MALDEN, MASS. (WHDH) - With the Orange Line shut down for a month, the only trains commuters will see at Malden Center station are purple Commuter Rail trains.
MBTA officials have urged riders to use the Commuter Rail as an Orange Line alternative, and rides are free for anyone with a Charlie Card or Charlie ticket. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, an Orange Line rider, took the Commuter Rail Saturday to promote the plan.
“I’m gonna need to be in the thick of needing to get around as are commuters across the region,” she said.
Sonya Petcova, a commuter who would normally take the Orange Line into work twice a week, plans to use the Commuter Rail as an alternative. She said she’s already done it, and found the cars to be more crowded than usual, but appreciates that the city has put work in to offset the impacts of the shutdown.
Still, she said, “it’s definitely not convenient.”
Commuter Eve Bellwood, meanwhile, has been trying to use the shuttle buses, but said she thinks the Commuter Rail alternative will be helpful.
During the shutdown, the Haverhill Commuter Rail line will make extra stops at Oak Grove and will also stop at Malden Center before ending up at North Station. From the south, most Needham and Providence trains will stop at Forest Hills, Ruggles and Back Bay on their way to South Station.
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