Metro Transit
Metro Transit last month reported that its 55 new Siemens Mobility S200s are in the design phase, with the first deliveries arriving in 2027 from Siemens Mobility’s Sacramento, Calif., plant. The new vehicles—ordered in 2023 under a $390.4 million contract—will replace the current MetroLink fleet, also supplied by Siemens.
“These cutting-edge LRVs will bring major upgrades in technology, safety, comfort, and rider experience, setting a new standard for transit in our region,” Metro Transit said. “From advanced operator systems to modern amenities, this fleet renewal is a milestone moment for Metro Transit and for the riders who rely on MetroLink every day.”
Metro Transit in 2023 was awarded a $196.2 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration to help fund the replacement of its 75 aging LRVs, which have been in operation since the 1990s.
Click here for more on the LRVs via a KTVI Fox 2 interview with Taulby Roach, President and CEO of Bi-State Development, which oversees Metro Transit, Gateway Arch Riverfront, St. Louis Downtown Airport, and St. Louis International Freightway.
Further Reading:
- St. Louis Metro Transit 3-D Parts Printing Saves Big Bucks
- St. Louis Metro Transit Debuts MetroLink Security Gates
PATH
PATH on Jan. 5 reported setting a new single-day post-pandemic ridership record: 246,594 passengers on Nov. 20. The previous record of 243,848 riders was set two months prior. Also, in November 2025 the rapid transit system carried approximately 5 million riders. That was up 3.1% from November 2024 and represented 76.2% of the pre-pandemic November 2019 level.
Average weekday ridership in November was 210,325 passengers, the fourth highest for any month since the pandemic, according to PATH. That was 6.5% higher than average weekday ridership in November 2024, it said. November 2025’s average Saturday ridership of 117,658 was up 9.6% from November 2019, and average Sunday ridership of 84,149 was up 9.2% from November 2019.
PATH carried 55.6 million riders in the first 11 months of 2025. That total surpassed the prior-year period by 6.1%.
PATH reached 75% of pre-pandemic ridership in October.
Further Reading:
MBTA
MBTA on Jan. 5 reported setting milestones in leadership, infrastructure upgrades, accessibility improvements, and technology and data enhancements in 2025. Among them:
- In October, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey named MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng as Interim Transportation Secretary.
- “After 19 years of steady improvements to the accessibility of its system, the MBTA has fulfilled a substantial amount of its obligations under the 2006 Joanne Daniels-Finegold, et al. v. Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Settlement Agreement,” the transit agency said. As a result in December, court-appointed independent monitor Judge Patrick King concluded his oversight role.
- West Medford, Franklin, and Walpole stations reopened with accessible upgrades in March.
- Renovations and accessibility upgrades were completed at Winchester station, which reopened over the summer.
- Accessibility upgrades were completed in August at Natick Center Station through the use of freestanding mini-high platforms.
- Haverhill Station fully reopened in June for regular train service following the complete replacement the South Elm Street Bridge.
- Design and/or construction activities continue to advance that include accessibility upgrades at more than 35 stations across both the MBTA’s subway and Commuter Rail network.
- MBTA work crews installed a temporary platform as part of the Foxboro Station Improvements project to allow the permanent upgraded platform construction to begin in advance of operating train service to and from the FIFA World Cup games. MBTA also began preparing to welcome fans from all over the world with an online World Cup Guide available at MBTA.com/WorldCup.
- MBTA’s Bridge and Structures team upgraded a number of bridges. Work included a $145 million project to complete the High Line Bridge, which carries the Lowell Line over an access road, High Line, and the railroad yard in Somerville between North Station and West Medford; substantially completing the replacement of the 100-year-old-plus South Elm Bridge that carries the Haverhill Line over South Elm Street between Bradford and Haverhill stations with a modern structure as part of the $22.5 million project; completing the replacement of the 100-year-old-plus East Street Bridge in Dedham with a modern, taller structure as part of the $23.3 million project; and completing final work toward the $40 million project to replace the Dorchester Avenue Bridge.
