The MBTA says it will run the Green and Blue Lines, but at reduced frequencies tomorrow. There will be trains on the Red and Orange Lines, "but the level of that service will not be determined until later today."
Commuter rail will only make about 70% of normal trips, but there will be no service to Plymouth, TF Green Airport or Wickford Junction.
And buses will continue to replace the Mattapan Line.
Between Quincy Center and Quincy Adams, Peter Wilson reports. The Quincy Fire Department is on scene to help with evacuation. WCVB reports the train was stuck for two hours.
Scott H took photos at the scene.
Passengers getting on escape bus.
Meanwhile, Brian reported from the Orange Line around 8:35 a.m.:
The MBTA has announced abbreviated service for Monday that will mean longer waits for trains, even at rush hours. For example, at rush hour, Red Line trains will be scheduled every 14 minutes, instead of the normal 9 minutes; Orange Line trains will arrive every 10 minutes instead of every 6 minutes. Also:
As promised, the T came through with problems this morning, such as an Orange Line train ensnared by Death's bony embrace, leaving Alison and other Oak Grove riders in an angry mood.
Katarina Ng adds:
Conductor just told everyone at Wellington to take the next north bound train back to Oak Grove to stay warm.
With particularly frigid temps expected, the MBTA says riders should brace for subway delays tomorrow.
For tomorrow, sub-zero conditions and wind chills as low as minus 20 will likely affect aging trains’ propulsion systems. While the MBTA will work hard to provide regular weekday service, customers are strongly encouraged to stay updated on delays and service interruptions via mbta.com or on twitter @mbta.
At Wellington, riders take train outbound to get on inbound train. Photo by Nick Palmarazzo.
Traffic: You don't want to know.
The T: Trains are running, more or less, but slowly, and wheezing under the load of people trying to get to work and the people trying to get to the Patriots parade. Well, except on commuter rail, where the same conditions exist except for all the trains that were canceled on the more exotic lines, such as Fairmount.
Firefighters at Downtown Crossing. Photo by Molly Hester.
Firefighters evacuated the Downtown Crossing T stop around 5:00 p.m. due to smoke on the Orange Line's Forest Hills platform, from the Orange Line train that simply sat there, emulating a doorknob.
As with yesterday's Quincy Center incident, the T blamed a puff of smoke, this time from a failed train motor.
Major delays on the Red Line this morning. At Quincy Center, a train died and one car filled with smoke. Then the doors wouldn't open. Kerstin Haley reports:
People busted open the windows to let people out.
The Orange Line is also having its problems - once you could get to the trains. JTGard6306 reports:
Oak Grove is literally biggest disaster ive ever seen in my life. Accidents, fights, ZERO spots. AVOID!
Around 8:50 a.m., on the outbound side, but inbound service was halted as well to let first responders safely get the person off the tracks.
State transportation officials said tonight they will shut the Arboretum-bound side of the Casey Overpass in February, followed by the Mattapan-bound side by the end of March.
Hyundai Rotem, the South Korean company that started delivering commuter-rail trains 2 1/2 years late, is suing the state for awarding the contract to build new Red and Orange Line trains.
Around 3:40 p.m. Firefighters quickly doused the fire, in a ground-level closet inside the station, but the T evacuated riders due to the smoke. Trains, however, continued to operate through the 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.
Hopefully, the Angry Screaming Orange Line Driver had today off. Photo by Jed Hresko.
Well, they did warn us. Track problems on the Fairmount Line, a dead train on the Haverhill Line, switch problems on the Kingston/Plymouth Line, signal problems on the Providence/Stoughton Line all add up to commuter woes. There's a dead train somewhere on the Orange Line, and a Green Line trolley pulled into Kenmore with no heat, although as Bart Antista explains:
Great #mbta worker got everyone off and on another train. Nice work this morning #welldone
Transit Police report a man on the inbound tracks at Roxbury Crossing was hit and killed by a train around 6:25 p.m. Police described him as white and apparently in his 30s.
The Boston Fire Department reports the man was on the tracks just before the station and that after the train stopped, firefighters escorted passengers off the train to the platform.
Buses replaced Orange Line service between Forest Hills and Back Bay.
Photo by TPD.
Transit Police report they are looking for these three guys on charges they beat and "verbally abused" a man at State Street on the Orange Line around 1:30 a.m. on Saturday.
The three are in their early to mid-20s.
The first subject was wearing a black and white horizontal sweater, blue jeans and blue sneakers. The second subject was wearing a dark colored jacket with a white hooded sweatshirt underneath, dark jeans and brown boots. The third subject was wearing, dark colored zip-up sweater, dark jeans and dark boots.
UPDATE: Transit Police report the woman suffered life-threatening injuries.
Orange Line service was shut shortly after 8 a.m. as firefighters and EMTs rushed to Jackson Square to extricate somebody from under a train there. The T ran shuttle buses until around 9:15 a.m., when regular service was resumed. No further details available.
Orange Line service was halted for awhile around 5:40 p.m. after somebody fell on the tracks at Sullivan Square. Police were able to get him off the tracks to await the arrival of EMTs so that service could resume.
Entering Boston reflects on the transition from the old to the new Boston, as signaled by the demolition of the Orange Line el through Jamaica Plain and Roxbury, as highlighted through the lens of the photos in Dirty Old Boston:
What photos in Dirty Old Boston also bring back to mind is how many people would gather outside, for one occasion or another. Even the marches for Occupy Boston in 2011 were a far cry from larger turn-outs downtown protesting the Vietnam War, racial inequality in the public schools, or the attempt to remedy inequality through mandatory busing. Before the seventies, Boston also had larger crowds at other events, from Park League baseball and football games to neighborhood parades.
This is a little after the fact, but I haven't seen it on UHub or anywhere else: Amtrak has closed its ticket office at Back Bay station.
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