UPDATE at 9:20 a.m.: Looks like the power is back on and some trains are moving again, but slowly, since the signals aren't working.
9:30 a.m. Joe Pesaturo: "Power is being restored, but all lines are experiencing delays. An investigation into the cause of the outage is underway." T now advising people to not take the T.
9:50: Boston Police report the Red Line still dead due to signal problems.
1 p.m.: NECN reports the T is blaming "a private company doing routine maintenance" on the system. More to come at a 1:30 news briefing.
People stuck on trains all over the place:
Red Line.
Orange Line.
Green Line.
Blue Line:
*MAJOR* mbta fail. no power at Maverick T station. no buses. making people walk to airport to get buses. in a cab now.
No lights at Back Bay station; commuter-rail tracks almost pitch black.
Nykwil proposes the MBTA buy one million hamsters and wheels as a power supply.
Michael Femia: Maybe the T shouldn't have diverted all of its power to David Ortiz.
Like the job UHub is doing? Consider a contribution. Thanks!
Ad:
Comments
Also got through at Newark and DC
By Michael
Thu, 05/21/2009 - 1:38pm
So I had the same question.
I think the fact that there
By Finn
Thu, 05/21/2009 - 1:43pm
I think the fact that there were two airliners bound for L.A. (thereby loaded with fuel)at an airport close to NYC was more of a factor than Massport hackarama patronage.
Not all connected from Maine
By SwirlyGrrl
Thu, 05/21/2009 - 1:49pm
The ones that came through Boston (and left a vehicle in the parking area) were carrying then-contraband items, too. Like box cutters.
Logan was widely known to be a very lax airport when it came to security - I personally had items flagged at other airports for a double check when they had gone through logan's scanners without incident. Flight attendant friends had similar experiences - repeatedly.
weren't box cutters allowed before 9/11?
By Ron Newman
Thu, 05/21/2009 - 2:15pm
My recollection is that the ban on these and other sharp objects occurred only afterwards.
Swiss Army Knives
By Suldog
Thu, 05/21/2009 - 2:17pm
I used to carry a Swiss Army Knife on almost every flight I took, so I assume the ban came after.
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
Victorinox had a good pre-ban story
By neilv
Thu, 05/21/2009 - 2:22pm
http://www.victorinox.ch/index.cfm?site=victorinox...
They were allowed
By Mia
Thu, 05/21/2009 - 2:32pm
The restriction used to be based on size, so small knives (Swiss Army knives, etc) were allowed. Box cutters would have been allowed if they were small enough.
Maybe some of you should
By Finn
Thu, 05/21/2009 - 1:05pm
Maybe some of you should drive to work. Here's some news - there isn't a single subway system in the world of the same age that hasn't experienced signal delays, power outages, and the occasional f-up employee. I was delayed a hour coming into work, but I realize that a system so old and complex is going to break down from time to time. It's more a case of simple physics rather than institutionalized incomptence. I'd say I get to and from work on time about 90% of the time on a daily basis (I live in the city and don't have a car) - so on the whole, I'm coming out on top. It's better than sitting amongst thousands of idling cars belching out fumes while waiting for a a toll booth on a hot day. Perspective!
Perspective
By SwirlyGrrl
Thu, 05/21/2009 - 1:11pm
If the London or Paris subways got hit with this, heads would roll and people would riot.
The T is devolving rapidly in to NYC 1980. But that's okay with all you apologists who prefer excuses to reliability data.
The Paris subway is
By J
Thu, 05/21/2009 - 1:30pm
The Paris subway is regularly shut down by strikes. I dont think a 2 hour problem would result in riots. Then again, they do like their riots in paris...
The only blame here should be for whoever is in charge of emergency lighting. Everything else is beyond anyones control.
I cant wait for someone to come in and propose that the MBTA have a backup power distribution plan in place, and then complain about the MBTA debt.
Again, when the highway is shut down almost daily due to a crash, no one bats an eye, but a once in the decade power failure, and there are calls for people to get fired?
If it were just a once-in-a-decade problem ...
By adamg
Thu, 05/21/2009 - 1:39pm
But now layer on top of that:
Green Line crash
Week-long massive delays on the Orange Line (still unreported in the MSM) due to, ta da, signaling problems.
People's memories of the day the Red Line came to a halt and people busted out of a train stopped on the Longfellow like war refugees.
Etc., etc.
