Red Line

Transit Police report a 25-year-old man from New York got down onto the inbound Red Line tracks at South Station around 12:30 a.m. on Saturday and was hit and killed by a train.

Police are continuing to investigate the incident, such as trying to determine why the man "walked into the pit area."

The T worker in question walks through smokey car. Photo by Christopher J. Ternus.

An inbound Red Line train that left Harvard at 11:54 this morning finally made it to Central at 12:37 p.m. - pushed there by another train - the MBTA reports.

Christian J. Ternus tweets:

Just got off Red Line train that caught fire. Train filled with smoke.

MBTA operator lost her keys and couldn't get into cab to call for help. Operator told passengers not to ride Red Line in bad weather. "MBTA doesn't spend enough to make it safe." Passengers were having asthma & panic attacks. MBTA op described this as "passengers complaining." Train was *On Fire.*

MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo says there was no fire on the train, adds:

The train operator did not lose her keys nor make any safety-related announcements on the intercom. The tweet was in reference to another MBTA employee who had boarded the train to investigate the cause of the power problem. The employee attempted to open a door at the end of a Red Line car, but was unable because she did not have a key. This employee made some comments to another employee that were picked up by one or more customers (one of whom then tweeted). Both employees have been identified and both have submitted statements to supervisors. The head of the Red Line is investigating.

As in the MBTA is announcing significant delays due to signal problems at Harvard.

UPDATE: The E Line is being a tad extreme today, as well, thanks to a little fire at Symphony that's shut service on the line.

Wicked Local Cambridge reports on a March 2 incident in front of the Alewife T station.

WBUR reports on the impending three-year Longfellow Bridge repair project that will include a total of 25 weekends of Red Line bustitution and lane restrictions for drivers.

Why, yes, a train gave up the ghost at Charles/MGH this evening, following this morning's track problems.

At least this time the track problems were at Harvard instead of Central. Meanwhile, shortly after 9 a.m., Meghan M tweeted:

Green line inbound passengers. My train is so 100% stuck between kenmore & hynes. Expect delays. Also send breakfast.

And to top it all off, the electronic signboard at Park Street continues to show White Sox ads.

Wreck-It Reg tweets:

The electronic billboard inside the Park Street Red Line T stop is showing Chicago ads. Saw ads for White Sox and Arlington Park.

The MBTA's released this video of a raccoon attempting to get down to the Red Line platform at Downtown Crossing on Jan. 20 by way of the up escalator.

He's a little hard to see, but after the startled guy flees, look at :23, 1:05 and 1:28 for the best views.

T spokesman Joe Pesaturo reports animal control took the masked intruder away before Transit Police could issue a citation for fare evasion.

Transit Police report arresting a Somerville man around noon on Friday when he showed up with a stolen bike to sell to somebody who turned out to be an undercover cop.

Police say a Davis Square commuter had reported her Specialized Hybrid Globe 1 bike stolen from a station bike rack on Jan. 28 - and that a photo of it had shown up in the for-sale section of Craigslist on Feb. 7:

Detectives communicated with poster of the Craigslist posting via telephone and email where he again offered a woman's Specialized Hybrid Globe 1 bicycle for sale.

On February 8, 2013 (YES, same day as Blizzard 2013) the poster of the advertisement, Phillip Pinto 38 of Somerville set up a meeting with whom he believed was an interested customer. In fact the interested customer Pinto had arranged the meeting with were Transit Police detectives. At approximately noon time as the Blizzard2013 was beginning in earnest Pinto was waiting, bicycle in hand, at the pre-arranged meeting location. (Temple Street, Somerville). Detectives confirmed the serial numbers of the woman's Globe 1 bike Pinto was offering for sale to that of the victim's stolen bicycle. Detectives confiscated the bicycle and placed Pinto into custody for Receiving Stolen Property.

Innocent, etc.

First there were signal problems at Harvard. Now, "severe delays in service due to a track problem," specifically, a cracked rail near Central, are creating hordes of refugees. Mamajoan reports from Porter Square:

Commuters exiting Porter like rats from sinking ship. Buses crammed full, driver waving people on without paying.

Amy Lynne Grzybinski adds:

I've been on the train from Porter for 30 minutes and haven't left Kendall yet. HAHAHA

This is the first time a rail has cracked on the Red Line in almost three weeks.

This morning, we had the construction worker saved by plastic sheeting. And now comes word, via Jerzy Eisenberg Guyot, of a slippery lunchtime rescue at the Downtown Crossing T stop:

Man trapped with suitcase in Downtown Crossing MBTA turnstile, turnstile experts are on the scene with lubricant.

A few minutes later:

Luckily the turnstile support team was able to save the man, although he's now drenched in oils.

As of 8:20 a.m.: Two trolleys died on the Green Line (one at Chestnut Hill Avenue, one at Park Street) and one train died on the Red Line (at Charles/MGH).

The T today turned on new digital ad screens at Harvard, in a move that could mean "millions of dollars of new advertising revenue for the MBTA in the coming years," the state Department of Transportation says.

Park Street Station, North Station and South Station will also get some of the large-screen TVs to beam ads and service info at the faces of commuters.

