The MBTA opened two new stations at Airport on the Blue Line and North Station on the Green Line over the summer, destroying the old stations as part of an ongoing multimillion dollar effort to make the subway system more efficient and increase access for the disabled.

The new $23 million Airport T stop officially opened on June 3 and is part of the $740 million Blue Line modernization project. Stations are being remodeled to accommodate six-car trains – two cars longer than current trains.

The former airport stop was “antiquated, run-down and not handicapped accessible,” said Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority spokesman Joe Pesaturo in an email.

The new airport station is located about 500 feet east of the site of the old station. It features wider escalators and elevators to accommodate passengers and their luggage. There are also turnstiles with luggage slides, longer platforms and monitors with flight information. Porcelain panels illustrating local historical images decorate the walls.

The new station is a huge improvement, according to College of General Studies sophomore Alejandra Castro-Paul, who uses the station to get to Logan International Airport.

“The narrow escalators were so inconvenient for students like me going home with lots of luggage. It was awful managing the T stop with my huge bags,” Castro-Paul said. “This new stop will make a big difference for me.”

The new North Station Green Line underground platform replaces the elevated station that once connected to the Boston Garden, which has been replaced by the FleetCenter. The Green Line station runs parallel with the North Station Orange Line platform so riders can transfer easily between the two. A new Green Line tunnel, currently under construction, will connect North Station with the aboveground Science Park station in June 2005. Replacement bus service is running between Government Center and Lechmere until the project is completed. The B-Line has been extended from Government Center to North Station indefinitely.

The MBTA has also proposed major renovations to Charles, Ashmont, Shawmut, Fields Corner and Savin Hill stations on the Red Line, Maverick on the Blue Line and Government Center on the Blue and Green Lines.

MBTA officials have been modernizing the subway system by eliminating unnecessary stops to decrease travel times. Last April, the Greycliff Road, Mt. Hood, Summit Avenue and Fordham B-Line stops were closed as part of the MBTA’s eight month Stop Elimination Pilot Program.

“I’m just glad they’re considering ways to make the T better,” Castro- Paul said. “Any changes that make it run faster and be a better experience are fine with me.”