Orange Line

Photographynatalia photographed Park and Tremont streets this morning. Melissa Gibson watched an Orange Line train pull into Sullivan Square:

MBTA Transit Police report an Orange Line rider engrossed in a game on his iPhone 4 failed to notice the guy who was about to snatch it out of his hands as the train pulled into Tufts Medical Center around 12:20 p.m.

However, police say:

The victim gave chase, following Isiah Cooper out onto Washington Street. The victim was yelling for passersby to stop Cooper. Several security guards from Tufts Medical Center happened to be posted in front of the hospital and were able to stop and detain Cooper til arrival of Transit Police.

Cooper, 25, of Jamaica Plain, was charged with unarmed robbery. The victim's iPhone was recovered, police add.

Innocent, etc.

BostInno interviews the Five Star Day, Action Jackson Square Orange Line driver, who moved over recently from the Red Line.

John Stephen Dwyer put together two videos imagining what it would be like if Iron Man attacked the CSA booth at Forest Hills station (top) and if a giant wrecking ball plunged into the station lobby:

What do you make of this, Johnny? Trains on the Orange, Green and Blue lines slowed due to a power problem the T has yet to identify. Officials report power had come back at several locations by 1:45 p.m., however. The Blue Line was reported back up and running about five minutes after that.

And both wind up under arrest, MBTA Transit Police report.

Police say officers arrived at Back Bay station around 9:30 p.m. yesterday to find two men brawling. After officers separated them, police say, each accused the other of starting the fight. Neither, however, wanted to press charges agains the other, police say, adding:

Officers on scene were able to determine [John] Carpenter had an outstanding default warrant in existence for his arrest for the following charges: Assault and Battery on a Police Officer, Disorderly Conduct, Resisting Arrest and Trespassing issued from Boston Municipal Court. [Steven] Odom, a level 3 sex offender failed to register as such in the City of Boston in violation of MGL CH.6 S178. Both Carpenter and Odom were taken into custody and transported to Transit Police HQ for the arrest booking process. Both men will appear in Boston Municipal Court sometime today.

According to state records, Odom, a Dorchester resident, was convicted of indecent assault and battery in 2006.

Innocent, etc.

MBTA Transit Police are looking for five teens for attacking a disabled 16-year-old outside the CharlieCard store at Downtown Crossing around 4:20 p.m. today. If caught, they'll be facing charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon - a shod foot.

The victim declined medical attention and was escorted to his Orange Line train. According to police, he got off an Ashmont train and was heading to the Orange Line when he was set upon.

All five suspects are black, between 16 and 19. Four are male; one female. The main attacker was described as 5'5" and about 140 lbs, wearing a gray Hollister California sweatshirt; the female as wearing a purple parka and green pants. Police searched the area for the group without success.

Well, under it, actually. Wonder if he knows Red Line Tattoo Guy.

Charlie, Beverly Scott, State Rep. Byron Rushing at Forest Hills.

New MBTA General Manager Beverly Scott bounded up from the Orange Line with hugs for carolers - as well as candy canes. She wore a Santa hat. That unpleasantness the other night was quickly forgotten and the carolers got down to business: As new waves of commuters came up from the train platform, the carolers serenaded them with Christmas classics, from "Silent Night" to "Deck the Halls."

The MBTA reports both new GM Beverly Scott and Charlie the T Mascot will be on hand at Forest Hills around 6 p.m. tomorrow to welcome a group of "church ladies" and kids for some old-fashioned caroling. The originally impromptu carolers were kicked out of the station yesterday because they didn't have a busking permit.

A group of "church ladies" and some kids were kicked out of the Forest Hills Orange Line station tonight when they started to sing Christmas carols without an official MBTA busking permit.

But after learning of the situation, T General Manager Beverly Scott, making one of the first executive decisions of her first day on the job, decided to invite them back, to a "suitable and safe" location.

Rev. Laura Everett, executive director of the Massachusetts Council of Churches, reports what happened around 6:15 p.m.:

MBTA Transit Police and EMTs converged on the Chinatown stop on the Orange Line around 4:30 p.m. after a man was stabbed in the upper torso on the inbound platform. A train that left the station shortly before police were notified of the stabbing was being held at Downtown Crossing, but one possible suspect was in custody.

UPDATE: MBTA Transit Police report Anthony Bonner, 25, of Roxbury, and Joseph Jones, 19, were busy arguing with each other when Bonner attempted to end the discussion by stabbing Jones. Police say Bonner was still on the platform when officers arrived and that they arrested him on a charge of assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon.

Jones was transported to a local hospital - and was himself then arrested on a charge of witness intimidation.

Innocent, etc.

