Local News
“The MBTA takes great pride as we continue to improve daily service for the public to use 365 days a year and to ensure everyone can participate and enjoy special events like St. Patrick’s Day festivities,” MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng said.
South Boston, MA- 3/16/25- Parade-goers walk up and down Silver street after the annual St. Patrick’s day parade. (Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff) Danielle Parhizkaran/The Boston Globe
This Sunday, South Boston will host the city’s annual St. Patrick’s Day parade. In doing so, the city will experience packed train cars, long waits at stations, and hundreds of thousands of people swarming the streets.
The MBTA expects “nearly one million” people to attend the parade in South Boston, the agency said.
This year’s St. Patrick’s Day parade, hosted by the South Boston Allied War Veterans Council, will kick off at 11:30 a.m. on March 15.
During last year’s parade, the MBTA was so overwhelmed with riders that the Red Line had to bypass Broadway Station.
“It was out of control,” state Sen. Nick Collins, who represents South Boston, said last year to Boston.com.
However, this Sunday, the MBTA is initiating schedule changes and deploying large amounts of transit police to mitigate crowding and crime, the agency said in a press release.
On Sunday, the MBTA will run the Red Line on a “rush hour service” schedule from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The Red Line may skip the Broadway stop “during certain times due to heavy crowds,” the T said.
The MBTA will also offer shuttle buses from South Station to South Boston on parade day, the T said.
On Sunday, the shuttle will pick up riders at Summer Street at Atlantic Ave. and drop them off at East 1st Street at City Point Bus Terminal. The first trip will leave at 9:30 a.m., and service will end at 4:30 p.m., the MBTA said.
For those traveling into Boston, the MBTA is adding extra train cars to Commuter Rail trains to accommodate the masses. The Fairmount, Fall River/New Bedford, Framingham/Worcester, Franklin/Foxboro, Greenbush, Kingston, and Providence/Stoughton Lines will run on special schedules on Sunday, the agency said.
“Additional customer service and management staff will be available at South Station to answer any questions and assist customers,” the T said.
Bus routes 9 and 11 will be temporarily suspended on parade day. Route 9 will end service at 6:45 a.m., with the last inbound and outbound bus leaving at 6:30 a.m. The last bus for Route 11 will be at 6:15. Regular service will resume around 6 p.m., the agency said.
Routes 10, 16, 17, and 47 will experience detours throughout the day, the MBTA announced.
Some routes may skip Andrew and Broadway stops, the MBTA said.
Bikes are not be allowed on public transit on Sunday, the T said.
The MBTA urges attendees to celebrate responsibility and to take public transportation instead of driving.
“The MBTA takes great pride as we continue to improve daily service for the public to use 365 days a year and to ensure everyone can participate and enjoy special events like St. Patrick’s Day festivities. The safety of our riders and employees is always at the core of everything we do as we strive to make transit the preferred choice of travel,” Interim MassDOT Secretary and MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng said in the release.
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