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Commuter rail

By adamg - 1/7/14 - 8:17 am

People coming into Boston from the north are stuck sitting on trains just on the other side of the Charles River bridge thanks to signals that are refusing to signal.

Tom reports:

The MBTA is broken so I'm stuck on a commuter rail train where tensions are getting high... Please send backup and Starbucks.

By adamg - 1/6/14 - 8:33 am
Fog in the Arnold Arboretum

If by "moors," you mean a path at the Arnold Arboretum this morning, that is, as Adam Shutes illustrates.

Nearby, at the Forest Hills commuter-rail stop, Chris reports visibility was down to 20 feet:

Fog at Forest Hills
By adamg - 1/6/14 - 8:21 am

Dead trains at JFK/UMass and Harvard creating all sorts of fun for commuters this morning.

Various commuter-rail lines into North Station also having various issues. The Fitchburg Line has major delays because the 6:55 train hit somebody near Snake Hill Road in Ayer. The MBTA reports the person's injuries are not considered life threatening.

By adamg - 1/4/14 - 12:05 pm

The Globe reports MBTA General Manager Beverly Scott will urge her board this week to hire a French company, Keolis, to run commuter rail, rather than re-upping with MBCR, the company that now runs the trains.

Charlene McBride asks:

I wonder if a French company running the commuter rail could bring us the bar car?

By adamg - 1/3/14 - 5:47 pm

Because frozen switches mean nobody knows when they're getting home tonight.

UPDATE, 6:10 p.m.: MBCR reports the problem is fixed, but that commuters should expect "residual" delays.

By adamg - 1/3/14 - 9:02 am

As Rich Davey predicted yesterday, the T has been having problems with the cold this morning. Red Line trains kept dying south of the city, leading to massive delays and eventually bustitution.

Several commuter-rail lines had weather-related delays as well, although, ironically, the Needham Line ran on time.

By adamg - 1/2/14 - 12:27 pm

Gov. Patrick says the state is not currently looking at shutting the MBTA like it did in last February's blizzard, because the snowfall is nowhere near as great.

Still, at the same noon press conference, state Transportation Secretary Rich Davey acknowledged that "the cold usually has significant impact on the MBTA," so any riders tomorrow might have to brace for possible issues.

Both added they could revisit the decision to keep the T running as conditions change later today.

Davey said that Logan is not closing tonight, but that many flights will likely be cancelled tonight and tomorrow.

By adamg - 12/16/13 - 6:00 pm
Mob at South Station

Maybe it's track problems. Maybe it's langoliers. Whatever the reason, Rob is in the midst of a last-train-out-of-Paris scene at South Station this rush hour.

By adamg - 12/16/13 - 5:02 pm

Trains out of North Station this afternoon were either canceled or delayed due to a fire in the T's commuter-rail maintenance facility (the big blue building just outside North Station).

By adamg - 12/9/13 - 2:12 pm
Rudolph

Transit Police report that around 10 a.m. today, Officer Lisa Murawski-Dupont managed to convince a pit bull that commuter-rail tracks running between Savin Hill and JFK/UMass were not the best place for him to be.

According to police, Murawski-Dupont was at the Savin Hill T stop when somebody alerted her there was a dog on the commuter rail tracks.

By adamg - 12/6/13 - 8:10 am

Bonesaw notes the T sent out an advisory that the 6:44 a.m. train out of Rockport would be 10-20 minutes late "due to heavy ridership."

OK, so he then goes on to report that when he got on the train, "there's less people than average." Proof.

By adamg - 12/2/13 - 9:38 am

The MBTA said today we took 36.23 million trips on the system in October - the highest monthly number since the system was founded in 1964 out of the old MTA, and 3% higher than the World Series-less October, 2012.

By adamg - 11/26/13 - 10:47 pm

Two people were held up around 10:30 p.m. in the parking lot of the commuter-rail stop off LaGrange Street, near Centre.

The suspect is described as a black male, 16-18, who showed a gun, got his victims' phones and wallets and then jumped into a waiting car. The car, a black Accord with tinted windows, was last seen heading outbound on Centre, towards Spring Street.

By adamg - 11/25/13 - 7:25 am

Dead train reported at Ashmont at 7:13 a.m.

Also reported: Signal problems on the Reservoir Line and a wicked late train on the Franklin Line. " Free hot chocolate on board?" one commuter freezing at Walpole asks hopefully.

UPDATE: An Orange Line train froze to death at Sullivan Square around 7:40 a.m. An inbound train, of course. It was followed in quick succession by a dead inbound Mattapan trolley at Butler. Not long after that, an inbound B trolley refused to leave Boston College. And then the drawbridge at North Station got stuck or something, delaying inbound commuter-rail trains.

By adamg - 11/21/13 - 11:54 am

Firefighters from several towns and NStar are on University Avenue near the Rte. 128 train station, working to shut down a leaky gas main. Train service through the station was halted; State Police shut the University Avenue ramp from 128.

By adamg - 11/14/13 - 6:44 pm

At 5:54 p.m. at the Oak Island Road crossing in Revere, Transit Police report.

Chelsea Minton, on the train, reports:

Train hit guy who was talking on cell phone crossing tracks.

Service on the line stopped and then slowed in both directions as police investigate the incident.

By adamg - 11/7/13 - 9:13 am

Signal problems at Sullivan Square mean sardine-level packing on inbound Orange Line trains this morning.

Meanwhile, there are major delays on the Worcester Line due to a train hitting and killing somebody.

By adamg - 10/18/13 - 3:20 pm
New look for South Station

MassDOT today released a drawing with one idea of what the interior of the new South Station could look like when the postal annex is moved somewhere else.

The llighter, airier feel envisioned by the rendering would seem to rule out the mixed-use tower once proposed to be built atop the station. In a post to go with the rendering, MassDOT's Klark Jessen writes:

By adamg - 10/16/13 - 9:06 am

Also in the works: A two-story CVS with floors connected by an escalator and a Starbucks, the MBTA and the company that handles retail leasing in the station announced today.

Work should begin next month on the two-story, 30,000-square-foot CVS, which will also sell convenience foods and a full-service pharmacy, the T and Equity Office say. Tavern in the Square should open late fall with a 40-seat restaurant/bar. Barbara's Books will make its triumphant return. Also:

By adamg - 10/15/13 - 8:13 am
Off one train and onto another

Tristan was among the refugees from Train 806 out of Providence this morning, forced to deboard at 128 after their train was given last rites. He reports passengers were told they could get on an inbound Amtrak train - which promptly left the station before anybody could get on it. Most then got on a train from Canton.

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