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By adamg - 5/23/11 - 6:53 am

Train stuck on a switch in Worcester wreaking all kinds of havoc. Jim White reports from down the line in Westboro:

Three trains' worth of people on the platform in Westboro from two cancelled trains. Blah. Guess I'll head to Riverside.

By adamg - 5/21/11 - 8:50 am

The Globe details a network of distributors involved in a couple's alleged scheme to print and sell unauthorized CharlieTickets.

By adamg - 5/20/11 - 9:55 am

MogbanaMBTA Transit Police report arresting a Chelsea man on charges he not only urinated in the Wellington busway as two women stood there, he kept staring at one of them - until they finally went to find a T inspector.

By adamg - 5/20/11 - 9:26 am

EscobarGloria Celeste Escobar, 27, will be arraigned in Salem District Court on charges she helped Andres Townes sell unauthorized CharlieTickets.

By adamg - 5/19/11 - 3:35 pm

Coakley explains case as T police listen.Coakley explains case as T police listen.

A Revere man who worked for an MBTA pass subcontractor was arrested today on charges he used pass equipment to print up commuter-rail and subway passes he'd sell for a discount on Craigslist.

Andres Townes, 27, will be arraigned tomorrow on charges of larceny over $250 and conspiracy to commit larceny over $250.

Townes worked for Cubic Transportation Systems of Beverly, which handled online and telephone sales of the passes. Attorney General Martha Coakley said there is no evidence that anybody else at the company participated in the scheme, which allegedly began in 2007. Coakley said this is the largest fraud case in the history of the MBTA.

By adamg - 5/18/11 - 1:14 pm

Sharina Byrd describes her ordeal.Sharina Byrd describes her ordeal.

It was near the end of another routine run for a driver just settling into her route. But then, out of nowhere, a hulking man grabbed Sharina Byrd's neck with one beefy arm and took control of the 86 bus's steering wheel with the other.

Byrd, a Dorchester resident who has only been driving an MBTA bus without an instructor for three weeks, instinctively pulled the emergency brake up with her left hand, stopping the bus and keeping it from careening into traffic and parked cars on the other side of Chestnut Hill Avenue last night.

By adamg - 5/18/11 - 12:42 pm

The poles holding up the overhead wires for the 71 and 73 electric buses may be too declassé for leafy Belmont, but gritty Watertown wants nothing to do with diesel buses, Wicked Local Watertown reports:

Town Councilor Vincent Piccirilli read several letters from Watertown and Belmont residents requesting that they vote to maintain trolley service to save on noise and air pollution. Residents attending the meeting agreed and many said that the trolley system adds character to the town.

By adamg - 5/18/11 - 9:55 am

Donald LyonsUPDATE: Lyons was ordered held in lieu of $10,000 bail in Brighton District Court, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports.

Police charge an Everett man who had trouble keeping his pants up had no problems wresting control of an 86 bus and trying to crash it - but was foiled by a fast-thinking rookie driver who managed to apply the emergency brake.

MBTA Transit Police say Donald Lyons, 52, reached across the 24-year-old driver - on the job for just 2 1/2 months - around 7:30 last night and grabbed the bus's steering wheel as it approached Commonwealth Avenue on Chestnut Hill Avenue:

By adamg - 5/17/11 - 8:52 am

The Globe reports T officials are looking at contract amendments T officials approved that appear to benefit the company that runs commuter rail, following a Globe report on the changes. They're even looking at just taking over management of the system themselves.

By adamg - 5/17/11 - 7:57 am

Beth reports that as her Orange Line train approached New England Tufts Medical Center around 10:40 last night, the operator announced:

Next stop: Hogwarts. Don't forget your wands.

Earlier:
This train now running express to Mordor.

By JohnAKeith - 5/16/11 - 2:53 pm

The MBTA's annual Ridership and Service Statistics report, a.k.a., "the blue book" was released on May 10.

This report includes a true treasure-trove of statistics through which to pour - most popular / least popular lines and routes, including number of entries and exists, schedules' adherence, types of buses and subway cars in use, etc. This is for all bus, subway, trackless trolley, ferry, and THE RIDE routes.

Top 25 subway stations

By adamg - 5/15/11 - 10:07 am

The Globe has a fun piece detailing the relationship between the MBTA and MBCR:

Then, in 2007, the MBTA added contract language that effectively offset the penalties and the T began paying Mass Bay about $2 million a year in bonuses for trains that did arrive on time, even as customers were complaining that an increasing number of trains were arriving late or not at all.

By adamg - 5/13/11 - 10:54 am

Boston Police report arresting a Dorchester teen on charges he shot another teen to death on the platform of the Savin Hill Red Line station.

Police say Nhu Nguyen, 19, fled to Portland, Maine, where he was arrested last night.

Nguyen is charged with firing a single fatal shot into Derek Matulina during a brawl in which Matulina was attacked by several other teens around 2 p.m. on Saturday.

By adamg - 5/13/11 - 9:11 am

WHOMP! Inspector tackles suspect, around 1:02 on this MBTA surveillance video.

Snellman and GrisoliaSnellman and GrisoliaAn MBTA inspector who saw a Watertown man mug a woman about to get on the train at Maverick last night didn't let the guy leave the station, MBTA Transit Police say.

According to a police report, Inspector Ira Lawrence was in the customer-service booth at the Blue Line station around 11:20 p.m. when he noticed Sean Snellman hand a guitar and bag to Brittney Grisolia, then run toward a woman and grab one of the two purses she was carrying:

By adamg - 5/12/11 - 11:03 am

A 14-year-old student who was punched, robbed and warned not to snitch by two classmates at the Ruggles stop on the Orange Line around 2 p.m. yesterday thought he'd managed to escape them by making his way to the Cambridgeside Galleria.

But, he told police, the two - and an older guy - were waiting for him when he left the mall around 5:40 p.m. and they jumped him again, stole his cell phone and threatened to "drop him" in class if he told anyone what had happened.

MBTA Transit Police report arresting one of the classmates and the older teen on a Green Line shuttle bus at North Station.

By adamg - 5/12/11 - 8:27 am

Yes, that pretty much sums up what happened on commuter rail out of South Station last night: a train died at a critical track junction. But it's also a phrase from a report written in 1999 about capacity problems at South Station.

By adamg - 5/11/11 - 9:11 pm

9:26 update: Geoffrey Brownell reports operator on his Alewife-bound train just announced: "Worst delays I've ever seen."

Some Red Line riders spent close to two hours on a dead train between Porter and Davis while many more found themselves stewing in other trains or on platforms - or just giving up and walking.

Take a look at Chris Spanring's photo from the Red Line near Porter tonight. Now read Spanring's evacuation tweets:

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