OBSERVED MBTA TRAVEL TIME · 30 SERVICE DAYS

PortertoCharles/MGH

Red Line

A direct train took 10 minutes on a typical trip. On a slower-than-usual trip, allow up to 13 minutes.

Typical10 min50th percentile
Slower trip13 min90th percentile
Scheduled11 minmedian timetable
On pace92%within 2 min of schedule

THE SHORT ANSWER

How long does Porter to Charles/MGH take?

Based on 6,276 direct trips between 2026-08-17 and 2026-09-15, the median observed ride was 10 minutes. That was within 1 minutes of the published schedule.

Nine out of ten measured trips finished within approximately 13 minutes. These figures describe completed direct trips; they do not include the time spent waiting for the train.

WHEN YOU TRAVEL

Time-of-day breakdown

Midday produced the fastest typical result in this window; Evening rush was slowest. Differences can change as the rolling dataset updates.

Morning rush

10 min 1,320 trips · 94% on pace

Midday

10 min 1,633 trips · 94% on pace

Evening rush

11 min 1,386 trips · 88% on pace

Off-peak

10 min 1,937 trips · 93% on pace

HOW TO READ THIS

Measured, not promised.

TransitMeter pairs vehicle stop timestamps with the schedule active for each trip. 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 →