commuter rail

Person hit, killed by Amtrak train at Ruggles

adamg — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 23:43:33 +0000

Update, 7:25 p.m.: One track was cleared and limited train service through Ruggles resumed.

Commuter-rail and Amtrak service through Ruggles is stopped as transit and fire officials investigate a fatal train-vs-person collision on the inbound side this evening. The T is describing it as a "trespasser strike."

Dan Esdale reports his outbound train to Franklin stopped, then headed back to South Station.

In the other direction, Craig Herman reports an Amtrak train is just sitting at Forest Hills.

Police: Man picked the wrong commuter-rail conductor to mess with

adamg — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 19:45:17 +0000

KaneA conductor on the Old Colony Line confronted a man he says stole another rider's wallet - and got him to turn over the woman's wallet and money.

Steven Kane, 34, of Bridgewater, was arrested on a charge of larceny from a person around 5 p.m. yesterday at the Lakeville/Middleboro commuter-rail stop, the MBTA reports. According to the T, a 53-year-old woman awoke from a nap as the train pulled into the station and noticed her purse was open and her wallet gone. A woman sitting behind her pointed to Kane:

Stakeout at South Shore commuter lot works: Couple nabbed as catalytic-converter thieves

adamg — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:58:52 +0000

MBTA Transit Police report arresting a Fall River couple on charges they stole catalytic converters off cars parking in commuter lots in Hanson and Halifax last night.

Dennis and Tina Fager, 39 and 37, were only charged with the three catalytic converters police found them with, but said they could be responsible for as many as 100 converter grabs on the South Shore.

Police say detectives who had staked out the Hanson commuter-rail parking lot due to a spate of recent converter thefts spotted the couple drive into the lot around 4:15 p.m. yesterday, just after an inbound train departed the station:

Fellow riders rescue man who fell onto commuter-rail tracks at Back Bay

adamg — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 15:16:40 +0000

Edited to reflect fact incident was on commuter rail, not Orange Line.

Jessica Keener reports on an incident shortly before 10 a.m. on the outbound side at Back Bay station:

My husband + 3 others just pulled a blind man who fell down into the train tracks + saved this man's life in Boston today!!!!

Not long after, she tweeted at acting MBTA General Manager Jonathan Davis:

My husband & 3 other men saved a man from Back Bay train tracks. No MBTA people were there. Why not???

She later added:

Back Bay train sta. about 15 people on platform. Blind man was a good 50 yards away toward Clarendon, one man trying to pull blind man out

My husband and 2 other men heard cries of help, sprinted! to man helping blind man, they all pulled together. So inspiring!

Suspicious white powder at Gloucester train station

adamg — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 12:21:48 +0000

Tom Bruno arrived at the Gloucester commuter-rail stop this morning to find it coated in all this white powder and wonders what in the world it could be.

Service cuts? They'll show you service cuts

adamg — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 13:45:10 +0000

So far this cold January morning, trains have died on the Red, Blue and Green lines and the Worcester Line is experiencing major delays.

At 8:34 a.m., Tanya K. tweeted:

Two empty, broken down trains we will be pushing in. 1000+ frozen, frustrated people cramming into this one. MBTA Red Line. Good times.

A few minutes later, Candice Springer added:

Thank you, MBTA for stranding me outside on the Wollaston platform in the EFFING cold. Now I have to go all the way back to drive in to work

Lost and found on the Haverhill Line

adamg — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 15:39:03 +0000

A worker at Conover Tuttle Pace downtown came into work this morning rather distraught because she lost her engagment ring on the train into work. But a conductor found the ring and turned it in and now it's back on her finger.

Northeast Corridor vanishes into pit of dispair

adamg — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 00:33:45 +0000

Downed power lines somewhere in the Canton area mean no Amtrak service between Boston and New York and, of course, massive delays on the Providence/Stoughton Line that have left stranded commuters hoping for the buses the T is promising.

Aging trains react poorly to the cold

adamg — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 14:36:06 +0000

A Worcester Line train died this morning in Natick; commuters on that train and the one behind it, which wound up pushing it into town, were, of course, seriously late.

Some trains into North Station were delayed by the ever popular switch problems. At least one Greenbush train was also late because, well, who knows?

What does commuter rail have against fantasy football?

adamg — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 13:55:23 +0000

A rail-ridin' fantasy-football fan reports via e-mail that the WiFi on his commuter-rail line this morning blocked him from accessing any information about his pastime:

Replacing a bridge in 72 hours

adamg — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 01:05:07 +0000

Time lapse of a three-day replacement project for replacement of the Woodrow Avenue bridge in Dorchester as part of the Fairmount Line upgrade.

If you're loco for locos

adamg — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 19:24:29 +0000

Locomotive

Matthew in Boston took the photo while on a T-sponsored tour of the locomotive repair shop in Somerville today. More photos.

Posted under this Creative Commons license and in the Universal Hub pool on Flickr.

Woman charged with numerous attempted car break-ins at Lynn train station

adamg — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 15:58:27 +0000

An MBTA Transit Police officer assigned to patrol the Lynn parking garage due to multiple break-ins in recent days may have hit the jackpot yesterday morning: A woman he allegedly found attaching a stolen plate to one car, with evidence she had tried to break into several other cars nearby.

Alexis Downez, 32, was charged with five counts of attempted breaking and entering in the daytime, five count of malicious destruction of property, possession of burglarious tools, stealing a license plate and driving after suspension. Her arrest came after three days of car break-ins, thefts and vandalism at the garage, police say.

Sometimes it's easier to just fix something yourself than complain about it

adamg — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 13:38:53 +0000

Take this citizen complaint about leaves partially covering a storm grate in Jamaica Plain. Surely, in the amount of time it took to take a picture and compose a complaint, the alert citizen could have kicked the leaves away.

The picture taker could take a lesson from some West Roxbury commuters this morning. As Mikhaela Houston reports, when they noticed a small tree lying across the tracks, they swung into action and moved the damned thing so the train could get through and they could get to work.

And then there's Citizens Connect devotee Susan Labandibar's action plan.

Two more people indicted in commuter-rail pass scheme

adamg — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 11:38:06 +0000

The Salem News has the details in the latest indictments centered on an employee of a company that prints CharlieTickets, who allegedly sold bogus passes over the Internet.