Newburyport/Rockport line

The 6:30 a.m. inbound train died. As of 9 a.m., it still hadn't made it into Boston.

It's heartwarming how the little choo-choos help each other out. When the 6:33 into Boston belched its last and died in Sharon, the train behind it agreed to help out and push it all the way into Boston. Good train, good! Of course, that does mean 30-minute delays, but at least Providence Line riders get to have a nice warm feeling, unlike their counterparts on the Newburyport/Rockport line, facing lengthy delays due to boring signal problems, and riders on the Fitchburg Line, facing long delays because, well, it's the Fitchburg Line.

WBUR explains the delays on the Newburyport/Rockport line this morning.

CommonWealth reports on plans to begin shipping 3.9 million gallons a week of ethanol into Revere, on trains that will lumber down the Fitchburg commuter-rail line into Charlestown, where they will switch to the Newburyport/Rockport line up to a "blending terminal" to be mixed into the gasoline that is now shipped along the Rose Kennedy Greenway in 18-wheelers.

[Revere Fire] Chief Doherty chuckled when asked if he was comfortable with ethanol trains coming into the community. "I have more fear of tank trucks coming in than I do with the rail," he said, noting the train tracks generally are farther from homes and neighborhoods.

That's an electrical fire above the platform at the Beverly commuter-rail station around 6:40 this morning, as photographed by Joe Pitha, who alerted the T via a tweet reading, simply, "This can't be good."

Seems yesterday's major delays on that commuter line were caused by what the Salem News called a stripped lug nut that kept the Beverly drawbridge in an open position for nearly four hours. The News also reports that repairs to the bridge begun in 2008 are still not finished.

So what about today's delays on the line? The T blames switch problems.

Jim White reports that he arrived at the Westboro train station this morning just in time to see the alert board flash that the 504 into Boston had been "annulled."

But at least he could catch the next train. Riders on the Newburyport/Rockport line are being herded onto buses because somebody fed Viagra to the Beverly drawbridge again (yes, it got stuck in the upright position again and they can't get it down).

Joe Pitha, who found himself on the wrong side of that bridge this morning, proposes:

New idea: MBTA has service that calls the employer of the passengers and apologizes to them for being late.

AlertNewEngland reports the man, hit by the 5 p.m. Rockport train, was extricated around 5:40 p.m. He was due to be transported to an impromptu helipad at North Shore Community College, where a helicopter is waiting to take him to a trauma center. In the meantime, commuters south of Lynn are reporting delays on the line.

The Worcester Line is toast this morning. And Tom Bruno reports the smell of "epic MBTA fail" on the Newbury/Rockport Line.

Rippling delays from a busted bridge in Beverly meant nobody was getting to North Station anytime soon. At 8:29, Fred LeBlanc tweeted:

Hopelessly stuck on a train in Beverly for an "undetermined amount of time." Oh, and "sorry for the inconvenience!"

He updated 12 minutes later that the train was actually moving.

30 to 60 minute delays on the Newburyport/Rockport Line; T advisory says "alternate transportation to avoid delay." The notice came too late for Brian Krisler, who tweets:

The 7am inbound train broken down. After 25 min wait, the conductor instructed everyone to drive to Beverly.

Barbara Glavin tweets:

So my Rockport train is crammed full, like Green line! Left folks on the platform in Salem.

Mitch Blum tweets:

bummy kid shaking down commuters for cash on the [Newburyport/Rockport] train at N. Station...he scored $11.

Hmm, wonder if that pesky bridge in Beverly is broken again. Can somebody please go kick it? Some trains delayed up to an hour; others simply canceled. Ten of the 21 alerts on the MBTA board right now are from that line.

By shutting down again.