Outbound service on the Orange Line came to a halt around 4 this afternoon when a fight broke out on a train pulling into Ruggles. Suzi Mac tweets:

That was interesting. Witnessed a big fight at Ruggles on orange line. Busted the window of the subway car.

The train was taken out of service - after police pulled off any brawlers they could find.

Orange Line repairs yesterday near Green Street. Photo by MBTA.

The MBTA reports crews finished up repairs between Forest Hills and Green yesterday, meaning the end of the speed restrictions that let inbound commuters carefully scrutinize all those emergency-exit distance markers for the past few months.

Jack Freeman tweeted this morning:

Well, I would say the Orange Line construction over the weekend was a success - thanks MBTA!

Hillary adds:

Yes, exciting to see train approach Green St @ full speed, not creeping along like a toddlers' Santa Land ride.

Jed Hresko captured a new train countdown clock at Mass. Ave. on the Orange Line tonight. The T began rolling out the service on the Red Line a few months ago. He reports:

Pretty sophisticated. The sign changes from ARR to BRD right as the train got halfway down the platform. The signs at the turnstiles announce both directions. Sadly, the voice is gone, now replaced by computer-speak - by necessity, considering the endless combinations that are now announced.

MBTA Transit Police report a guy who didn't feel like getting off the Orange Line at Forest Hills around 1:20 this morning started screaming at workers. And when they told him police were on the way, he screamed even louder, then punched a window on the train, causing a series of cracks.

Police say they caught up with Robert Coveney, 51, in the station's upper busway.

He was scheduled for arraignment today at West Roxbury District Court on a charge of malicious destruction of property, due to the estimated $300 to $500 cost to fix the window, police say.

Innocent, etc.

Seth Simonds reports hearing the following announcement on the Orange Line this morning:

Please step on the train. Teamwork makes the dream work. Thanks for riding the Orange Line.

Hmm, you think maybe the Orange Line got him in a trade for Angry Screaming Driver?

AlertNewEngland alerts us that a trash fire on the inbound Orange Line near Mass. Ave. means no service since the T has shut off power to let firefighters fight the fire in peace.

UPDATE: Judge Mark Hart Summerville set bail for the watch case at $500 and denied a request from the DA's office to revoke Quiles's release on personal recognizance in the open drug case.

A man allowed freedom after the drug evidence against him turned out to have been tested by ex-chemist Annie Dookhan was arrested yesterday on charges he and a pal stole 13 watches from the Downtown Crossing Macy's.

Transit Police report officers' attention was aroused when they spotted two guys acting all suspicious on a platform at the Chinatown Orange Line stop around 10:15 a.m. yesterday:

Around 8:45 a.m, Susan Anderson tweeted:

The Orange Line is seriously standing by "due to a coffee spill that needs to be cleaned up." ... At least it made for a nice-smelling train first thing in the morning...

The coffee break happened after incoming T General Manager Beverly Scott rode the line from a chat session with commuters at North Station to a chat session with commuters at Back Bay. The T posted a photo of her and soon-to-be boss Richard Davey on the Orange Line. Michael Ratty looked at the photo and asked:

Why isn't Beverly Scott drinking a Dunkin Donuts coffee like Davey? Not a good way to endear yourself to Boston.

Also, while the Orange Line ran perfectly (and strangely emptily) on her trip, commuters on the Red Line and the Needham Line got to experience your basic Monday-morning T delays.

H/t Prairie Rose Clayton for the headline.

MBTA Transit Police report an inbound Orange Line train hit a 22-year-old man on the tracks about a half mile north of Malden Center around 8:40 tonight. He was taken to Mass. General and is expected to survive what AlertNewEngland reports are leg injuries.

Police say Orange Line service has been replaced with buses while they investigate the incident.

Photo by MBTA.

The scene on the Orange Line near Stony Brook this afternoon. Also see photo of a tree on the platform on Eliot on the Green Line. The T reports more than a dozen downed trees along the Beacon Street line.

The inbound track needs repairs, but that requires some special parts, which are currently on order, T spokesman Joe Pesaturo says:

The speed restriction will remain in place until the repairs are made. Upon the arrival of some parts needed to make the repairs, the work will be scheduled for a weekend within sixty days.

Six teens were arraigned today on charges they attacked a woman on an Orange Line train yesterday evening and made off with her cell phone. And after they were done, they exchanged high fives, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports.

The DA's office adds that one of the teens, Eric Thompson, 18, of Dorchester, was arrested at Transit Police headquarters in Roxbury when he showed up to help bail out the other teens - still wearing the same sweatshirt he allegedly wore during the attack.

According to the DA's office and Transit Police, the six went after a woman on an outbound train approaching Tufts Medical Center around 6:40 p.m.:

Roving UHub photographer Jed Hresko checked in tonight from the Jackson Square stop on the Orange Line, where CharlieMachines stayed up even as the lights went down.