UPDATE :Firefighters extinguished the fire and left the tracks about 10:45 p.m
Around 10:35 p.m. Firefighters asked the T to cut power on the outbound side so they could douse a small trash fire about 100 feet past the platform; the T cut power in both directions.
Claire gives us the pigeon's eye view of a packed North Station around 6 p.m. as trains just sat there due to everything from them being superannuated to interference from Amtrak. Some delays reached 90 minutes.
Proposed new entrance to the Garden from developer's BRA filing.
The Herald reports Star Market has agreed to build a mega-market in the $1-billion mixed-use development planned for that vacant space in front of the Garden and the train station.
What initially seemed like a possible fire on a crossover switch just past North Station around 2:40 p.m. turned out to be smoke from a brake pad on a passing train that got jammed against a wheel, the MBTA says.
The T shut power on the inbound side to let firefighters assess the situation as disabled train was moved to Wellington for repair.
Around 2:40 p.m., both Meredith Sandiford and Anne Hjortshoj reported smoke at Downtown Crossing.
The Boston City Archives has begun digitizing its collection of photos of Boston Elevated Railway photos, including a set showing construction of the North Station/Lechmere section, such as this photo of Haymarket Square on March 24, 1909.
Posted under this Creative Commons license.
Changing trains on the tracks. Photo by Billy Lazarro.
Even normally pessimistic Fitchburg Line commuters probably didn't expect this: By 7 p.m., the 5:30 train to Fitchburg train hadn't moved more than a few feet from North Station. As Billy Lazarro explains, passengers finally walked down the track to another train, which also then just sat there.
An Allston man faces drunk-driving charges after police found him and his car on the tracks at North Station early this morning, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports.
Matthias Grenon, 22, somehow got on the commuter-rail tracks near the train-repair facility in Somerville, then headed inbound on the tracks without slipping off until he pulled into the station around 2:20 a.m., the DA's office says. He stayed on the tracks, which cross the Charles River, despite a blood-alcohol level measured at 0.19, more than twice the legal limit, according to the DA's office.
Mass Transit reports the first of 40 new commuter-rail locomotives is scheduled to pull out of North Station at 10:30 a.m., as part of Train 213 on the Haverhill line.
The locomotives, built in Idaho, will replace locomotives with an average age of 35 to 40 years, providing more reliable service, less pollution and better fuel efficiency.
By all accounts, the T ran pretty well yesterday. Today? Well, Kyle Geiste explains this photo he took at North Station:
Lechmere-bound platform at North Station. 3-4 trains have passed us. There must be a better way.
It is, naturally, even worse on the Red Line, where trains took a break from expiring yesterday, but picked up where they left off today. As Nancy explains:
An inbound Orange Line train lay down and died this morning at North Station. Jennifer, who was on the train, reports:
They said “train is out of service”, but not letting anyone off. WTF.
The driver then came by each car and opened one door to let riders exit.
A Green Line train headed to Cleveland Circle decided it like Park Street just fine and refused to go further.
On the Lowell Line, a section of track made like a bad tooth and cracked.
People coming into Boston from the north are stuck sitting on trains just on the other side of the Charles River bridge thanks to signals that are refusing to signal.
Tom reports:
The MBTA is broken so I'm stuck on a commuter rail train where tensions are getting high... Please send backup and Starbucks.
Because frozen switches mean nobody knows when they're getting home tonight.
UPDATE, 6:10 p.m.: MBCR reports the problem is fixed, but that commuters should expect "residual" delays.
Trains out of North Station this afternoon were either canceled or delayed due to a fire in the T's commuter-rail maintenance facility (the big blue building just outside North Station).
If you're suddenly realizing you left your laptop and your backpack under a seat on the Green Line last night or this morning, well, every other Lechmere rider now hates you.
Red Line riders are having issues as well, due to an unconscious person having to be taken off a train at Park Street.
One at North Station, one at Reservoir, both making life more interesting for morning commuters.
The Boston Business Journal reports on the latest proposal over the past couple decades by the owners of the Garden for the parking lot where the Garden used to be - a mixed-use development with a 45-story tower and two shorter buildings.
Transit Police report arresting a Saugus man on charges he indecently touched two women on two different subway lines.
Transit Police report arresting a Plaistow, NH man trying to get on a train at North Station yesterday on charges he waved a knife at a conductor on the line last week.
According to police, Eric Foster's ire was raised on the evening of Aug. 9 when his Haverhill train reached the end of the line and a conductor tried to rouse him from his sleep:
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
