MBTA surrenders

the exit switch on the westbound side of the loop is actually a "spring" switch. So it would be nearly impossible to run a train in the reverse direction up into the loop.

You have a plan, and get creative. The T has no plan, and refuses to change operations besides shutting down portions of the line.

Before I get started on a rant: 5 feet of snow in two weeks is completely unprecedented. The previous 60-inches-in-a-month came over the course of a month, not two weeks, with some melting in between (it was 55˚ between the January and February blizzards in 1978—it hasn't been 40 this year since January 19). At this rate, we'll be at 10 feet in a month.

But one of the failures of the T is that it has no snow plan, other than a few bus routes. The DC Metro—no bastion of good management—does run some service in the snow: underground service. When they suspend rail service during a storm, they suspend above ground service, not all service. (They do this after little more than a flurry, but then again, they're DC). The T could, too, if they planned ahead for things like, I don't know, snow. I even wrote about this two years ago. For instance:

Green Line: run from Kenmore to North Station. There are pocket tracks to change ends outbound from North Station which are undercover—they use these every day for the C Line without issue. At Kenmore, you could have inspectors (or operators) get in the cars and take them backwards around the Kenmore Loop to the other side to start the trip inbound. It might take a few minutes, but it would allow service to operate. Yes, yards are above ground, but the T runs trains through even the biggest storms to keep them in service, and on the Green Line there are several routes from a major yard at Reservoir to the tunnel.

Blue Line: run from Airport to Bowdoin. I don't have a track map in front of me, but I would bet that there is a crossover at either Maverick or Airport. Or, since this is such a short distance, run one train set back and forth on one side of the line. You might only have service every 20 minutes, but that's at least more than nothing. Again, the T runs service out to the yards to keep the tracks clear, but without passengers, a stuck train is much less of an issue.

Orange Line: Run from North Station to Mass Ave. Again, I'd have to consult a track map re: crossovers. And again, you could run a back-and-forth service on one track.

Red Line: The Longfellow is an issue; it would be kind of silly to have one segment from Andrew (again, depending on the location of a crossover) to Park and an orphaned segment from Kendall to Alewife. But if you can get the trains across the Longfellow without dying and keep the bridge clear enough, then you can run an 8 mile-long section of line almost entirely underground. Storing the trains is easy: you could keep enough trains to run a 10-minute-headway skeleton service in the underground Alewife Yard. Except for the Longfellow Bridge, these trainsets would spend the entire time underground.

For Commuter Rail, the T could have a special schedule for days like today where each line, at rush hour, runs one train per hour making all stops. Then you send out the best equipment for the conditions, and actually run those trains, versus trying to run a full schedule and then failing miserably.

The problem is that the T doesn't have any such plan. They might make noise that the station entrances wouldn't be clear of snow, but this could be said for many storms, and people can be employed to keep them clear. Everyone would be a lot more forgiving if there was an actual plan that was implemented that focused on keeping service that could be run running rather than the ad hoc "OMG IT SNOWED!!!!1!" that seems to happen each time, uh, it snows. I think a lot of people (but not everyone, read comments here and elsewhere) realizes that things won't go completely as normal when it snows a lot. But the fact that the T seems to have to fly by the seat of its pants each time is unacceptable.

to Symphony is at Northeastern, which is above ground. And, like Blanford, it's not a direct crossover. Similar to both Blanford and North Station, trains would have to run into a 'turnback' siding, then run out the other way.

And the inner loop at Government Center is currently unusable, as it is currently blocked by the contractor's equipment for the station rebuild.

As anon^2 notes, Baker's financing decisions on the Big Dig when he was Secretary of Admin and Finance are directly responsible for the underfunding of the T to the tune of $1B a year since. His current proposed budget cuts another $40M.

It's egregiously hypocritical of him to act incensed at the T's performance now.

its a bitch when it hits you back

I think you misunderstood my point: I meant that NYC/Philly wouldn't close everything without an explanation.

I don't doubt that this snow situation has brought up unprecedented challenges. Or that Baker's decades-earlier efforts to cut funding are related MBTA's current shortcomings.

What I object to is the lack of explanation. We know the third rail can ice over. We know there are signal issues, we've been hearing about that forever.

But when you close down an entire public transport system, especially in the midst of a storm that makes it impossible to drive, the public is owed an explanation.

At least what little bus service runs will be stuck in gridlocked traffic.

Assuming there are even enough rested drivers left to cover service with all the rail replacement shuttles running.

Bikes end up being the best way around. The T is shot to hell. Cars get stuck in the snow and are too big to get by poorly parked cars on roads that are 1/3 their original size.

But if you're on a bike you can always just lift it over a snow bank or walk it through an unplowed street. They can go around poorly parked cars and crippling traffic.

It's a cold ride and harder to pedal but, as normal, it's the fastest most reliable way around even with the snow.