Six-Car Trains on the Blue Line

The capacity of three Blue Line trains jumped by 50% each this morning when three 4-car trains were replaced by three 6-car trains comprised entirely of new Blue Line cars.

The General Manager said the Blue Line’s first-ever six-car train departed Wonderland Station shortly before 7 a.m. It was followed by two other Government Center-bound trains.  In the coming weeks and months, the T will replace ALL of the Blue Line's 4-car trains with 6-car trains. 

The General Manager said the introduction of longer train sets could not come at a better time.  Average weekday ridership on the Blue Line jumped from 53,424 customers in December 2007 to 66,933 customers in July of this year.

“Today was just the beginning of our concerted efforts to meet the growing demand for service on the Blue Line,” said the General Manager.  “By next year, 84 subway cars will be serving the Blue Line during rush hour periods.  Today, that number is 56.”

 Capping a 7-month streak of consecutive ridership increases, July 2008 was the single best month for overall MBTA ridership in at least a decade. 

Comparing July 2007 to July 2008, the number of riders spiked 10% from 31.4 million to nearly 34.7 million.

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