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Post-parade crowds overwhelm North Station - T shuts doors, crowds spill onto Causeway

North Station is so crowded with people trying to get on a commuter-rail train out of town that officials have shut the doors to the station. Meanwhile, people are continuing to pile up outside, so much so that Boston Police have shut Causeway Street to keep all those people safe.

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to require people to line up to show their tickets and passes before they're allowed to board their trains. From an e-mail Keolis sent people earlier today:

Parade attendees are encouraged to purchase their tickets beforehand to avoid long lines - ticket checks and boarding queues will be in place throughout the afternoon and evening return trips(emphasis added). A list of retail sales locations is available here. http://www.mbta.com/fares_and_passes/sales_locations/

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Were conductors actually checking tickets before passengers boarded? Or is it just too many people trying to fit into too few trains with not enough capacity?

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and not enough trains. But I'm sure that making people stand in line to show their ticket BEFORE allowing them to board didn't help matters either.

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Sounds like this is a reaction to how the Women's March trains were handled. Keolis seems unable to staff their trains in a way that fares can be collected in a timely manner on a full train. Why they can't just put more conductors on each train mystifies me.

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Too Bad they didnt run a special train from Foxboro, with both the people ( they parked in Foxboro lots ) and the Patriots , and round trip Boston. No one has to get off the train, just keep the confetti ( biodegradable ) and the air horns coming!

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Now now, it's only FARE. Remember, we want every fare collected or some posters will whine about people getting free rides. And the T needs the money right?

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That tweet says nothing about checking tickets before boarding.

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The people who profit from this very commercial brand?

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You did, suck it up fool.

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As someone else pointed out, no one is sticking around the city. Very few buissinesses are getting a nice winter boost from these people, because the cold and rain and lack of planning have them getting out of beantown.

As soon as the duckboats went by down at Arlington, everyone just B-lined it. And it wasn't to the trollies.

Too bad tomorrow is going to be a rather nice lul between two fronts. It would have been wicked smaht to, you know, plan this better.

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The NFL season ends at midnight tonight. Players have no obligation, reason, and perhaps desire to stick around one more day. You got the most bang for your buck having the parade today.

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Fans show so much devotion to the team and players. You'd think the players would want to return the favor by at least being good sports and sticking around for an extra week.

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I would imagine a lot, if not most would. But you never know who has prior plans, vacations, family things, etc. So I don't disagree with you, but it is what it is.

Well wishes to Brady's mom too. I get it, he's a winner and people who are losers and/or miserable hate winners but geesh, how can any none fan of a team he's beat dislike this guy?

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Schedule the parade for a week or two after the Super Bowl. Gives the players some time off, as well as the flexibility to honor prior commitments. It also gives the host city time to properly plan for the event, as opposed to rushing the celebration.

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...many of them live nowhere near Boston, and are pretty damn tired of airplanes at this point in the year.

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Fans show so much devotion to the team and players. You'd think the players would want to return the favor by at least being good sports and sticking around for an extra week.

They don't give two flips. Another reason why people shouldnt be into sports.

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Another reason why people shouldnt be into sports.

Stop liking what I don't like! WAH! WAH! WAAAAAH!

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As a small business operator in downtown crossing I can attest that crowds absolutely did stick around and all of the restaurants and bars in the neighborhood had a much better lunch than average.

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Might have just been my block that scattered to the winds.

Still, tomorrow looks like the perfect day to enjoy a parade and then explore the city. If we're gonna do something, mise well maximize the bang for our buck.

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requested from the City Council Stenographer in 1630, I wandered haplessly around city hall for hours looking for Tom Brady.

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Stenographer down!

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You were supposed to take the elevator to the 4th floor. Brady and Giselle were there all morning doing photos and autographs.

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...when the transit can't even accommodate the crowds for a parade.

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Is mobbed and Keolis personnel are overwhelmed

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I was very impressed with the Patriots, crowd and police. Uber in and Lyft out, very inexpensive and no delays. The crowd was festive and polite, in fact a Suffolk student who had taken great pictures in the front row along Tremont sent them out to anyone around him whose phone had died. With all the pictures and video, many needed a charger. Servers at Rock Bottom and Jacob Wirth's said it was a great Tuesday. Lyft driver said he had made 18 parade/rally related runs. 7News reporting city already back to normal, roads swept, barricades removed, streets open. Glad to see Baker and Walsh booed at City Hall, they didn't belong there.

Anyone using the T for a million+ person event should expect delays. I recall Saint John Paul II's visit to Boston in 1979. I walked miles toward home before a T driver recognized me and squeezed me into a packed bus. A city this size should be able to operate a short duration and short distance parade on two days notice and the civil servants, not the politicians, proved that again today. Great work by police, fire, EMS, DPW, T etc!

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(n/t)

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I took the T to the parade from Eastie and left early to avoid traffic. I teach down in Bridgewater, a 26 mile drive that in no rush hour takes 40 minutes, usually 1 hour 10 minutes in mild rush hour traffic. Today it took 2.5 HOURS. People at work gave me grief about going to the parade, but what sense does it make to wait in that kind of traffic and NOT go to the biggest party this year? If the parade had started on time I wonder if traffic would have been better.

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Do you think the delay was because of the parade or the weather? Both maybe?

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Double-whammy! Excuse me while I go find more online teaching jobs to apply to...

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The T should be free on days like this. Big crowds with people who rarely use it. Keep the lines moving.

Isn't the T gratis on NYE? Wasn't the Mass Pike a freeway at certain busy times?

Maybe ask the Pats to kick in some cash to pay for it.

Ot at least budget one free day per year.

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