Boston

Red Line Repairs Done, But New Orange Line Trains Out of Service

The MBTA says its new Orange Line trains are temporarily out of service due to a door malfunction, even as regular service has resumed on the Red Line following months of repairs. 

The MBTA said Wednesday the new trains were taken out of service after a set of doors opened as one of the trains traveled near Massachusetts Avenue Station Friday. The agency said a component called a bump stop did not function properly, leading to the malfunction.

The faulty components were being replaced, and the trains were expected to be back in service by Monday, the agency said. 

The issues come six weeks after the MBTA rolled out six new Orange Line trains as part of a plan to replace the line's 152 trains over the next two years.   

They also come as regular service has resumed on the Red Line, three months after a derailment caused significant damage and massive delays. 

MBTA officials said Wednesday the signal system between JFK/UMass and North Quincy was repaired over the weekend and that crews had finished testing it.

When the train derailed June 11 near the JFK/UMass station in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood, three signal bungalows which housed track switches had to be repaired. Twenty miles of signal cable also had to be replaced.

Due to the repairs, the MBTA was forced to run trains at reduced speeds along stretches of the track, which caused delays for commuters.

Following an extensive investigation, MBTA officials said last week a broken axle was to blame for the derailment.

The work had originally been expected to be completed by Labor Day but was pushed back to mid-October.

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