The MBTA Advisory Board has shared some concerns over the significant amount of borrowing the T would have to undertake to fund its $9.6 billion Capital Investment Plan.

Approved by the MBTA Board of Directors on Thursday, the fiscal year 2023-27 CIP includes 555 capital projects aimed at modernizing, expanding, and increasing the reliability of the T’s transit network.

Advisory Board Executive Director Brian Kane said that while the board broadly supports the five-year capital plan, it has two principal concerns — around affordability and safety.

“The MBTA, itself, is the largest contributor of funding to this investment plan,” said Kane. “Lacking a revenue source for its capital or infrastructure needs, the T is forced to borrow against future subsidy sources to pay for needed investments.

“This squeezes future operating budgets and makes balancing future budgets that much harder.”

The T — which is reportedly already facing a $230 million budget deficit in 2024 when federal aid runs out — would need to borrow a total of $3.9 billion to fund the plan, which is also being supported by state and federal money.

“Because of this model, the T holds $7.6 billion in principal and interest, with a plan to borrow an additional $600 million per year, every year to repay this,” Kane said. “To repay this amount of money, $2-300 million per year comes out of the operating budget.”

To combat this, Kane said the Board of Directors should press the MBTA to be aggressive in pursuing federal grants to fund the capital investments included in the plan.

During a time when safety at the MBTA is being heavily scrutinized — including through an ongoing investigation conducted by federal transportation authorities — Kane said the Advisory Board also wants to “ensure that the money and projects programmed in this CIP make a difference in safety.”

In his presentation, Kane cited six recent MBTA-related tragedies, including the passenger who was killed when his arm became trapped in a Red Line train door on April 10.

MBTA Director of Capital Program Planning Jillian Linnell said the CIP includes more than 450 safety-related projects, which account for roughly $7.5 billion of planned investments.

Major projects funded in the plan include replacing Red and Orange Line trains, expanding the South Coast Rail, fare transformation, extending the Green Line, and modernizing the Quincy bus facility.

“With the goal of improving reliability, modernizing the system, expanding capacity and the network, and continuing to make critical safety improvements, the MBTA’s five-year CIP is an important document that guides our investment planning,” said MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak.