Green Line

Night Owl City took this photo of a derailed inbound E trolley at South Huntington and Huntington around 9:30 a.m. AlertNewEngland reports no injuries. Expect, as they say, delays.

Surprisingly, though, not on the menagerie that is the Red Line. Andrew Holleron tweets from an inbound D trolley on the Green Line this morning:

Wasps on a crowded train. Oddly enough, calm reserve, no panic. Heroic woman pockets one wasp in a napkin.

We're hearing tales that a rare four-hump, um, car Green Line trolley was spotted in the tunnels between Kenmore and Park after Sox games this past weekend. Could it return after tonight's Rays games? Of course, its name is Tessie. Pix or it doesn't exist.

UPDATE: Andrew Lehmann pointed us to this video, posted Saturday:

What's going on in this photo? Your caption, please (official reason for the photo in the comments).

The Herald reports MBTA officials figure a full shutdown would let them rehab the station in less time and wouldn't drag on forever and ever like certain other T-stop projects one could think of.

Latest alert.

Green Line: Due to a switch problem at Park Street, please expect outbound delays of 10-15 minutes on all lines between 400pm-7:00pm. Customers desiring service to/from North Station and Haymarket are encouraged to utilize the Orange Line. Maintenance activity on this switch is expected to last through the conclusion of service. Please allow extra time for your commute. 3/31/2011 3:05 PM

And yes, this is the very same switch that they haven't bothered to try to fix since Monday, when the problem apparently first developed. Guess it's much easier to lock it into one position, slow all the traffic down, and use the backups as an excuse to run fewer trains during rush hour.

The MBTA reports switch problems at Park Street will mean delays northbound - and suggest you take the Orange Line if your travel plans include Haymarket or North Station. Repair work's expected to continue past the normal end of service.

Absolutely, we shouldn't be encouraging rapscallions to whip out their Sharpies and mark up the T, but you have to almost admire the effort, or at the very least, the amount of time, that went into this defacement of a blank sign on the E line. One wonders if a judge would sentence him based on the number of letters if he gets caught and convicted.

Via Boston Reddit.

Sara watched the burning tracks in Coolidge Corner shortly before 7 p.m. today.

Channel 4 reports one trolley drove right over the fire - on purpose.

The MBTA will expand the number of three-car trolleys on the Green Line on Monday - and will start running them on the E branch for the first time, which also means the return of triple-trolley service to Lechmere.

The T restored some three-car service on non-E lines last year. The expansion means the number of tripled-up trains will increase from 13 to 32 on weekdays.

In a statement, T General Manager Richard Davey said:

As I've talked with Green Line customers over the past year, train capacity is an issue that is frequently raised. We have received that message loud and clear, and the MBTA is responding.

Channel 7 reports the operator of the second car in a two-car Green Line train was suspended after a rider took some cell-phone video of her doing her nails while the train was in service.

A belt buckle featuring a 1980s-era Boeing Green Line trolley.

The MBTA is running shuttle buses between Cleveland Circle and Coolidge Corner due to a "power problem" at Cleveland Circle.

Kevin Aries happened to be right there when the problem occurred, around 7:30 p.m.:

May have just witnessed a small explosion on the live wires above the tracks at Cleveland Circle. Looks like a piece of the wire fell down onto the tracks.

President enters the Fenway. Photo by Jeff Tamagini.

The Red, Green and Blue lines all experienced delays this evening as the presidential motorcade passed over or under them.

The placid Orange Line remained stolidly unaffected by Motorcade One, but Nay and Steven Leibowitz report the T held an inbound train at Back Bay when a panicked Little Monster reported a lost ticket to the Egg Lady's concert at the Garden. A passenger found the ticket, the kid was reunited with it and the train resumed service.

Photo copyright Jeff Tamagini. Posted in the Universal Hub pool on Flickr.

Sarah McKinnon and Caitlin Ducharme both tweet this Fat Tuesday morning from a stuck Green Line train whose driver just told passengers it can't move because, as McKinnon put it, "the weight of people is weighing it down."

A small fire around 5:30 p.m. by Packard's Corner interrupted B line service.

Earlier in the day:
Fire atop a trolley at Boylston.

MassDOT today announced an agreement to swap land at Lechmere with land by North Station that will lead to a new rail service north and west of Boston - and actual construction of the long stalled North Point development.

Outbound service on the Green Line was briefly disrupted around 12:30 a.m. when the top of a Green Line car caught fire at Boylston station.

Nicole Frances photographed some post-fire action on the trolley roof.

Dead train at Boylston means delays on all trains outbound from Park. At 7:47 a.m., Vilma Torres reported:

I've been stuck btween park st & boylston for over 30 mins.

A cranky Red Line didn't want to be left out. Joe Pitha tweeted around 7:40 a.m.:

Stuck just outside of Park because of disabled train. So close to the station I want to ask the motorman to open the door and let me walk.

Another Red Line commuter, stuck on a train somewhat north of downtown, reports via e-mail that the T has yet to start announcing the delays, but is continuing to play Rachel Kaprelian's warnings about texting and driving.

Meanwhile, speaking of the Lord of the Flies Local on the Worcester Line last night, Channel 5 reports the breaking news out of Worcester this morning: A train left on time.

But it's not ending that way. An auto jumped onto the inbound Green Line tracks by Babcock Street on Comm. Ave. and now there are no B trolleys in either direction, only shuttle buses. Meanwhile switch problems at Wellington mean the only thing moving fast on the Orange Line are the fingers of riders complaining about delays on Twitter.

Last night, Cathelyne marveled at four women in micro-skirts, appearing somewhat lost at the North Station T stop and a bit unsteady on the high heels they were wearing.

The T reports it will be bustituting starting at 9 p.m. tonight and tomorrow because of the need to shut Science Park for elevator work.

The Somerville Transportation Equity Project reports on the contract expected to be awarded tomorrow.

The Globe reports commuter-rail performance is at its worst in three years. Sure, you can blame the weather and antique equipment, but an MBCR honcho is quoted as saying, yeah, they could do better.

Meanwhile, things aren't looking all that rosy on the subways, either. Yesterday, Brian Fluharty posted this chart of Green Line performance, as based on delay alerts sent out by the T:

Samantha Rajotte tweets the announcement the conductor on her C trolley made at St. Mary's this morning:

Due to the extreme weather, this train will be going express to Aruba.