OBSERVED MBTA TRAVEL TIME · 30 SERVICE DAYS

North StationtoDowntown Crossing

Orange Line

A direct MBTA train from North Station to Downtown Crossing took a median 3.8 minutes across 3,829 observed trips; 90% of measured rides finished within approximately 4.2 minutes.

Source: MBTA Performance Data · 2026-08-20 to 2026-09-18 · Completed direct trips only

Typical3.8 min50th percentile
Slower trip4.2 min90th percentile
Scheduled4.2 minmedian timetable
On pace99%within 2 min of schedule

THE SHORT ANSWER

How long does North Station to Downtown Crossing take?

The median completed ride from North Station to Downtown Crossing was 3.8 minutes; the published schedule’s median was 4.2 minutes.

Based on 3,829 direct trips between 2026-08-20 and 2026-09-18, the median observed ride was 3.8 minutes. That was within 0.5 minutes of the published schedule.

Nine out of ten measured trips finished within approximately 4.2 minutes. These figures describe completed direct trips; they do not include the time spent waiting for the train.

WHEN YOU TRAVEL

North Station to Downtown Crossing times by daypart

Off-peak produced the fastest median for North Station to Downtown Crossing; Morning rush produced the slowest.

Differences can change as the rolling dataset updates.

Morning rush

3.8 min 821 trips · 100% on pace

Midday

3.8 min 642 trips · 99% on pace

Evening rush

3.8 min 755 trips · 99% on pace

Off-peak

3.2 min 1,611 trips · 99% on pace

MEASUREMENT SAMPLE

How North Station to Downtown Crossing was measured

The North Station to Downtown Crossing estimate uses 3,829 completed direct-trip stop-timestamp pairs matched to the schedule active for each observed train.

We publish the median because one dramatic delay should not define an everyday journey, and the 90th percentile because riders still need to understand the bad end of normal.

We do not infer why a trip ran slowly. Construction, incidents, crowding and weather require separate evidence.

Read the complete method →