While the city has invested millions into expanding and adding platforms to the Green Line to make it more accessible, new train cars set to arrive next year will be too tall for disabled passengers to board without raising the current platforms.
The MTBA is investing hundreds of millions of dollars into expanding and adding platforms along the Green Line to make them ADA-accessible. However, the platforms’ accessibility will again fall short as soon as 2027: the Green Line is expecting 100 new “supercars,” some of which will hit the tracks in 2027, and all of which are too tall for disabled passengers to board without the MBTA also raising every Green Line platform to meet the new cars.
“Eventually, Green Line riders will have to live through an additional bout of construction and shutdowns as the T reworks the platforms to make their height compatible with the so-called Type 10 cars,” Diti Kohli writes for the Boston Globe. “It’ll require another pool of public money, and riders with disabilities who can board Green Line trains independently at some stations this year may later again need drivers’ assistance getting on and off with powered ramps, until the T can lift its platforms another 6 inches to align with the new trolleys.”
Laura Brelsford, the agency’s assistant general manager of systemwide accessibility, said her team is focused on making the Green Line accessible sooner, even with additional construction expected in the future, the Boston Globe reports.
Read the full story: The T is spending millions to make the Green Line more accessible. Soon, it may have to redo its work.
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