By Caitlin Walsh, News Staff
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation released a draft of their five– year Capital Investment Plan Jan. 9, which mainly addresses the MBTA. The plan outlined some major beneficial improvements, such as new Orange and Red Line cars that are hoped to hit tracks in 2019, expansion of Green Line services, and the creation of an entirely new “Indigo” line.
According the 65-page draft, which is available to the public on MassDOT’s website, the Red and Orange Line improvements – which are well overdue to the 43- and 31-year-old cars, respectively, which are more than twice their lifespan – will take about $1.3 billion, $835 million of which has already been funded by the state.
The new line, which notably is the only entirely new project proposed in the plan, is being called the Indigo Line, and will be made up of diesel multiple unit vehicles, or DMUs. These trains will be “independently powered subway vehicles running on commuter rail lines.”
The MBTA plans to spend $252 million to implement the line, which would provide more transportation to Boston’s Fairmont Corridor, as well as Chelsea and the North Shore — areas that are lacking in MBTA options currently. Boston Magazine’s coverage of the plan said, “According to a map produced by MassDOT as part of the report, the Indigo Line would expand in the next decade and make loops into Fort Point, near the Convention Center, as well as provide trips to Back Bay, and introduce a connector that could swing into Cambridge before making its way to North Station from Allston.” There would also be an expansion of Silver Line services, with the same $252 million.
Money is also being provided to a number of commuter rail lines, including $31 million to complete the restoration of a permanent, seasonal passenger service to Cape Cod.
Funding for the MassDOT Capital Investment Plan is provided by both the Commonwealth as well as the federal government.
Most of the projects are aimed to begin within the next five years, though end dates for the work needed will take 10-plus years. However, the Capital Investment Plan provides evidence that the MBTA is, indeed, making headway with the improvements and has goals set in place as far as a timeline.
