The MBTA reports the latest extended Braintree shutdown and a briefer Ashmont closure let workers lift 37 slow zones across 18 miles of track - getting the Red Line up to such speed it's shaved 10 minutes off the duration of a one-way trip between Braintree and downtown Boston over last month. Read more.
Clauclauclaudia caught both a bus and a trolley in flagrante delicto at Huntington Avenue and Fenwood Road shortly after 8 p.m.
"I guess expect E line delays inbound," she summarizes. Sure, enough, the T is reporting 15-minute delays on the E Line, suggests the more flexible 39 as an alternative.
The MBTA announced today the Ashmont branch of the Red Line will be closed on Saturday so workers can remove one of those slow zones - and to make sure there aren't any potential problems left over from the Peabody Square lake that formed last week after a National Grid crew cracked open a BWSC water main there.
Trains will be replaced by shuttle buses - like for the previously announced shutdown of the Braintree branch - which will remain closed on Sunday.
Transit Police report arresting a man they say "fully exposed himself" to a young girl and her mother around 6 p.m. on Saturday. Officers on scene then noticed his exposure before he could zip back up after spotting them, police say. He was charged with open and gross lewdness.
State officials report the feds have awarded the MBTA $472 million to replace the current 100-year-old drawbridges that connect North Station to points north and west over the Charles River. Read more.
A roving UHub photographer snapped the situation this morning at Porter Square, where both escalators - and one of the stairs - were blocked for some sort of repair work.
The Dorchester Reporter details the longest of this year's MBTA "surge" repair shutdowns: The 24-day closing of the Red Line's Braintree branch, which starts Friday.
The Orange Line signal woes between North Station and Back Bay continue, so the T is advising people to take the Green Line instead, which is great if you're want to get between North Station and Back Bay, not so hot if your final destination is, oh, somewhere closer to Oak Grove or Forest Hills.
How bad is it? In addition to signals not signalling, here's State Street station shortly after 3 p.m.
The tracks are getting better and better, but, oops, something blew out all the power on the Red, Orange, Green and Blue lines around 1:30 p.m. The MBTA reported about 15 minutes later that Johnny plugged the power cord back in, except, oops, briefly not on the Orange Line between Stony Brook and Forest Hills.
Except: Read more.
You can't tell from a photo, of course, but Sebastian Stockman checked in from Downtown Crossing this morning: "Downtown Crossing smells…clean?!?"
The MBTA reports it's managed to fix a Red Line blockage at Porter caused by a train up and dying in the system's deepest station.
The day did not start auspiciously on the Red Line, where riders were forced into early morning bustitution between Braintree and JFK/UMass because, the T reports an overnight maintenance vehicle derailed at Wollaston.
Meanwhile, over on the Orange Line, riders faced delays, first due to a recalcitrant switch at Oak Grove and later because of a signal problem at Forest Hills.
The Dorchester Reporter reports not everybody is enamored of a city proposal to do to Columbia Road between Blue Hill and Massachusetts avenues what happened on Columbus Avenue. Quotes one pizza-shop owner who predicts dedicated bus lanes would add 20 minutes to all his deliveries.
Passengers being evacuated from dead Orange Line train via the tracks. From video by Tim Lawrence.
NBC Boston reports on the fatality which happened after the man fell on the tracks and came into contact with the third rail on the southbound tracks shortly before noon.
Stationed at Tremont Street and Massachusetts Avenue, roving UHub photographer Robert Choate had a perfect location to watch a couple of new Red Line cars get delivered on flatbed trucks with a police escort tonight. Read more.
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