- MBTA installed 133 new digital screens in subway stations and busways.
- MBTA overhauled its service quality reporting pipeline across bus and rail transit, which it said “empowered internal teams to identify opportunities for improvements, drove public reporting dashboards, and gave external developers and partners more reliable open data about historical service performance.”
- “Open real-time data was improved this year to best inform riders about more types of service changes and disruptions more quickly,” MBTA reported. The transit agency now identifies and publishes Green and Mattapan line trains not able to accept riders, and publishes Commuter Rail cancellations across all apps, including MBTA Go. MBTA also invested in internal tools that allow updates to MBTA.com and other trip planners more quickly during planned service changes.
- South Coast Rail (SCR) service began March 24. The more than $1 billion project brought passenger service to the communities of Taunton, Freetown, New Bedford, Middleboro, and Fall River for the first time in 65 years on the Fall River/New Bedford Commuter Rail Line. Free weekend SCR service and parking were also provided through March and April.
- Beginning with fall service changes, all subway lines and eight frequent bus routes offer extended service on Fridays and Saturdays with five of the MBTA’s most frequent bus routes with the highest number of later riders offering extended service every day of the week. Trip end times for these lines and routes are about one hour later compared with past service end times. To encourage riders to take advantage of the extended service, all subway lines, bus routes, ferries, Commuter Rail lines, and the RIDE trips were free on Fridays and Saturdays beginning at 9 p.m. through the end of service during five weekends in September and October.
- MBTA increased scheduled weekday trips across all subway lines. For the Orange Line, there was an 18% increase in the number of scheduled weekday trips from 360 last winter (2024-2025) to this winter (2025-2026), which reduced the time between AM and PM peak trains from 5.9 minutes to 4.8 minutes. For the Red Line, there was a 10% increase in the number of scheduled weekday trips from 406 last winter (2024-2025) to 448 this winter (2025-2026). For the Blue Line, there was a 5% increase in the number of scheduled weekday trips from 400 last winter (2024-2025) to 418 this winter (2025-2026).
- In March, Red Line Braintree Branch speeds were restored to 50 mph for the first time in 20 years, following work by MBTA’s Maintenance of Way Department.
- In August, Orange Line trains began traveling at its maximum speed of 55 mph (up from 40 mph) between Oak Grove and Assembly Station for the first time ever, following the restoration of track in this area.
- MBTA improved Orange Line train bunching at each end of the line with schedule changes throughout the year and new drop-back procedure changes (Monday through Friday during AM and PM peak periods) starting in December.
- MBTA’s Office of Quality, Compliance & Oversight closed eight Corrective Action Plans (CAPs) covering content across nine Findings as well as one of the eight Special Directives from the Federal Transit Authority’s (FTA) Safety Management Inspection (SMI). This brings MBTA’s SMI completion percentage to 74% of the Findings closed overall (up 27% from 2024). According to MBTA, notable closures include: The special directive on Lapsed Certifications, in which MBTA “completely overhauled its approach to and monitoring of key professional certification milestones and ensuring employees are properly trained to perform their jobs”; MBTA’s Safety Management System implementation, “including significant work to better collect, validate, and use safety data, and a program to better track and mitigate safety risk collaboratively across the organization”; and the Workforce Recruitment and Hiring Plan, “which built on the workforce assessment, formalized the MBTA’s commitment to the workforce, and ensured the MBTA has the right people and skills in place to set up the workforce for success.”
- In June, MBTA awarded the Green Line Train Protection System (GLTPS) contract to Piper Networks following its successful completion of demonstration phase testing. Since that time and throughout the rest of the year, MBTA said that crews installed GLTPS equipment along Green Line tracks and onboard vehicles, with Phase 1 of the project on track to be operational in summer 2026.