Harvard Station is equipped with three 70" Tri-Faced screens in a kiosk in the main atrium and five 55" Landscape Screens; one double-sided on the inbound platform and three single-sided across the track on the inbound platform.

UPDATE: Transit Police report they have identified the woman as AnnMarie Tessier, 43, whose last known address was in Weymouth, and have obtained a warrant charging her with assault and battery and assault with a dangerous weapon. Now they have to find her.

Transit Police have released a couple of photos of the woman they say helped start a fight on an inbound Red Line train Sunday evening that ended with her companion trying to smash a man in the head with a 40-oz beer bottle as his wife and two-year-old fled the train at Broadway.

Police collaged the alleged smasher; she escaped up the escalator. If you see her, contact police at 617-222-1050 or send an anonymous tip via the MBTA SeeSay app or by texting 873873.

Transit Police report a quadruple bonus when they arrested John Monroe, 32, of Roxbury after he refused a request from an officer to stop holding open the doors of a Red Line train at Quincy Center last night:

Officers proceeded in Monroe's direction, while en route the train attendant announced via the intercom system several times "Please clear the doors". Monroe ignored these requests and continued to stand in between the doors preventing their closure. Officers approached Monroe to ascertain what his issue was and subsequently discovered Monroe had a total 4 outstanding warrants in existence for his arrest. The warrants issued from multiple courts were for several different charges.

Presumed brilliant until proven a dumbass.

Transit Police report arresting a Weymouth man for the sort of crime that might make the parents of a young child think twice about ever getting on the T again.

According to police, the parents and their 2-year-old daughter boarded an inbound train at Wollaston around 6 p.m. - to the sounds of a couple across the train arguing with each other. Police say the male yeller, Joseph Pacheco, 43, of Weymouth, twice took a moment off to ask the father for a cigarette. The second time, police say, Pacheco leaned over the toddler's stroller:

Dead trains on the Red, Green, Needham and Providence/Stoughton lines (so far) made for another interesting commute for many this morning.

UPDATE: "Significant delays" possible on the Fitchburg Line due to signal problems.

Transit Police report they are looking for this guy for an incident around 9:45 p.m. on Dec. 16 at the Ashmont Red Line station, in which he allegedly kicked a man and then called him a homophobic slur.

Police say he's about 5'10" with a dark beard and 25-30 years old.

If you know him, contact T police at 617-222-1050 or send an anonymous tip via the SeeSay app or by text to 873873.

Yesterday's troublesome Green Line junction box, covered in foam. Photo by BFD.

No cable fires (so far) on the Green Line this morning, but delays caused by dying trolleys. Meanwhile, on the Red Line, one train, and its riders, wheezed into South Station around 6:45 a.m. Fatty tweets:

My train smells like it's on fire. ...

My train WAS on fire. It is no longer my train. We are in a smoke cloud at South Station because the brakes have been on since Dorchester.

I'm going to start slow chanting "refund" as soon as the smoke clears and I can breathe again.

Bostonians had their choice of venues for standing around this AM, such as Andrew. Photo by Chris Wright.

Fire on the inbound tracks between Arlington and Copley around 7:40, Jay Joynes tweets. At first, the T shut Arlington station because of heavy smoke, but shortly after 8 a.m., it shut down all Green Line service downtown. And shortly after 8:30, the T began evacuating trolleys stuck in the tunnel near Hynes and Copley stations.

The T eventually sent in some shuttle buses between stations to the west and downtown, but many commuters didn't wait. As Gracetopia tweets:

I now feel like one of the army of the commute, as I walk from Kenmore to downtown with my fellow MBTA refugees.

Lindsay Douglas, though, was one of the people who stayed behind at Kenmore:

I've never seen chaos like this. Coldest day of the year + the MBTA shuts down the green line. Yelling+angry people.

And because misery loves company, an inbound Red Line train died not long after at Charles/MGH, Rob Grover tweets. Later, another train died at Porter. Around 9:20, another train died, inbound at Andrew.

Brockton24_7 reports somebody jumped in front of an inbound Red Line train at Shawmut around 5:30 a.m. and that she was pulled out from under the second car alert and conscious. The T substituted buses between Ashmont and JFK/UMass.

MBTA Transit Police report officers on patrol at the Central Square Red Line stop yesterday morning spotted a couple making their way onto the platform without paying. Police report this was the third time the male half, Christopher Reed, 26, of Cambridge, has been caught fare evading. He did, however, get a free ride - in the back of a cruiser to T police headquarters - because, police say, he was also wanted on a Cambridge drug charge. The woman? With no outstanding criminal charges, she was captured and released.

Innocent, etc.

Rosina Lucibello reports she was waiting for an Alewife train on the Red Line around 7:15 p.m. tonight when an apparent drunk fell onto the tracks on the other side:

Watched a drunk guy fall. Then immediately another commuter jumped in and got him. Simple as that. He never hesitated. We were speechless. The guy went down on tracks. Grabbed him and helped him up. Then pulled himself back up. Very heroic and quick! We got nervous because they announced train approaching. Tense moment.

Cactus on the Stair reports on how one Sob Story Guy's night ended with him on the train harassed by a panhandler.