a sliding brush. Once the motor has been powered, that electricity is sent to ground through a brush and plate on the axle.
According to the MBTA, the failed axle had issues with the connection between the ground brush and the ground ring. A bad connection, the MBTA says, caused electricity to arc into the axle itself, weakening its structure and ultimately causing its failure.
Going forward, 8,500-mile preventative maintenance inspection procedures (that are already standard procedure) have been updated to include very detailed inspections of the trains and tracks and will happen every three months.
The MBTA is hoping to spend $8 billion over the course of the next five years improving the train systems and cars in order to provide a more reliable ride for customers.
The MBTA is investing $350 million on the signal systems and $470 million for track and maintenance facility upgrades. For the Red Line, 252 new Red Line cars are expected to be delivered later this year.
For more information on the Red Line repairs, you can visit the MBTA's website here and tweet at the T on Twitter @MBTA.
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