Commuter rail

Police look for man they say violently attacked woman in North Station

By adamg - 11/21/19 - 4:03 pm

Transit Police report they are looking for a man they say used a "blunt object" to attack a woman in the commuter-rail section of North Station around 10:25 p.m. yesterday. Read more.

Providence Line once more running late, riders just have to sit there and wait

By adamg - 11/19/19 - 9:03 am

Delays on the Providence Line yesterday are being repeated this morning, if not quite as astoundingly. An hour delay on a train out of Wickford Junction yesterday has found a shadow in today's 810 out of Providence, which developed some of those "mechanical problems" and was more than 30 minutes late.

Signal problems on the Worcester Line, meanwhile, mean delays of up to 40 minutes on trains between Auburndale and South Station.

Trains out of North Station moving kind of slow, because the signalling systems kind of blow

By adamg - 11/9/19 - 6:48 pm

WBZ reports on delays that, in some cases, have stretched for hours.

Worcester Line riders are in quite a state; seems their trains are always late

By adamg - 11/7/19 - 8:56 am

Hannah McGoldrick lays it on the line:

Going on day 9 of 15-minute plus delays on the Framingham/Worcester line. This is absolutely unacceptable.

Keolis acknowledges the issue: Read more.

Man hit and killed by commuter-rail train in Newton

By adamg - 11/6/19 - 8:47 pm

Transit Police report a man on the Worcester Line tracks was hit by an inbound train around 8:10 p.m. in the area of Lowell Avenue in Newton.

MBTA votes to start work toward electrification of commuter-rail system

By adamg - 11/4/19 - 10:39 pm

WBUR reports the MBTA board voted today to set up an office to begin work towards converting the current diesel-powered commuter-rail system to electricity and towards more frequent service - like trains every 15 minutes - on certain key routes. Left undecided: How to pay for the billions of dollars in required upgrades.

Natick commuters could only wail when their train didn't stop due to slippery rail

By adamg - 11/4/19 - 8:56 am

Around 7:35, the 586 Worcester Line train pulled into Natick Center - and then just kept going, gliding 100 yards or so down the tracks before it finally stopped, Zach Rose reports.

Blame the dreaded slippery rail - basically wet leaves - Keolis says: Read more.

Fairmount Line as case study in community development

By adamg - 11/2/19 - 11:46 am

The Stanford Social Innovation Review reports some findings from the four years of time University of Michigan sociology professor Jeremy Levine spent in Dorchester, Mattapan and Hyde Park looking at the non-train ramifications of the Fairmount Line re-do: Read more.

Newtonville commuter-rail station re-opens

By adamg - 10/24/19 - 8:31 am

Keolis reports the Harvard Street stairs have re-opened, but that the Walnut Street stairs remain shut for repairs.

Newtonville commuter-rail station closed 'until further notice'

By adamg - 10/22/19 - 11:19 pm

The MBTA reports it's closed the Newtonville station on the Worcester Line "until further notice" because of some problems with the stairs up to the street that require immediate attention. The T says riders should head to West Newton instead - but will provide a shuttle bus 20 minutes before a scheduled train arrival from Newtonville to West Newton for people who don't get word in time to make the switch.

Bicyclist hit, killed by train in Beverly

By adamg - 10/22/19 - 10:53 am

Update: WCVB reports the bicyclist, Emerson College Prof. Moses Shumow, died.

Transit Police report a man on a bicycle was hit by an outbound Newburyport/Rockport train at the Beverly Depot station around 8:20 a.m. He was taken to the hospital with serious injuries.

Tempest-tossed boats, trees land where they're not expected, thousands lose power, delays across the T

By adamg - 10/17/19 - 8:52 am

Matt Conti shows us a boat on dry land in the North End after the storm overnight. He has more photos of damage in the North End.

John Hanzl surveyed the damage along Harbor Towers: Read more.

Bystanders help save lives of suicidal men in Roslindale, Dorchester, police say

By adamg - 10/10/19 - 3:37 pm

Boston Police are thanking bystanders who helped them save the lives of two men yesterday - one of whom was getting ready to throw himself in front of a Needham Line train in Roslindale, the other of whom was trying to throw himself from an overpass onto the Expressway in Dorchester. Read more.

State to buy more two-level coaches for commuter rail

By adamg - 9/23/19 - 5:15 pm

MassDOT reports the board that runs the T agreed to spend $345 million to buy 80 new bi-level coaches from Hyundai-Rotem - which will increase capacity on the entire commuter-rail system by about 14,000 seats a day once they all roll out and replace more of the single-level coaches still in use. Read more.

Two T 'ambassadors' prove saviors for man who lost wallet at Back Bay

By adamg - 9/17/19 - 12:03 pm

Bad Ideas Inc. puts in a good word for two T "ambassadors" at Back Bay station, named Mohammed (on the left) and Jesus: Read more.

That thing Franklin Line riders dread: They have to go backwards to go ahead

By adamg - 9/16/19 - 5:51 pm

Todd Mulligan asks:

Did they just announce we will be going back inbound to Hyde park (from Readville)? And then outbound again, That can’t be right?

Can anybody explain this dead commuter-line train?

By adamg - 9/9/19 - 9:54 am

People transferring from one train to another

Wonderfitzig was among the people who had to hop off inbound train 156 on the Newburyport/Rockport Line train and get on another after the engine sighed its last and went to the great roundhouse in the sky this morning near River Works - after their train just sat there for 90 minutes or so. Read more.