Boston Subway’s MBTA to Borrow $618 Million for System Upgrades

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, which runs a public-transit network serving Greater Boston, is planning to issue about $618 million of debt to upgrade its infrastructure, a portion of which will be labeled as sustainability bonds.

Proceeds will go toward capital projects including a new fare payment system, track and signal repairs, train yard upgrades and repaying commercial paper notes after a federal safety report last year criticized the transit authority of prioritizing long-term projects over day-to-day necessities.

The MBTA — which serves about 701,000 weekday passengers — closed an entire subway line in August for urgent repairs, and ...