$90M to fix defective rail ties on MBTA

MBTA officials confirmed that it will cost more than $90 million to replace the 147,000 concrete ties on the Old Colony commuter rail lines, Commonwealth magazine reported. In a letter to legislators from the cities and towns south of Boston affected by the disruption, new T General Manager Rich Davey said 59 grade crossings will be replaced in 19 communities, with much of the work taking place on weekend nights. T officials had initially said they will close down service on the affected lines during non-peak hours and bus commuters between stations. But the letter sent last week to lawmakers is the first time they have said no weekend service by train or bus will be available on either the Middleboro or the Plymouth/Kingston lines. The ties were used on the two MBTA's Old Colony rail lines running from Middleboro and Kingston. The Greenbush line running form Scituate to Braintree Station used different concrete ties but that line will be disrupted when workers replace crumbling concrete ties on the Braintree-to-Boston stretch.