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Descent into madness at South Station: Shoving, screaming, hyperventilating
By adamg on Tue, 02/05/2019 - 5:05pm
The maddening crowd. Photo by Ashish Kasturia.
South Station proved a nightmare for people desperately trying to get out of town late this afternoon:
@MBTA are not prepared. South Station is jammed. Wife reports women in walker hyperventilating and others trying to calm her down. pic.twitter.com/MsRU6b7GPr
— name (@justmyreading) February 5, 2019
The gendarmerie did their best to restore order in the face of chaos:
@universalhub Situation at South Station. Parade goers pushing and shoving and the good folks at the @MBTA @KeolisBoston is doing their best to keep us safe get us on our way. Leaving for Providence only 10 min late pic.twitter.com/57WQEXjDr1
— Michael Bradford (@mbradford04) February 5, 2019
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Comments
T never prepared
Hordes of people and 3 T cops hiding in the postal facilities. No announcements but raise our fees. Fares not collected.
I saw a ton of cops
Most were out on the platforms. The major issue was people were blocking access to the platforms. Also heard same thing at BB where people were left. I took the 415 franklin/Walpole to HP, empty.
Gotta love BSer Pollack. Tweeting that everything went well
timetogostephanie is right. The transport sec is living in her own twilight zone. FMCB BSer Aiello and Pollack are drinking their own bathwater
I think you missed Aiello's comments
Here's the TV report where he notes that the crowds put a strain on services. He's even joined the "how about doing it on the week-end" crowd after yesterday.
If you parse it, the T did well, considering that it was the largest single day use of the system in recent times (I'm sure that in the 1940s there were more users, but since commuter rail was private at the time, maybe not). Add in the fact that there was a fatal accident on the Franklin Line during morning rush and a derailment on the D Line, I'd say that Pollack was reasonable to congratulate her troops on a job well done.
Obviously you didnt take CR. Nor have you seen the Aiello circus
Commuter Rail was a disaster. They should have been prepped and were not. The Warriors had their parade in Oakland. They had their own version of AFC 2.0 already in place. Good to go. Boston AFC 2.0 was sidelined by the Baker admin for other projects. As for Meridiam Aiello. Aiello & Pollack go down to DC every year and bullcrap for days about Boston. DC is now wise to the Boston BS.
So you're saying
If we had the new fare collection system, there would have been less crowding on commuter rail trains?
Okay. You be you.
That's what fare collection does, duh Waquiot
Every high schooler knows if you swarm the system Keolis gives up. Hence, a free ride.
Please explain
How any fare collection system can help when the trains are overcrowded?
Also, if you had visited North Station, South Station, or Back Bay Station in the past few months, you’d know that they check tickets preboarding outbound. But please, tell us how the high schoolers somehow got by the ticket checkers at the stations.
The Germans wore gray.
You wore a Gronk shirt.
Well it was that
or Brady. Judging by the names on the shirts, the Patriots only have two players.
Scroll up...
The picture above clearly shows two guys in Gordon and Edelman jerseys.
Remember Paris
Don’t leave without Ilsa. That only leads to years of drinking brown liquor alone.
Obligatory "C*s*bl*nc*" follow-up
"Play it, Sam."
"Uh, sorry, sir, but I can't -- you forgot to renew our live entertainment license. Besides, it's nearly 1 in the morning and I don't want to miss the last train."
Never Forget 1991
Before login the frontpage webpage at http://universalhub.com displays "Never Forget" tee shirt sales referencing out of date disc and cassettes http://www.feelingoodtees.com/Never-Forget-T-Shirt-P3679.aspx
Compare https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Never_Forget_(1991_film)
Never forget what?
I can't remember, or, at least, I can't figure out what point you're trying to make.
Forget it, Adam.
It's theszak.
what a bunch of maroons
who waits until rush hour to go home on your day off? what did anyone think would happen. I work downtown and it would take an invasion to put me in South Station during rush hour on a normal day. Reminds me of the stay home people who go to the supermarket near where I used to work at lunch (why??). Or go to Costco on Saturdays when they have literally the entire week to have it to themselves. Having said that, the MBTA was not prepared and I really don't understand why this parade didn't happen on the weekend. I'm going to the movies until all this crap is over.
So not for nothing, but I
So not for nothing, but I wouldn't put most of this on the T for once.... but rather on the public and it's overall inability to act like a)rational human beings, and b) the powers that be that conveniently tend to forget about the constraints our public transportation system faces without a major event. Think about it. Most of us that commute via the T ride trains, subways and buses that are already at capacity during peak hours, and there's only so much equipment (read NOT ENOUGH) for the day to day.
I had the chance to ask an employee after the last parade about this- and was basically told the same. There's only so much equipment, and so many crews. By regulation, both can only be used up to certain time frames (especially on CR), and the next rush, and next day always has to be kept in mind asset wise. Then there's the amount of time it takes to get from A to B and back. Then add the mobs (and yes, let's be honest we mean mobs-both of regulars and event goers. I say this because during the Red Sox parade as I tried to come off a train to work-getting off at South Station-some lady in a suit literally decided it was OK to almost knock me into the pit to rush to the train despite what seemed to be employees trying to keep her from doing so). Let's not get into the whole infrastructure issue now, cause that failure is a given
So with it taking anywhere from 40 min or over an hour to get from A to B on a "normal" day... the added crowds seem to add around say 5 min? extra at some stops. Now everyone is late, crews are trying to man doors and keep people from getting killed-then collect our fares (which always needs improvement). Can't run an extra til you get one of those trains in. Then it was pointed out that if they're constantly turning trains around for extras, they're not going to the yards for cleaning, and whatever usual maintenance is done during the midday....
Most days I'd agree that the T as a whole is an epic fail, but on days like today (and yeah, they probably screwed many things up too), I honestly can't, and won't blame them... but I will thank the front line staff. They didn't deserve the crap they had to have gone through today.
I was relived to have been able to avoid the city today (thank god for Dr and Dentist appointments!)
I think your headline is sort
I think your headline is sort of distasteful.
Me too
I didn't see the humor either.
Spot on
Totally off the mark. When is a reference to the horrors of Nazi Germany funny?
Not if you're a Film Buff
Tip-o-hat, Adam
Headline is in poor taste
I usually love your headlines, but for those of us with families or friends who fled Germany, this is really distasteful.
My apologies
Was making an allusion to a couple of scenes in Casablanca.
Of all the train stations in all the world
You had to get stuck in this one.
Can you edit a headline?
I don't get the reference to Casablanca either. Would you consider editing the headline? I see the point.
Headline changed.
Headline changed.
Thank you
.
And Please
Don't ever refer to piano players by the term 'sam'. Thank you.
Thank you
I understand what you were trying to say, and even laughed along with it, but the other commenters above were correct to object to it.