Don't get me wrong, the T
By Finn
Thu, 05/21/2009 - 1:38pm
Don't get me wrong, the T can stand a lot of improvement as far as communications and co-ordination when an emergency occurs. Personnel and union issues are one thing. I'm just saying that it seems amazing to me that a 100+ year old system can keep the trains running all day for 7 days a week at all. The older a system is, the more likely it is to break down and harder to repair - I think more people should allow for that and not automatically put power failures down to a culture of incompetence (which may certainly be the case in other areas). It's true that London's system is older, but I'm pretty sure it's subsidized a good deal by nationwide taxes, not so with the T. Do the London trains even have AC yet?
The system is not "100 years old"
By anon
Thu, 05/21/2009 - 2:40pm
Some segments were active 100 years ago.
Others came on line much more recently
New tunnels have been built, old ones closed, bypassed, or "upgraded"
this is not a "100 year old system" that should be constantly struggling just to stay modestly off schedule... it's a living system that requires ongoing upkeep and upgrading. they claim to have been doing that. lies lies lies. don't fall for it.
I agree the entire system is
By Finn
Thu, 05/21/2009 - 11:43pm
I agree the entire system is not 100 years old - but let's face it, a good deal of the infrastructure is. I can't help but wonder, if the 14.6 billion dollars used for the Big Dig were invested in public transportation, would we be dealing with all this? The T is running a huge deficit - where is the money coming from for this upkeep and upgrading you mention? It's not like they're doing nothing, stations are being overhauled left and right - Ashmont, State, Copley, Arlington, Maverick, Savin Hill, Charles...
i doubt that "a good deal of the infrastructure" is 100 yrs old
By anon
Fri, 05/22/2009 - 1:27am
the holes, perhaps...
not the rails, not the power cables,n ot the safety gear, CERTAINLY NOT the brand new emergency lighting nor the circuit breakers...
absolutely not. you're dreaming!
An important point
By HenryAlan
Thu, 05/21/2009 - 1:11pm
It's true, a lot of people here and at the Globe are posting as though nobody rides the 'T by choice. That's not at all accurate. I have a car, but I prefer not to use it for commuting. The 'T is cheaper, and usually faster. And the time I spend commuting is my time for reading. Try that in a car (unless you happen to be a certain bus driver)!
I drive... unless you live
By ShadyMilkMan
Thu, 05/21/2009 - 1:16pm
I drive... unless you live on a rail line the MBTA is not all that great. They seem incapable to figuring out how to stagger buses as to not have someone wait an hour for a every 15 minute bus only to have four come down at the same time then have people wait another hour, and keep in mind all those buses are not full so its not a capacity thing.
The MBTA can not gurantee that I will get somewhere in within a 15 minute timeframe and that just is not worth my while. When I take the extended T I find myself getting places a half hour early because the previous time I got stuck on some bridge with the Orange line and ran into a meeting late.
Oh, just routine maintenance
By adamg
Thu, 05/21/2009 - 1:16pm
NECN reports the T is blaming a private company doing routine maintenance on the system. More to come in about 15 minutes, at a press conference, I guess (alas, no way could I get from Roslindale to the transportation building in 15 minutes).
Can't get there that fast by
By ShadyMilkMan
Thu, 05/21/2009 - 1:18pm
Can't get there that fast by the T?
Her two-hour commute
By adamg
Thu, 05/21/2009 - 3:09pm
Gabrielle Gurley recounts her odyssey from Arlington (the town) to Back Bay this morning - with a brief stopover at the state Transportation Building to have a little chat with the T's Joe Pesaturo (one of the advantages of being a reporter), who does not think this will be Dan Grabauskas's version of Alan LeBovidge's Easter Sunday turnpike meltdown.
Futile bargaining
By neilv
Thu, 05/21/2009 - 3:56pm
Delays and such are *de rigeur* for the MBTA. I'd rather have an occasional failure like this, if I could otherwise have everything run well normally.
Unfortunately, I don't see a way out of having both occasional big failures and continuous smaller ones. We're saddled with quirky legacy infrastructure, and my random-person-on-the-street impression is that we don't have the huge gobs money (or even always engineering feasibility) to really fix it.
Myself, I've been making choices to make things in my life walkable.
Disclosure: I volunteer on pedestrian issues.
MBTA LOLcat
By adamg
Thu, 05/21/2009 - 4:41pm
Here.
Ohboy
By eeka
Thu, 05/21/2009 - 4:45pm
I actually just LOLed (LedOL?) at a lolcat. Someone shoot me.
http://1smootshort.blogspot.com
Pages