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T passengers as freight cargo

Spatch is willing to accept that trains break down and fires break out. What he can't deal with is the way the MBTA wanted to force people to sit in overheated trains for more than an hour during Friday's Red Line meltdown:

Frankly I find it absolutely deplorable that the T ignored its stuck passengers to the point where the passengers felt like they had to evacuate the trains themselves. That is terrible customer service -- hell, it's not even service at all -- and staying in the trains could have posed a serious health problem if someone had panicked, or if someone had passed out, or otherwise required serious medical attention while stranded on the tracks, especially in the Kendall tunnel if there was no cellphone reception or any way to call for help.

So the next time Danny Boy Graubaskas pipes in on the station intercoms with his pre-recorded "it's your job to keep us safe from the terrists" announcement and begins his inane speech with the useless platitude "Safety is our number one concern at the T", if you hear someone in the station loudly coughing "BULLSHIT!" that person will probably be me. Because it's clearly obvious that's not the case. I wholeheartedly encourage you to join in on the coughing whenever you hear that.

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Comments

My favorite: "If you see something, say something!"

Yeah, that would work out. I'm sure the Bulgerite
behind the glass would be wicked responsive.

Can you imagine how this system of surly employees,
non-functional stations, and broken PA systems
("train...gurgle gurgle gurgle Pahk Street gurgle gurgle
gurgle...ologize for incovenence..")
would respond to a REAL problem?

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I don't see what the T's current problems have to do with anyone named Bulger. It would be just as (il)logical to blame them on Bill Weld.

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It's an old joke. Back when Billy Bulger
was president of the State Senate, before
he "retired" on a $196,000 public-funded
pension, the MBTA was his personal patronage
dumping ground. Thus the translation of
the acronym.

I realize that he's no longer officially in
power, but am guessing that the world-wide-search
that led to the hiring of many current T "workers"
led through his office.

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Lolita Parker Jr. was on one of those trains and took these photos. (Thanks, Bostonist.)

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Somehow I entirely missed that this photo essay was first mentioned on Universal Hub. Sorry, Adam!

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He's exactly right. The problem with the MBTA is not that problems sometimes happen. Its that MBTA never seems to have any sensible response to them. Not even for planned service interuptions, much less emergency incidents like what happened on the Red Line Friday. Or the Orange Line Friday. Or the Orange Line a couple weeks ago. Or countless other times. Their reaction seems to gleefully ignore the implications on passengers. I can't tell you how many times I've seen a service interruption where there were no MBTA officials directing people. Passengers are told to go upstairs for a shuttle bus, only to get upstairs and find nothing and hopefully see other people walking around the corner to where the buses actually are. Or service interuptions are planned out with little forethought. Its not that problems happen. Its that the MBTA just makes problems worse.

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