MBTA’s Eng Said He’s Focused on Repair Plan Over System Expansion

MBTA General Manager and interim Massachusetts Transportation Secretary Phillip Eng is laying out a vision for Boston's transit future focused on resilience, accessibility, and reliability within existing networks.

Despite public clamor to expand, Eng is focusing instead on shoring up the T's existing infrastructure. “The expansion I want to do is within our existing infrastructure, build up more resiliency in our system to make sure that what we've done today is sustainable long term,” he explained in a statement shared with MassLive.

As the T works to install new signals on the Red and Orange Lines — a key system that controls how trains move down the tracks — Eng said that the Blue Line will also need upgrades to its train controls “in the near future.”

Eng is also committing to renovating stations to be fully accessible, upgrading to modern trains, increasing the frequency of each route, and improving the network of tracks so that, if a train breaks down, others can get around it without causing delays.

When asked by MassLive what he would consider adding to the T if money wasn't an issue, Eng said that he would tackle the $24.5 billion estimated price tag to bring the entire T system into a “state of good repair.”

Eng took on the role of general manager of the MBTA in 2023, as part of a five-year contract. Two and a half years into his service period, state officials praise the T's progress under his leadership, noting the miles of track replaced and the number of slow zones removed. To riders, the change is apparent: Trains are running faster.

Despite being named interim transportation secretary last month by Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, Eng said he's not stepping away from the MBTA anytime soon.

“I'm so excited to finish those five years, and I'm not even looking at an endpoint,” he said.