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.
Under the deal, the state will give Pan Am Railways the land used for the current Lechmere Green Line station in exchange for the former Pan Am rail yard, which is across the Charles River from Massachusetts General Hospital, and rights to use other Pan Am tracks in the area.
The Globe reports the MBTA is hiring Parsons Brinckerhoff to help the state manage the purchase of 20 new locomotives for commuter rail.
It's only 7:30 a.m., and already three Orange Line trains have simply decided not to run anymore, at Wellington, Green Street and Community College.
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.
MassDOT and the T have pressed into service five commuter-rail locomotives (shown here in Worcester) from Maryland to see if they're worth buying. MassDOT reports the units were rebuilt in 1995 and are in "very good" condition, and could help ease problems caused by our failing locomotives until new diesels come online in a couple years.
New video monitors going up at the end of Red Line platforms are part of the MBTA's plan to eliminate the second operator on trains, T General Manager Richard Davey tweeted this morning, adding, "will be doing industry safety review next month to make sure it's done right."
Orange Line riders will recall that the arrival of the monitors signaled the impending end of two-worker trains on that line last year.
After last night's inaugural sleeper-car service, the MBTA made sure to have one of those new Utah locomotives at the front of the 5 p.m. train to Worcester at South Station.
Meanwhile, MBCR, which operates the T's commuter lines, offered a free ride to passengers to make up for yesterday's ordeal.
UPDATE: Well, that didn't last long. Rob Friedman tweets from the 5:35 p.m. train to Worcester:
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.:
UPDATE: Would you believe a three-hour delay on the Worcester line?
No, not on the Green Line, which is having major problems tonight, but on the Worcester commuter-rail line.
Kristen Garvey reports from somewhere not all that far out of South Station:
Okay, MBTA, we have been stuck here for close to 90 min. Can u send the rescue train? Mass Pike you look better everyday.
Philly.com reports the Korean-owned factory building coaches for Philadelphia's equivalent of the MBTA - and eventually for us - is having a few problems. The communications, heating and AC systems don't work and the cars are too heavy. And then there are the cultural differences between the Korean managers and the American workers:
And what the MBTA is trying to do about it until it can replace the 31-year-old Orange Line cars:
Jamaica Plain Patch reports the 39 driver passed the test but was taken off his route pending an MBTA investigation.
The Boston Public Health Commission says it's focusing its vaccination efforts on people who worked in the same building as a French consulate worker diagnosed with measles - but says anybody who has any concerns should check with their physician to see if their vaccinations are up to date.
Christian Nielsen, a spokesman for the commission, said investigators there don't even know for sure which subway lines the woman rode and added she was last on the T long enough ago that the risk is relatively remote.
The Globe reports the Boston Public Health Commission is urging up to 2,000 people who work in the Park Square Building to get vaccinated after an unvaccinated worker at the French Consulate there was diagnosed. She also rode the subway while sick, although the Globe doesn't specify which line.
The Globe reports the T plans to introduce countdown clocks to Red, Orange and Blue Line stations, but will pay for it in part by eliminating the refunds it now offers to people whose trains are way late. Also look for lots more advertising - right down to the CharlieCard - as the T tries to cut a $130 million or so deficit.
The MBTA has dunned Penelope the Snake's owner $650 for sanitizing the Red Line car she spent a month in.
In a letter to Melissa Moorhouse of Allston, MBTA treasurer-collector Wesley Wallace writes that letting the snake loose, even if inadvertently, violates the T's pet policy and adds:
Zolok reports:
[F]or the first time today, I actually saw someone reading a Non-Larsson novel right there out in the open on the train, it was "The Confederacy of Dunces" as a matter of fact.
Mamajoan theorizes:
Eventually there must come a time when every literate adult in the greater Boston area has finished reading the trilogy...
Update: The Winter Warmer concert has been canceled but you can support the homeless by instead staying home this Thursday night. You can learn more about how to support families in crisis here.
Time was, people who didn't want their bags searched at one of the random checkpoints could just turn around and find another station - or even just another entrance to the same station.
Dan reports that when he arrived at Porter this morning and got pulled aside for screening, he declined to submit and walked out to look for a cab. Finding none, he started to board a T bus, but "two plainclothes MBTA police stopped me because I refused bag screening." He says he walked to Harvard Square, where he did find a cab.
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