The MBTA reports all that work on the Red Line between Park and JFK/UMass means it's eliminated 13 more slow zones on the line. But all that work can still be for nought if trains keep dying on those zippy tracks, as happened tonight when the T reported delays of up to 20 minutes due to a train gasping its last at Broadway.
At 7:49 a.m., the MBTA reported that the Red Line, after part of it took a refreshing week off, had delays because of signal issues near Broadway. Fortunately, they didn't last long - the T updated at 8:01 that the signals were once again working. But the MBTA slow zone map still shows slow zones between Park and JFK/UMass.
Photo of seized weapon by Transit PD.
Transit Police report "a large affray amongst juveniles" at the JFK/UMass T stop around 2:40 p.m. on Wednesday ended with four teenagers under arrest, one after he allegedly tried to shank another combatant with a knife that could be disguised as a pen.
This morning, the day after the MBTA announced the end of slow zones on the Blue Line (if not the end of dead trains and malfunctioning signals, the Red Line has turned into a swampy morass of not-getting-anywhere-fast. Read more.
The MBTA reported a Red Line train expired at Charles/MGH around 3 p.m.
At 11:47 a.m., the MBTA reported Red Line delays due to "a signal issue" at Park Street.
The MBTA reports delays on the Red Line due to signal problems at Broadway. Trains, the T advises, may stand by at stations, maybe go out for a bite to eat while the problem is worked on.
There were some signal issues at Braintree tonight that were bad enough the T rustled up some buses to run between there and Quincy Adams, but the T assures us the signals are working again.
The Cambridge Fire Department reports a man was extricated from under the first car of an inbound Red Line train Wednesday night.
Firefighters arrived shortly before 11 p.m. and guided the man - who remained conscious - out from under the train around 15 minutes later, after getting confirmation that the power to the third rail had been shut. He was treated at the scene for some injuries, then transported to a local hospital.
When the T hired CRRC to build hundreds of new cars despite not having any experience with American subways but at a price that was just too good to pass up, the contract contained penalty clauses in case the company was late. CommonWealth Beacon reports the T will be paying CRRC $148 million more - and will waive up to $131 million in penalties if CRRC delivers all the cars by the end of 2027, four years late. Both sides blame the pandemic and restrictions on Chinese companies by the Trump administration.
The MBTA reports a Red Line train derailed at Broadway at the start of service and that it's now running buses between Park Street and points south. The T says no passengers were on the train.
The Red Line was all bollixed up this morning due to a train that died at Andrew at the start of the morning commute and then another train that died at Alewife about a half hour later, unless it was the same train that the T somehow revived at Andrew and the train made it to Alewife then died again, the T did not specify.
Surveillance photo by TPD.
Transit Police report they are looking for a guy they say took time out of his no doubt busy day to scrawl swastikas inside the Central Square Red Line station, around 5 a.m. on March 11.
If he looks familiar, contact detectives at 617-222-1050, anonymously if you prefer.
At Kendall Square Red Line entrance, sign would go under the red-and-white "Kendall" sign
The MBTA and the company that handles its electronic ad boards inside subway stations have begun a program to bring the boards above ground, at the entrances to stations. Read more.
At 8:51 p.m., the MBTA reported a Red Line train pulled up lame at Downtown Crossing, causing delays of up to 20 minutes.
At 8:17 p.m., the MBTA reported delays on the Orange Line, when one of the new trains exhaled its last at Community College. At 8:41 p.m., the T reported delays on the Red Line when a train died at Park. The T did no say if that was one of the new Red Line trains, one of the old Red Line trains or one of the even older Red Line trains.
MBTA General Manager Phil Eng says the T's subway lines will be free between 3 and 7 p.m. to try to make up for this morning's three-line disaster, which he blamed on some sort of failure in a National Grid "feeder cable" supplying power to the T via North Station. Read more.
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
