A report on the Red Line extension of the Harvard through Alewife Tunnels. The next time you hop on a train at Porter Square and I have study the speed limit and the curves inside the tunnels. Take the inbound train from Porter going towards Harvard Station. Is your safety at risk?

Here's More...
YouTube Video
http://tinyurl.com/RLTunnelExtension

One of these ads is from the Red Line and one is from the Orange Line. Can you match the ad to the line? Answer after the jump.

The MBTA wasn't running outbound trains between Park Street and JFK this afternoon because of "a power problem in the downtown area," according to announcements that played in between the usual announcements imploring riders to pay their fares and to say something if they see something.

I was at South Station when an inbound train pulled in around 2:30 p.m., emblazoned with "Out of Service" displays. But it stopped and then, after a minute or so, the doors opened. Like the well trained sheep we are, everybody got on - and suddenly realized the train smelled like burning garbage.

"It's just a trash fire on the tracks, not the train," an MBTA cop reassured us. "It's a trash fire, not the train."

More cops appeared on the platform. Then the doors closed and we left.

Syvlie Tse reports some Red Line announcement derangement at Park Street today.

On a Monday, of course.

Tim Lyons posts a photo of a jerk tagging Red Line car 01710 this evening (part of a triptych - another and another).

There is one of two possible explanations: He's just a T crazy or there's a cockroach on your shoe:

... Sure, it wasn't a full-sized one, but a cockroach is a cockroach and that thing was crawling on my foot?!OHMYGOD!

So the guy with the binder now goes from creepy weirdo to my savior as he stomps on the cockroach - a few times, for good measure. And now the world is burdened with one less cockroach. And I ... well, I'm paranoid outta my mind about them now.

Dan Tobin was facing the Citgo sign on the way home from Cambridge this evening:

... It's a landmark I invariably associate with the Red Sox and tonight I realized that, no matter how the season ended up - with us as champions or the hated Yankees taking the crown - this is the time of year when baseball is in hibernation. It won't be long before being outside itself is a chore and means braving the nasty winter that comprises half the Boston year. It made me a little sad facing up to this reality. But it also made me thankful to know that one day the Sox will come back, the cold weather will lift, and the city will become a beautiful place once again.

Because this evening, both are providing something less than the "enjoyable transportation experience" the T now hopes riders have.

I've studied a report on the Red Line extension of the Harvard through Alewife Tunnels. I'll have that up on YouTube soon. The next time you hop on a train at Porter Square and I have study the speed limit and the curves inside the tunnels. Take the inbound train from Porter going towards Harvard Station. As the train starts to go 40 to 50 mph.