The T

Movie filming, of course. MBTA Transit Police tweet that the "secondary" entrances and exits will be open between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., but that you should expect "minor" crowds and delays.

Might be good to avoid towns with names beginning with M today:

Channel 4 reports flames shot 20 to 30 feet in the air when manholes exploded on Main Street in Medford around 10:30 a.m. and that several thousand people are now without power.

William Fleurant tweets traffic is, as you might expect, a mess there (where 38, 16 and I-93 come together).

MBTA Police report power went out at the Malden Orange Line station, trapping one person in an elevator.

Curse you, malfunctioning signals!

Dan Dunn reports a nearly hour-long ride from Davis to Kendall.

Hoppzor wonders why these signal problems so often occur when it rains:

every time it rains there are mbta signal problems at harvard or alewife. pretty sure these stations are underground.

Also, I probably only find the following funny because I'm sitting nice and dry inside: The T reports it has to divert some Silver Line service in South Boston because of a ship docking at the Black Falcon Pier and advises: "Passengers are encouraged to walk out to Dry Dock Ave. for bus service." Dry Dock Ave.? This morning? More like Wet Dock Ave., amirite?

New footprint; click for larger version.

Construction begins next summer on a $500-million project across from Fenway Park that will replace a non-descript parking lot and aging commuter-rail station with new housing and offices - some built on a deck across the turnpike - and a large new train station, developer John Rosenthal and city and state officials said today. Read more

According to the latest WBZ Traffic on the 3s report, the T is apparently bussing between Blanford and Packards Corner on the B line.

Nothing on the T web page yet, although they do mention an earlier failed streetcar on the C line at St. Marys.

The Orange Line remains above water and so is still stopping at State Street, where the main burst, according to reports from Channel 4 and the MBTA Transit Police Intelligence Unit.

Disabled trolley, the T reports.

on the end of the Garden-side entrance to North Station Orange/Green Line subway? It's been removed and the hole covered over with plywood.

If and when it is eventually replaced, I hope the T puts in a pair of normal swinging doors instead.

Amidst all the Dan Brown and Ken Follett books, Scott Stearns noticed a commuter with a different kind of book:

... Today I noticed a man, perhaps an academic of some sort, reading Marcel Proust's "Remembrance of Things Past". Literature is not dead in the world, quite yet.

Nichole Bee tweets:

Nothing beats reading "Pride & Prejudice & Zombies" on the T...and the guy next to you turns out to be reading the exact same thing

D C C C D D E E E E Read more

Jenny Spadafora tweets there's a trolley deader than a doorknob at Park Street.

Owen Byrne reports what happened after he took this photo at the Newton Highlands stop on the Riverside line last night: Read more

The MBTA says new Silver Line 4 service will get riders from Dudley Station to South Station in 30 minutes, with the first, ceremonial, run scheduled for 1 p.m. on Tuesday.

Buses are scheduled for every 10 minutes during rush hour and 15 minutes the rest of the day. T officials say federal stimulus money was used to get the service started.

The existing Dudley-to-Downtown-Crossing service is now SL5. SL3, which served part of the South Boston waterfront, was discontinued.

Dead D train inbound at Reservoir, the T reports.

Well, maybe not fun, exactly, but still a fact, at least when it comes to MBTA buses vs. bicycles.

A group called TransitWorks is working with the MBTA to collect data on rider experiences on the T in November. Volunteers will fill out an online questionnaire on their rides each day and "detail everything from type of service used to the comfort and crowding on the vehicle." Become a Charlie.

Via.

Because trolleys check in, but they don't check out. Yes, another day, another disabled trolley at Government Center.

Timothy Parcell tweets:

Sitting in this tunnel for 30 minutes is awesome. Thank you mbta this just how I wanted to start day.

Carissa DiCenzo adds:

Stuck on a train at Government Center. I love you MBTA.

An Illinois man is being held in lieu of a total of $25,000 bail for allegedly treating Orange and Red Line trains as his own personal canvas, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office says.

Jim Clay Harper, 24, of the well-to-do Chicago suburb of Wilmette, was arraigned today in West Roxbury District Court on two counts of vandalizing property for allegedly spray-painting "ETHER" on trains at the Forest Hills T stop. He was already being held on similar charges involving Red Line trains in Dorchester, and is also suspected of tagging Blue Line trains at Orient Heights, according to the DA's office. Read more

Right at rush hour at Harvard. Are you having fun yet? Jamie Thompson tweets it took her 40 minutes to get from Davis to South Station.

Around 7:30 or so, there was a dead train at Hynes/ICA, another at, of course, Government Center, the MBTA reports.

At 8:28, Local 718 added:

COMPANIES TO THE MBTA PARK ST. STATION REPORTED GREEN LINE TRAIN W/ OVERHEATED BRAKES

Just because I can't think of one doesn't mean there isn't one. So why would a Boston Transportation Department worker block a Brighton Center bus stop and force a guy with a cane into the street to board a 57 bus?

Oh, of course there's a good reason! As the person who took the photo explains:

The BTD truck driver was parking to buy scratch tickets and ignored the man with the cane that was waiting for the bus. He threw the ticket out the window into the back of his truck afterwards.

Here's his license plate, should anybody at BTD wish to inquire:

The MBTA reports a series of cascading delays on the Worcester Line this morning, most notably what it says is a one-hour delay between Wellesley Hills and Boston on the 7:35 a.m. inbound train.

One hour? JTboston, who is actually on the train, tweets at 10:02 a.m. he's now been on the train for the past two hours. He posts a photo of his shoe, because, really, what else is there to do on a train that's just sitting there?

Merrill Lamont tweets:

Saw a deviled egg handing out Metros at MBTA Central Square

MBTArdgames adds:

We should make a Bingo card for all the humiliating costumes Metro distributers have to wear this month. I just saw a penguin!