Hey, there! Log in / Register

Imagine being stuck in a tin can without air conditioning for an hour - and under threat of arrest

UPDATE: The train finally pulled into South Station two hours late.

Grumpy commuters on the 6:55 a.m. inbound train out of Worcester tweet they were stuck in West Natick for an hour thanks to an engine that started spitting fire and smoke before the T finally got another train to slowly push it the rest of the way to Boston. Courtney Rice tweets:

Lots of sweaty and angry people.

Steve Safran adds:

Smells of B.O. We're standing in train passageway with doors wide open

Meanwhile, today was supposed to be the start of the Worcester Line's crackdown on commuters who dare try to leave the train through unstaffed doors: Conductors last week grimly warned commuters they will be subject to arrest if they attempt to open and leave the train via unstaffed doors. Jail time was mentioned, one commuter reports.

Neighborhoods: 
Topics: 


Ad:


Like the job UHub is doing? Consider a contribution. Thanks!

Comments

On my Franklin line train this morning the staff only opened two doors for the first four cars, so everyone lined up at those two and it took three or four minutes to pile everyone in. The staffers couldn't even open two doors side-by-side on adjacent cars. Seems kind of silly.

I'm just generally sick of the attitudes of these staff members. I heard one girl talk about how it's her personal principle not to charge the surcharge required of peak riders who buy their ticket on the train, as if it was up to her! Not to mention the crowded days when they decide it's too much trouble to squeeze through the aisles and collect the fares.

These people are lucky to still have jobs at all. We already have electronic announcements for each stop, and a fully computerized payment system shouldn't be far behind. I feel like this stuff about exiting the train only at staffed doors is just a way for these people to justify their jobs. God knows I've never seen a staffer actually help someone up or down the steps. If you don't collect fares, and you don't announce the stops, you're really just riding the train around for no reason, right?

up
Voting closed 0

Conductors last week grimly warned commuters they will be subject to arrest if they attempt to open and leave the train via unstaffed doors. Jail time was mentioned, one commuter reports.

I'd like to see someone who doesn't have police powers and doesn't carry restraining devices "arrest" someone. Or is the MBTA planning on wasting resource on having MBTA police "patrol" the commuter line?

up
Voting closed 0

and ask them to have the police respond. The engineer will then hold the train at the next station until the police arrive. And, although the trains and stations are MBTA property, the local constables do have the authority to pull an unruly passenger off a train.

up
Voting closed 0

I rode the Commuter Rail for the first time last week. It was the line that runs up north to Beverly.
The train had about six cars, but only two were being used -as far as I could tell- and only one door was opened at each stop.

I'm used to Metro North, and Amtrak, and, well, every other train I've ever been on. WTF is with the one-door thing? Is there some union rule that requires an MBTA employee at every door and they don't have enough employees, so the other doors stay shut?

It looked like amateur hour. Why do people put up with the bulls***?

-CP

up
Voting closed 0

To people who don't regularly take the Needham line, it can be a shock to realize that you can't always exit the train from the door you entered through. They only open certain doors at stops and don't tell you which ones they are going to be. Pretty rinky dink and a good example of what we settle for in this country when it comes to public transportation.

up
Voting closed 0

I've been stuck in my house for two days without the AC - at least I'm alone; but I can't imagine being stuck in a burning train for an hour with a few hundred strangers. Sounds like the beginning to a bad day at work.

up
Voting closed 0