- In October, MBTA announced that it would bring vehicle overhaul work in-house, which would “save tens of millions of dollars, increase the internal workforce, and improve quality and oversight.” For years, MBTA outsourced bus and train overhauls to contractors out of state. MBTA said it is currently preparing facilities and its workforce to tackle major vehicle work on premise and to stimulate the local economy. In winter 2025-2026, MBTA said it is anticipating the full production of its first in-house bus overhaul, which will include 175 vehicles at their mid-life point. A bus overhaul program of this size executed in-house is anticipated to save $73 million, according to MBTA.
- In December, MBTA received its 152nd new Orange Line car, the final car of the new and expanded Orange Line fleet. The transit agency said it also conditionally accepted 28 new Red Line cars, bringing the total to 52 (of 252). An additional six Red Line cars are scheduled to be put into passenger service following conditional acceptance, MBTA said.
- Pilot vehicle carshells for the new Type 10 Green Line fleet were on track to be completed by the end of 2025 in Elmira, N.Y., with Pilot 1 in final assembly and on track to be completed December 2025. MBTA said the pilot cars are expected to be delivered next year with the full Type 10 fleet delivery expected in 2031.
- The last of 83 Hyundai Rotem bi-level coaches for Commuter Rail service were conditionally accepted and entered passenger service in February. Production is currently under way for an additional 80 Hyundai Rotem bi-levels, the first of which are anticipated for delivery in fall 2026.
- In September, fare engagement representatives began issuing formal warnings and citations to riders who have not tapped at a fare gate or farebox at downtown stations and onboard vehicles. Beginning this winter, these representatives will expand to cover more stations, focusing on those with high ridership and transfer points, according to MBTA.
- Commuter Rail fare gates at South Station went into operation at the end of December. “The gates improve fare collection, replace platform ticket checks, and create a more consistent fare-paying experience for passengers across transit modes,” MBTA said.
- In May, MBTA and Keolis Commuter Services launched an alternative fuel pilot utilizing renewable diesel for some locomotives. “The pilot includes all locomotives that lay over at the Newburyport Commuter Rail facility, which are now being fueled with Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO),” MBTA said. “HVO is a more sustainable alternative as it’s made from vegetable oil and animal fats and emits less carbon than fossil diesel.”
- Transit Oriented Development (TOD) is supporting projects in planning and construction that include more than 14,900 housing units in 240-plus projects across the MBTA system. The 700-foot Hines tower over the South Station Commuter Rail terminal was completed in September, providing a new covered concourse for the Commuter Rail/Amtrak terminal. Above the terminal, the new Bus Terminal Expansion project reached substantial completion in October. The new bus concourse adds 12 new intercity bus berths to the existing terminal. South Station fare gates were installed and operational in December. Back Bay Station concourse improvements kicked off in 2025 and will continue until 2027, MBTA reported. The $37 million in improvements are funded through a lease agreement with a private development partner, Boston Properties.
- MBTA developed a new full-day accessibility training for Operations Control Center dispatchers; delivered multiple large-scale training courses outside of the traditional training scope, including for Advance Mobile Flagging (AMF), Bus Network Redesign (BNR), External Dispatchers, and the Operations Testing and Inspection Program (OTIP); created and delivered a Hi-Rail Training course for contractors to support diversion work; implemented a Power Line Repairer training and Apprenticeship program, in collaboration with Local 104; and created and delivered a new three-day Switching class to Engineering & Maintenance employees.
“I’m proud of the MBTA workforce for their efforts that have enabled the MBTA to continue to deliver improved and more reliable service across all modes, giving our riders more frequent service and time back in their day with shorter travel times,” Phillip Eng said. “I want the public to know that we will continue to carry that same focus, discipline, and urgency into 2026. Under the leadership of Governor Healey, Lieutenant Governor Driscoll, and their Administration, we are following through on our commitment to provide a safe mass transportation system that the public and businesses can rely on. With the support of the Legislature, partners across all levels of government, public transit advocates, community leaders, and most of all, the riding public, we are committed to continuous improvement, delivering meaningful projects and service in the most cost effective and efficient manner. I’m honored to work side by side with our dedicated workforce of over 8,000 employees and our industry partners as we head into 2026 and beyond.”
